Olivewood Cemetery
Harris County, Texas
Directions: Heading east on Hwy 10 (west of 45), exit at Studemont Street or exit 767A. At light of exit ramp and Studemont Street turn right. Go underneath railroad bridge, and at first light is Center Street, turn right. Go down to 4th street and turn on Harvard Street. Go over railroad tracks, and turn right onto Hicks Street. (There is an Olivewood Cem. sign too) Go down Hicks and turn left on Court Street (5th street down, and next to grocery supply company). Go to end of street and cemetery is on the right.
This was recorded by Chad Roye on 8 May 2010 for his Boy Scout Eagle Project. This is the eastern half of the cemetery, from the fence to the middle. See history at the end. There are a lot of missing tombstones and some are unreadable now.
History:
Olivewood Cemetery, in Houston Texas, lies near a bend in White Oak Bayou, along the rail line to Chaney Junction, where the First and Sixth wards meet just northwest of downtown Houston. The 6-acre cemetery is an historic resting place for many freed slaves and some of Houston’s earliest black residents. This cemetery served the early African-American community in Houston for approximately 100 years. The Olivewood Cemetery Association incorporated in 1875 and purchased 5.5 acres of this property that same year from Elizabeth Morin Slocomb. The organization brought two adjacent acres in 1917. Also know in its early years as Olive Wood, Hollow Wood and Hollywood, it is one of the oldest known platted cemeteries in the city. The original 444 family plots comprising over 5,000 burial spaces were laid out along an elliptical drive. The burial ground contains several hundred marked graves, in addition to an unknown number of unmarked graves. In 1875, the land which had previously been used for slave burials, was purchased by Richard Brock, Houston's first black Councilman. It opened as a cemetery for black Methodists in 1877. When Olivewood was platted, it was the first African-American burial ground within the Houston city limits.
This cemetery features examples of pre- emancipation burial practices, including upright pipes (symbolizing the path between the worlds of the living and the dead), ocean shells as grave ornaments and text containing upside down or backwards letters (as used in some West African cultures to signify death). Today, Olivewood Cemetery remains as a key historical site in Houston, serving as a testament to the foresight and perseverance of the cemetery founders.
Many of Houston's post-emancipation African- Americans community are buried in the cemetery including: Reverend Elias Dibble; first minister of Trinity United Methodist Church, Reverend Wade H. Logan; minister of Trinity, James Kyle; a blacksmith, Richard Brock; bought the property, James B. Bell; businessman, J. Vance Lewis; attorney, James D. Ryan; educator, Russell F. Ferrill; physician, Milton A. Baker; dentist. Also buried here are ex-slaves, laborers, fraternal organization members, and military veterans.
The cemetery includes more than 700 family plots around a graceful, curve drive that was an ornate entry gate. It contains graves of the well-to-do and those who died in poverty. The grave markers go from elaborate Victorian monuments to simple handmade headstones. Burials at Olivewood continued through the 1960's.
