TEXAS — The sale of a beloved state park to a private developer is raising concerns about the fate of two freedmen’s cemeteries in central Texas.

One cemetery is well-established; the other, recently discovered.

But the uncertainty of the developers’ plans has relatives and concerned citizens fearful of the cemeteries’ fate.

What You Need To Know

  • The sale of a beloved state park to a private developer is raising concerns about the fate of two freedmen’s cemeteries in central Texas

  • When the Fairfield Lake State Park was being marketed for development last year, there was no mention of a private cemetery on land once owned and still populated by the burial remains of freed slaves and their descendants

  • Freestone County historian Sandy Bates Emmons says she’s found more evidence of freedman’s graves on the recently sold land

  • Emmons took photos and notes that might be the key to saving the park

When the Fairfield Lake State Park south of Dallas was being marketed for development last year, there was no mention of its important ties to the past.

Captured in a promotional video, the glimpse of an island with “development potential limited only by one’s imagination.”

But it’s limited by something else — A private cemetery, on land once owned and still populated by the burial remains of freed slaves and their descendants: namely Edward Ned Titus.

He and his wife, Clora, side by side. Their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren are also buried there, as are the descents of other freed slaves.

“All my people are there. My grandfather and my grandmother. My great uncles, and aunts,” said Beverly Bass, president of Hope Well Cemetery.

Passing through two gates, an old, abandoned coal power plant, and across a narrow land bridge to that developer’s island lies the Hope Well Cemetery. Bass says power plant operators granted them access to the graves, but she says the new owner has not communicated with her about how the cemetery will co-exist in the middle of a private development.

“I haven’t received anything from them as of yet. I’m concerned now,” she said. “Our roots are back there. Our grandmothers and my brother, we just buried him a year ago.”

But it’s not the only freedman’s burial site that developers may have to navigate.

Freestone County historian Sandy Bates Emmons says she’s found more evidence of freedman’s graves on the recently sold land.

“It was prepared by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Cultural Resources Program in Austin, Texas back in December of 2002,” she said.

Emmons says subsequent research indicates it was a significant discovery, appropriately noted, mapped, with even headstones photographed, located on an eastern peninsula of the Fairfield Lake State Park.

But the information was evidently ignored.

It had been 20 years since the headstone of Easter Miles had been discovered. With the property about to change hands, it was time to revisit the site.

Emmons trekked for over a mile through the forest and brush before coming upon the area that matched the photos.

“See, there’s the hand of Jesus, it points upward to the sky. And it says ‘Easter, wife of D. Miles.’ And it says, ‘Born in 1835,’ but she doesn’t know the date. And died in 1887, maybe?” Emmons said while examining the site.

Emmons again consults the archeologist’s study, reconfirming the importance of the site.

“The presence of a 19th century headstone, six probable grave depressions and three possible grave depressions suggest that several burials remain intact,” Emmons said. “This site is classified as a level one high management priority and should be avoided and protected.”

Emmons took photos, notes, and a tiny piece of comfort that a former slave might be the key to saving the park, as well as a piece of state’s buried past.

Spectrum News Texas made several attempts to contact the developer and state archaeologists to learn about any preservation plans for the sites. They have yet to hear back.