Webb Chapel Cemetery
Dallas County, Texas
From Proud Heritage, Vol. III by DCPA. This 352 page hardcover book is available online.
Isaac B. Webb and his wife, Mary (Hughes) Webb, were ardent Methodists. On May 5, 1845,the Webbs formed a Methodist society with five members including the Webbs. In the spring of 1846 the congregation was established, and a log house, eighteen feet square and covered with clapboards, was built within two hundred yards of the Webb cabin. The members gave it the name of Webbs Chapel where preaching, class meetings, and Sabbath school were held.
On January 27, 1847, Allis E. Webb, seven year old daughter of Mary and Isaac, died. She was the first person buried in the cemetery next to the Webbs Chapel. The name on her grave marker is Alice E. Webb.
BURIALS IN WEBB CHAPEL CEMETERY THROUGH 1880
1850 Mary Ann West, age 36, wife of Robert Jentry West
1855 Prudence Row Kennedy, age 19, wife of J.M. Kennedy
1858 Elizabeth Cox Watterman, age 25, wife of J. C. Watterman and daughter of Joseph Harrison Cox and Margaret Noland Cox
1859 Joseph Harrison Cox, age 63, husband of Margaret Noland Cox
1860 Warren B. Kennedy, age 1, son of James M. Kennedy and C. Kennedy
1862 Franklin Cox, age 16, son of Joseph Harrison Cox and Margaret N. Cox
1863 Bell Kennedy, age 2, daughter of James M. Kennedy and C. Kennedy
1864 Allen Howard Cox, infant son of Howard Cox and Mary Jane Webb Cox
1865 Benj. Price Thomas, age 45, husband of Sarah Francis Thomas
1870 John Dennis, infant son of Andrew Jackson Dennis and Sarah Webb Dennis
1871 Mary J. Longmire, age 24, wife of William Akin Longmire
1873 John Blackman Webb, infant son of Joshua Whitfield Webb and Sarah Catherine (Dennis) Webb
1874 Ann R. Winn, age 30, wife of William McKendree Winn
1875 Margaret (Noland) Cox, age 64, widow of Joseph Harrison Cox
1878 Isaac Newton Webb, age 31, husband of Frances E. (Donald) Webb
1878 Francis Asbury Winn, age 64, father of William McKendree Winn
1878 Mary N. Webb, infant daughter of Isaac Newton Webb and F. E. Webb
1878 Georgie Hallena Webb, infant daughter of Joshua Whitfield Webb and Sarah Catherine (Dennis) Webb
1879 Arthur Demere, age 2, son of W. Herbert Demere and Maggie L. (Dennis) Demere
1879 Robert Jentry West, age 67, husband of Mary Ann (Ryland) West
1880 Sarah P. Dennis, infant daughter of Andrew Jackson Dennis and Sarah Almira Sally (Webb) Dennis
1880 Isaac B. Webb, age 78, husband of Mary (Hughes) Webb
1880 Samuel H. Webb, age 26, son of Isaac B. Webb and Mary Hughes Webb
1880 Emma (Moodie) Bryan, age 33, wife of William Gaston Bryan
NUMBER OF BURIALS AFTER 1880
36 1881 THROUGH 1890
28 1891 THROUGH 1900
26 1901 THROUGH 1910
14 1911 THROUGH 1920
12 1921 THROUGH 1930
22 1931 THROUGH 1940
10 1941 THROUGH 1950
On July 6, 1876, Isaac B. and Mary N. Webb conveyed approximately one-half acre of land adjoining the then existing cemetery tract to William Caruth, William Harris, J.D. Douglas, D.R. McCullock, William P. Cochran and John S. Dickason, as Trustees, for the use and benefit of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. The deed was recorded in Official Records of Dallas County, Texas, in Volume 51, Pages 139-140 on March 3, 1881.
About 1903, Webb Chapel Methodist Church moved from the land given by the Webbs to 2536 Valley View Lane in Farmers Branch and abandoned the cemetery tract. Sophronia Frances Fronie Ford, youngest daughter of Isaac B. and Mary Hughes Webb, looked after the cemetery. Fronie Ford owned the property directly to the south of the cemetery. Property on all sides of the cemetery was owned by heirs of Isaac B. Webb and Mary Hughes Webb.
April 22, 1955, Anne (Johnston) Ford (Mrs. Gus L. Ford) formally conveyed a strip of land off the north side of her property to The Webb Chapel Cemetery Association, confirming an earlier gift to the Cemetery Association in 1945 by her husband. This deed was recorded March 16, 1956, in Volume 4458, Page 74, Deed Records of Dallas County, Texas.