In 2003 after decades of neglect and abandonment the "Decedents of Olivewood" a nonprofit organization was established to take guardianship of the cemetery, "to provide care and to protect its historical significance. Olivewood is a Historic Texas Cemetery.
Copyright 2010 Chad Roye All Rights Reserved.
| Name | Birth | Death | Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adams, Joseph | 22 Jun 1919 | ||
| Alberta, Calvin | |||
| Allen, Oliver | 19 Aug 1938 | TX Pvt KL:412 Res Labor BN OMC | |
| Allen, Richard | 10 Jun 1831 | 16 May 1939 | |
| Allen | wife no dates or tombstone | ||
| Alexander, Helen | 29 June 1909 | 30 Oct 1928 | |
| Baker, Milton A. | 1839 | 30 Nov 1905 | (age 67)(b. Raleigh NC) |
| Bailey, Pros P. | 14 June 1909 | (age 36) | |
| Bateman, Hattie | 18 Aug 1869 | 14 Feb 1920 | |
| Bell, Mrs. V.N.A. | 19 Feb 1928 | ||
| Bell Plot | no tombstones | ||
| Beuchley, Mary | 1842 | 29 Jan 1897 | (age 55) |
| Black, Delpha | 14 Sept 1907 | (age 66) | |
| Blasher, Joe | 1864 | 10 Feb 1938 | (hand written) |
| Bledso, H.D. | 1929 | 1935 | |
| Blount, Clara E. | 30 Jun 1846 | 19 Jun 1905 | |
| Bonner, Alic | 22 Mar 1917 | ||
| Bowman, D | |||
| Bowman, Octavia | |||
| Bradley, Ewd. | Aged 62 Years (Husband) | ||
| Bradley, Hawthorn | Aged 19 months (gone but not forgotten) | ||
| Britton, Donna | 1848 | 22 Nov 1909 | (b. St. Martinville LA) |
| Bron, C. | (Handwritten) | ||
| Brown, Rosa | 24 June 1927 | (age 50 years)(this stone is outside the Brown plot) | |
| Brown plot | (no stones) | ||
| Bruge, Annie | 1850 | 8 Apr 1908 | |
| BMJ plot | (no stones) | ||
| Burton, Berry | 1886 | 27 Oct 1938 | (age 52) |
| Byers Plot | |||
| Carver, George | 1864 | 15 Apr 1912 | (age 48, My Husband) |
| Cook, Lawrence | 26 Nov 1936 | ||
| Cook, Allen Jr. | 28 June 1925 | ||
| Cook, Florence | 1877, d.1951 | ||
| Chatman, Ella | 1832 | 1921 | |
| Chester, Ella W | 9 Sept 1885 | 9 Nov 1913 | |
| Christie, Pink | 2 Mar 1860 | 9 Nov 1911 | (my mother) |
| Clark, James | 26 Nov 1894 | 30 Jan 1927 | (at rest) |
| Cobb, Miss E.E. | 30 Nov 1934 | (at rest) | |
| Coleman, Joe | 1880-1926 | ||
| Coleman, Mary | 23 Nov 1921 | ||
| Coleman, Prof. S.E. | 22 Mar 1887 | ||
| Conley, Willie | 12 Dec 1880 | 30 Nov 1897 | |
| Coprell, P. | 1865 | 1921 | |
| Clemons, Willie | 1898 | 28 Aug 1920 | |
| Corden, Roxie Ponder | 15 Sep 1882 | 12 Aug 1918 | wife of W.M. Ponder, dau of Chas & Henriette Ponder |
| Curtis, Priscilla | 1890 | 1935 | |
| S. Daniel Plot | no tombstones | ||
| Davis Family Plot: | |||
| Davis, A.S. | (footstone) | ||
| Davis, J.D. (Rev) | 5 Feb 1922 | (b. Kingston West Indies) | |
| Davis, Mary E.C. | 7 Apr 1867 | 28 Mar 1930 | |
| Davis, WE | |||
| Davis, Katie D. Jones | 1868 | 1925 | MOTHER (Weep not, they are not dead) |
| Davis, Ceaser | 1848 | 1902 | FATHER (same stone as Katie Jones Davis) |
| Dickerson, Ann | (Broken Tombstone) Mother-Home-Heaven | ||
| Doswell, Ada M. | 1896 | 1922 | (Wife of EJ Doswell) (Ada Dear) under Hicks plot |
| Duncan, Eva Estelle | 30 Nov 1877 | 1 Oct 1897 | |
| Dyles, Johaie | 1897 | 9 May 1944 | (Hand Written) |
| Edwards, Maria | 1855 | (under Godfrey plot) | |
| Edwards, Isom | 1864 | (b.Texas) (under Godfrey plot 1900 Harris Co TX census-lists Isom, wife Maria, dau Selina Hardy, dau Irene, dau Octavia Jackson, son-in-law William, boarder Madeline Jackson(b.1886), mother-in-law Jane Caldwell | |
| Ellaeasi | stone | ||
| Elliot, Elmoe Edwin | 3 May 1932 | (Texas Sgt 165 Dept Brig ) | |
| Esse, W. | no dates | ||
