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SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 564

	WHEREAS, A Historic Texas Cemetery medallion and plaque 
are being dedicated at Wilson Chapel Cemetery in central 
Newton County; and

	WHEREAS, More than 125 years old, the cemetery is 
located on a one-acre tract in the J. M. Pierce Survey in the 
Woods community; Mr. Pierce donated the tract to the Methodist 
Episcopal Church in 1883, and the land belongs today to the First
United Methodist Church in nearby Newton; upkeep of the cemetery 
is carried out by the Methodist Men of that congregation; and

	WHEREAS, The church of Wilson Chapel was established 
by David McMahon, son of the Reverend Friend McMahon, Sr., a 
local pioneer Methodist minister, and named in honor of the 
Reverend Francis A. Wilson, a prominent East Texas Methodist 
preacher and circuit rider who made his home in the Newton County
community of Belgrade; and

	WHEREAS, Containing four marked and several unmarked 
graves, Wilson Chapel Cemetery is the resting place of several 
prominent area residents; David McMahon, who also served as 
Newton County's first county attorney, lies there, as does his 
brother, the Reverend Friend McMahon, Jr.; another marked grave 
belongs to Edward Gerald Didham, an Englishman who taught school 
in Orange and Newton counties; and

	WHEREAS, Buried at Wilson Chapel, in addition, is 
Josephus Somerville Irvine, who is thought to have been the 
youngest soldier to fight with Sam Houston at the battle of 
San Jacinto; Mr. Irvine later dealt in land, became a Methodist 
preacher, and served in the Civil War, during which he rose to the 
rank of major; a member of the committee that chose the location 
for the county seat, he hosted meetings of the commissioners court 
in his home for about two years after Newton County was created in 
1846; and

	WHEREAS, Also reportedly buried in the cemetery are 
Tommie Knight, who helped to organize the Watson Chapel Methodist 
Church near Bleakwood, in Newton County, and Dr. J. S. Peavy, one 
of whose daughters, Alice King, donated the courthouse tower 
clock to the county in 1929; Mollie Pierce, daughter of Matilda 
and Jacob Monroe Pierce and granddaughter of Friend McMahon, Jr., 
is believed to be interred there as well; and

	WHEREAS, Like other historic Texas burial grounds, 
Wilson Chapel Cemetery is an irreplaceable cultural resource, 
and recognition is indeed due to the dedicated volunteers who 
researched and documented this site, together with those who 
work to maintain it; now, therefore, be it

	RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 
78th Legislature, hereby commemorate the dedication of a 
Historic Texas Cemetery medallion and plaque at Wilson Chapel 
Cemetery and extend to all those involved with this project 
sincere appreciation for their dedication to preserving the 
heritage of the Lone Star State.
                                                                         Staples




________________________________ 
    President of the Senate
 
    I hereby certify that the 
above Resolution was adopted by 
the Senate on April 7, 2003.



________________________________ 
    Secretary of the Senate



________________________________ 
     Member, Texas Senate