April 23, 2001, Howard J. Cox signed an AFFIDAVIT OF FACTS CONCERNING THE WEBB CHAPEL CEMETERY AND THE LAND CLAIMED BY THE WEBB CHAPEL CEMETERY ASSOCIATION FOR CEMETERY PURPOSE which was filed April 24, 2001, and was duly recorded in Volume 2001 080, Pages 6503-6508 of records of Dallas County, Texas.
HISTORY OF WEBB CHAPEL CEMETERY ASSOCIATION
June 20, 1915, several citizens of Dallas County, Texas, interested in the Webbs Chapel Cemetery, near Farmers Branch, Texas, held a meeting at the cemetery grounds with C.B. Gillespie acting as temporary chairman. Sophronia Frances Ford (Mrs. G.L. Ford) was unanimously elected as President.
July 4, 1915, CONSTITUTION AND BYLAWS OF THE WEBBS CHAPEL CEMETERY ASSOCIATION, written by G. Gus Ford, Jr., were adopted. Article II stated, The purpose of the Association shall be to own, operate and maintain grounds for the burial of the dead. Regular meetings of the Association were held for which there are written minutes to 1925. There are no known written minutes of meetings of the Association from 1925 until 1938.
September 18, 1938, the Webbs Chapel Cemetery Association met in called session in the cemetery grounds for the purpose of reorganizing and making plans for future care of the grounds. Gus L. Ford was elected President. New CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF THE WEBBS CHAPEL CEMETERY ASSOCIATION were adopted.
February 19, 1939, Trustees Gus L. Ford, Elizabeth Cox, Mary Winn, Nanelle (Ogden) Connell, Bula Brown, Mattie (Kennedy) Jackson, Leika (Dennis) Gravley, Bessie (Asbury) Dennis and Homer Dooley, proposed a five year plan to raise $2,500 to maintain the cemetery, put a permanent fence around the cemetery, build a wall at the northeast corner, install a water system and invest $1,500 in a permanent endowment for the cemetery. This written plan was mailed to the members March 1, 1939.
May 19, 1946, CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATION SERVICE was followed by regular annual meeting of the Association.May 18, 1947, Treasurer Connell reported $1,842.18 in bank accounts. A goal of $3,000.00 for the permanent endowment was agreed upon with the hope that the goal could be reached by May 1948, President Gus L. Ford died after the 1947 meeting and before the 1948 meeting.
March 7, 1948, Trustees met and elected Anne (Taliaferro) McMillan (Mrs. J. W. McMillan) to fill the vacancy on the Board of Trustees. Elizabeth Cox was elected President.
May 16, 1948, Treasurers report showed $2,413.40 on deposit.
May 20, 1951, Warren Gravely was elected President.
May 24, 1953, Howard J. Cox was elected President.
May 15, 1955, Treasurer Nanelle Connell reported that the endowment fund is now $3,067.43
April 16, 1963, Martha Elizabeth Cox died. Her will provided that her entire estate be used to build a memorial to the Pioneers of this community, it being known as the Chapel of Silence. It is further provided subject to the approval of the Trustees of the Webb Chapel Cemetery Association, that this Chapel be located near the front gate of the Webb Chapel Cemetery and on the property of the cemetery so designated and donated by the Association.
May 19, 1963, the Association adopted a motion to recommend to the Board of Trustees not to accept the Chapel Building in the cemetery as designated in the Will of Martha Elizabeth Cox. The Trustees refused the Chapel Building on cemetery grounds by a majority vote. (The Chapel of Silence was accepted by Cochran Chapel United Methodist Church. It now stands on the corner of Midway Road and Northwest Highway.)
May 1972, Robert Brent Pete Holden was elected President.
May 20, 1979, Howard M. Pete Ford was elected President.
July 28, 1994, Elizabeth Ann Taliaferro McMillan died. September 7, 1994, James Wesley McMillan died. The two McMillan wills left the entire estate to Webb Chapel Cemetery Association. Heirs of James Wesley McMillan contested his will. The Trustees of Webb Chapel Cemetery and the McMillan heirs entered into a settlement agreement. The Association realized $153,680.36 after paying $14,831.47 legal and miscellaneous expenses.
May 19, 1996, Mark Asbury was elected President.June 6, 1998, Article I of the Constiution was amended to state,
The name of this association shall be The Webb Chapel Cemetery Associaion.
By Howard Joseph Cox
