Freestone County

Chancellor Union Cemetery

Historical Marker Text

Reuben and Mary Chancellor moved to Texas from Wilcox County, Alabama in the 1850s with their ten children and eleven slaves. They settled on 576 acres in the rural community known as Brown's Creek. The Chancellor family donated four and one-half acres of land for church, education and burial purposes. The regular Predestinarian Primitive Baptist Church was organized in 1854. The church structure also served as a school and a community center, and was the site of many gatherings for area residents. The Chancellor Union Cemetery was established here. The earliest marked grave is that of an infant child of J. B. and Sarah Chancellor Lee in 1857. A separate section of the cemetery was dedicated to the former slaves. The earliest marked grave in that section is that of John E. Ingram in 1915. Among the 90 marked and unmarked graves are four generations of Chancellors, pioneer settlers to the area, many infant burials, and veterans of the Civil War and world War II. The Chancellor Union Cemetery continues to serve the vicinity as it has for more than 140 years and is maintained by an active association of descendants of people that are buried here.

1996

location: from Fairfield take FM 488 1.7 mi. NE to fm 2570, go east 1.3 mi., then 3.2 mi. east on Park rd. 3285 to small gravel road on left just before entrance to Fairfield Lake State Recreational Area.