BASTROP COUNTY HISTORICAL COMMISSION
Saul Wright Cemetery
Wright Cemetery Association Seeks Historical Marker for the Saul Wright Cemetery
A sign is attached to a gate which leads along a path to the Wright Cemetery, located in what is now a residential area of Cedar Creek.
Directions to cemetery: Go west on Highway 71. Turn left on Highway 21, then right on McDonald Lane. Drive 1.3 miles to reach the cemetery gate straight ahead. (If continuing down McDonald Lane, the sign will be on your left.)
This two-acre cemetery is located in the Martha Barker Survey and is known by Saul (Sol) Wright Cemetery and as Wright Cemetery. There is no known deed recorded for this cemetery at Bastrop County. The property was donated for use as a cemetery. It has 44 marked graves and many unmarked graves. The earliest visible marker is a metal marker for Annie Edmondson who died on October 18, 1919.
Pamela Jones of Cedar Creek is working toward having the Wright Cemetery designated by the Texas Historical Commission (THC) as historic, then will pursue a historical marker to recognize its history.
Of particular interest is the tie between Texas Freedom Colonies and the Saul Wright Cemetery.
In the decades following the Civil War, nearly a quarter of African Americans achieved a remarkable victory—they got their own land. While other ex-slaves and many poor whites became trapped in the exploitative sharecropping system, these independence-seeking individuals settled on pockets of unclaimed land that had been deemed too poor for farming and turned them into successful family farms. In these self-sufficient rural communities, often known as "freedom colonies," African Americans created a refuge from the discrimination and violence that routinely limited the opportunities of blacks in the Jim Crow South.1
According to those caring for the Wright Cemetery, Saul Wright donated it for the Freedom Colony families who lived in this area or migrated here.2 A survey was prepared by Mr. Clyde Reynolds, Hilda Neidig, Evelyn Wolf and Audrey Rother on February 17, 1987.3 For more information about the Wright Cemetery: https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2306327/sol-wright-cemetery
For more information about Texas Freedom Colonies:
https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/uef20
http://www.thetexasfreedomcoloniesproject.com/p/texas-freedom-colonies.html
1 Freedom Colonies: Independent Black Texans in the Time of Jim Crow (JACK AND DORIS SMOTHERS SERIES IN TEXAS HISTORY, LIFE, AND CULTURE) Paperback – March 1, 2005 by Thad Sitton (Author), James H. Conrad (Author), Richard Orton (Photographer).
2 Pamela Jones of the Wright Cemetery Association
3 Bastrop County Courthouse files.
Photographs were taken from each corner, one of the requirements in order for the Wright Cemetery to be designated a "Texas Historical Cemetery" by the Texas Historical Commission (THC). Once a certificate is received, the BCHC will assist in applying for a Texas historical marker to recognize the cemetery's history.
Below: Original map drawn by Audrey Rother. Redrawn by Cindye Ginsel.
LAST NAME, FIRST NAME BIRTH/DEATH LAST NAME, FIRST NAME BIRTH/DEATH
ALDRIDGE
William
Alex
Annie (McDonald)
Augusta
Joe (Bubba)
Alexander Sr.
ALEXANDER
Chester
Dock,
TEXAS U.S. ARMY WWII
Frank Samuel Jr.
John O.
Lillie Bell
Mack
Sandra
T. C. “Walter”,
TEX. PVT. U.S. ARMY WWI
BAKER
Henry Sr.
BREEDING
Alroy,
TEX. PVT. U.S. ARMY WWI
Eugene
Maria
BONNER
Mary Etta (Slaughter)
BURRIS
Infant (twins)
BURSE
Samuel
COCKRELL
Henry
CRENSHAW
Roy Lee
CROCKET
Dennie
DUVAL
Etta
Hadley
Lola
R.B. Jr.
Vernel
EASLEY
Robert L.
EDMONDSON
Annie
Arthur Lee
Barney
Clarence F.
Clois
Earlee
George
Georgia
Julia
Mamie
EPRIGHT
Benny
ERVIN
Rev. Robert
LaKisha (infant)
GOODE
Anne Mae
GREEN
Rev. Tommie (T.C.)
LaVada
HARDIN
Martha
HARRIS
Barbara Evelyn
Cora
Ella Ruth
Eldridge Jr.
1858/07-25-1934
09-25-1918/05-18-1978
1850/05-19-1937
07-04-1899/04-20-1993
08-02-1898/04-1964
02-23-1894/07-14-1990
06-03-1939/04-07-2017
08-27-1896/01-1972
02-17-1959.09-05-2013
04-15-1928/1988
03-12-1901/01-1995
02-17-1925/01-01-1993
06-10-1966/09-03-1993
03-05-1923/04-22-1985
10-02-1934/09-15-2013
01-03-1892/11-23-1971
02-06-1927/05-04-1993
11-30-1892/05-28-1977
07-17-1908/07-06-1930
02-09-1958/02-09-1958
/01-17-1930
/10-08-1958
10-28-1955/07-15-1999
10-18-1919/01-19-2013
1943/01-19-2013
12-18-1946/04-11-1997
08-30-1926/08-20-2004
07-06-1924/01-27-2014
08-06-27/10-30-1999
06-22-1897/1989
09-12-9-1932/03-02-1999
11-14-1956/01-08-1996
HOUSTON
John Jr.
HUTCHINS
Morris
HUTCHINSON
Ham (military)
Lillie
Nola (infant)
Otta
JOHNSON
Rev. William
Willie M.
JONES
Albert Sr.
Amanda
Angeline Bell
Arthur Lee
C. L. Sr.
Emanuel Lee
Henry Lee
Isiah Sr.
Isiah Jr.
Joyce
Maggie
Pearlie (Walker)
Roy Lee
Wilma (Showers)
McDONALD
Albert R. (Rooster)
Jesse
Mary
Mary (Harlin)
MILLER
Dave Jr.
Ida Bell
James
Kathy
NEEL
Rosa
OKELBERRY
A.C.
Bodie
Leah Mae
Teddy Sr.
Willie (Frog)
ROBERTSON
Clyde
SLAUGHTER
James
WALKER
Savanna
WASHINGTON
Bobbie
Sophie
WHEELER
Betty Lou
WRIGHT
Cora
Costella
Dempsy
Jeffery
Mary
Samie
Saul
James
Infant twins
11-24-1880
1886/09-01-1928
07-29-1890/12-29-1953
12-16-1898/12-18-2008
07-08-1908/09-27-1988
09-26-1936/03-08-1973
02-28-1887/02-27-1950
02-18-1912/05-06-1990
12-13-1953/01-24-1958
05-16-1879/09-1971
11-22-1891/09-17-1993
07-07-1940/05-16-1990
09-07-1913/02-29-1980
1899/05-01-1919
1880/06-26-1921
1955/02-04/2012
02-08-1918/05-05-1969
1901/04-12-1920
12-16-1959/05-19-2009
07-24-1894/09-20-1967
02-28-1966
03-28-1898/11-20-1945
01-28-1899/05-01-1981
/2004
12-28-1913/05-29-1960
06-29-1887/06-22-1961
1875/
12-24-1954
1871/07-02-1931