| Etta, Fannie | 8 Jan 1866 | 27 Dec 1896 | (wife of F.W. Robinson, daughter of Miss Annie Mae-Woodley) |
| Emma | 1885-1926 | (near Moore family w/ tilted tombstone) | |
| Esley, Mary | 2 Mar 1870 | 28 Sept 1926 | |
| Ferrill, Susie F. | 14647 | (DEATH OR BORN?) | |
| Ferrill Plot | |||
| Ferrill, Dr. D.G. | ? | 14 April 1902 | |
| Ferrill, Russell F. (DR) | 18 Oct 1863 | 6 Feb 1947 | |
| Ferrill, Vinnie H. | 5 Oct 1890 | 4 Apr 1894 | |
| Ferrill, Ida H. | 5 March 1870 | 19 Oct 1905 | (on same stone as Vinnie H.) |
| Filder, Alice | (hand written) | ||
| Ford, James William | 18 Jan 1920 | 20 Mar 1922 | |
| Ford, James Allen | 5 Dec 1902 | 13 Feb 1951 | (Texas Pvt Field Artillery ) |
| Ford, Getrude R. | 1879, d.1947 | ||
| FL plot | (3 stones, no writing on stones) | ||
| Godfrey Plot | |||
| Godfrey, Irene Edwards | (sis to Octavia Jackson lives with her in 1920) | ||
| Godfrey, Oscar | 25 Dec 1896 | 6 Aug 1934 | (his WW1 draft card says born 26 Dec, in Wharton TX, his dad born in AL, and his wife is Lela. There is an Oscar Godfrey(age 3), and Alex Godfrey(age 6) with grandparents Orient & Dilse Tyler in 1900 Wharton Co TX) |
| Giton, Elizer | 1834 | 10 May 1900 | (age 66, mother) |
| Giton, Henry | 1818 | 9 August 1900 | (age 82, father) |
| GMW plot | (just stone with initials) | ||
| Grandfather | |||
| Grandmother | (that is all this grave says) | ||
| Grant, Paul | 16 years (hand written) | ||
| Gray, M.E. | 25 Aug 1920 | age 65 | |
| Gray, Mary C. | 1881 | 1920 | (same plot area as Sidney Isles) |
| Gray, Pink | 10 May 1861 | 15 Feb 1930 | |
| Gray, Lucy | 8 Mar 1863 | 13 Nov 1932 | |
| Gray, John | 22 Sep 1855 | (age 20, brother of Ellen Vance, son of Lucy Gray) | |
| Gray, Lucy | 12 Mar 1800 | 18 Sep 1867 | (mother of John Gray & Ellen Gray Vance) these two grave on the same stone as Frank & Ellen Vance |
| Grives, Bettie Onitt | 6 Jan 1860 | 18 May 1915 | |
| Haley, John W. | 29 Sept 1918 | ||
| Haley, Phyllis | 19 March 1917 | ||
| Haley, Lucy | 23 Jan 1906 | ||
| Haley. Pattie | 14 Oct 1870 | 19 Nov 1915 | |
| Hardeway Plot | 6 Spots | ||
| Rodney | infant son of RD & OB Hardeway (2 years 28 days) | ||
| Haley Plot | |||
| Haley, John W. | 29 Sep 1918 | ||
| Haley, Phyllis | 19 Mar 1917 | (Tender Mother & Father) | |
| Hall, Camille | 8 Nov 1899 | 5 Sept 1901 | |
| Hardy, Laura | 10 Aug 1952 | ||
| Hardy, Selina | Dec 1878 | (under Godfrey plot) | |
| Harris, Cora | 20 Oct 1892 | 27 Jun 1930 | |
| Harris, W.A. | (name is written backwards as SIRRAH A.W. and is missing a reflection mirror) | ||
| Henderson, Theola | 1914 | 1929 | |
| Henderson, D.H. | 1880 | 1927 | |
| Henderson, Willis | 1850 | 1927 | |
| Hicks Plot | |||
| Ada M. | 1896 | 1922 | (Wife of EJ Doswell) (Ada Dear) |
| Hooper, Julia | 1888 | 1908 | |
| Hunter, Bertha | 10 Nov 1904 | ||
| Isles, Sidney C. | 5 Aug 1871 | 16 Mar 1930 | |
| Jackson, W M Plot | no tombstones | ||
| Jackson, Octavia | 1 Jan 1881 | 25 Dec 1945 | (under Godfrey plot, her sis Irene E. Godfrey lives with her in 1920 census, 1900 Harris Co TX, she is with her parents Isom & Maria Edwards and husband William Jackson, he has died by 1920) |
| Jenkins, Juanita M. | Oct 1913 | Age 71 | |
| Johnson, Chas. | 30 Dec 1922 | age 70 | |
| Johnson, T.J. | 1900 | 1922 | |
| Johnson, Hattie | 14 Feb 1916 | (age 76) | |
| Johnson, Rebecca | 10 June 1858 | ||
| Jones Family: | (new stone, no dates) Henry, Sarah, J. Will, Maggie, Mathew, Harry | ||
| Jones, Nancy | 1836 | 1910 | (age 74) |
| Jones plot: | |||
| Jones, Fred | 1889-1926 | (Gone but not forgotten) | |
| Kinson, Abram | 1910 | 1923 | |
| Kirven, Estella | 10 Jun 1896 | 21 May 1918 | (may she rest in peace) |
| Lunnon, Henry | 4 Jul 1892 | 13 Sep 1916 | |
| Larner, Calvin | 11 Feb 1876 | 27 May 1926 | |
| Larner, Alberta | 18 Jan 1873 | 7 Jun 1911 | |
| Long, Adm (Adam)? | 5 Jul 1935 | Age 24 | |
| Lyons, Maggie | 1875 | 12 Oct 1906 | wife of Dr. S.M. Lyons |
| Moore, Charley | 16 Sep 1919 | (Age 3 Years) (asleep on year???) | |
| Markham, Rosa D.J. | 9 Apr 1874 | 15 May 1900 | (on Wilson Plot) |
| Markham, Rosa A.M. | 14 May 1900 | 14 May 1900 | (infant) |
| Marshall, Lula | 13 Sept 1887 | 31 Aug 1912 | |
| Marshall, Leo (Baby) | 25 Sept 1915 | 25 Jan 1918 | Note: In memory of our darling baby age 3 years and 4 months. |
| May, Benjamin H. | Oct 1890 | May 1932 | |
| Mayes Plot | no tombstones says "but our darling daughter" | ||
| McClaine, Josephine | 22 Jan 1916 | Age 42 ( My Hallowed Wife ) | |
| McCray, John | 2 Apr 1937 | (Texas Corp 322 Serv. BN) | |
| Miles, Lee | 1860 | 1927 | |
| Miller, Benjamin H. | 7 March 1929 | ||
| Miller, Dallie E. | 9 Jul 1949 | ||
| Mills, John | 18 Aug 1919 | ||
| Mills, Annie | 29 Jan 1920 | ||
| Mitchell, Isaac G. | 27 Sep 1861 | 27 Oct 1894 | |
| Mitchell, Maggie R. | |||
| Moore, C.E. | 1856-1921 | ||
| Moore, Mattie | 1893-1913 | ||
| Moore, Willie | 1884-1912 | ||
| Moore & Washington families plot | (no stones) | ||
| Nelson, K.W. | 16 Feb 1894 | (age 50) | |
| Nelson, Mary E. | 17 Dec 1854 | 14 Nov 1891 | |
| Nelson, George | 10 Aug 1844 | 5 June 1919 | |
| Nichols Plot | no tombstones | ||
| Norton, Lenora | 1878 | 1913 | (In memory of our dear sister) |
| Overton, Johnnie B. | 19 Dec 1891 | 4 Aug 1925 | (son on top) |
| Overton, Dr. Timothy B. | 1869 | 1949 | |
| Parker, Mary | 16 May 1907 | (age 36) | |
| Patten, Donovin | 1908-1927 | (tombstone broken up) | |
| Patten, Pauline | 1872-1930 | ||
| Peters, Jennie | 10 Nov 1921 | (My Dear Sister) | |
| Perry Plot | no headstones | ||
| Phelps, Lawrence Oscar | 31 Mar 1920 | 16 Oct 1922 | (Infant Son of Mr. & Mrs. C.N. Phelps) |
| Phillips, Matilda B. | 1834 | 6 Apr 1894 | |
| Pikins, Alfred | 1829 | 16 Jun 1889 | age 60 |
| Pork, A. | 1922 | ||
| Price, Wilford | 1865 | 1911 | (Loving Memory Of Our Dear Father & Husband) |
| Reed, Willie | 30 Sept 1848 | 5 Sept 1901 | |
| Rhodes, Lizzie | 21 Apr 1897 | age 42 wife of Lewis Rhodes | |
| Richards, A. Ida | 27 Nov 1852 | 20 Jun 1885 | |
| Robinson, Fannie Etta | 8 Jan 1866 | 27 Dec 1896 | wife of F.W. Robinson, dau of J. Adams |
| Roscoe, Alphonso | 19 Nov 1890 | 21 Sept 1935? | |
| Ryan, James D. | 25 Oct 1872 | 14 July 1940 | |
| Sasser plot: | (3 stones not readable anymore) | ||
| Sasser Berry Bryan Jr. | 9 Sep 1876 | 4 Mar 1896 | (Gone but not forgotten) Note: Berry's stone is outside the plot on the ground, but foot stone with B.B.S. is in plot |
| Scott, Charles W. | 26 May 1910 | ||
| Scott, Eliza T. | 1861 | 1935 | |
| Selders, Rachel | 1894 | 18 May 1927 | |
| Shelton, Ada | 29 Nov 1916 | ||
| Simms, Willis | 6 Apr 25 1845 | Dec 4 1986 | |
| Simms, Sallie Simms | Dec 10 1918 | Age 67 | |
| Smith | (sunken in ground) | ||
| Smith, Estell | 1872 | 8 Apr 1925 | |
| Stanhope, Willie | 2 Nov 1894 | 28 Mar 1935 | |
| Stafford, Mrs. Viola | 3 Oct 1928 | age 33 | |
| Stepherson, John Arthur | 1929 | 1959 | |
| Stewart Plot | |||
| Bell, Josephine | 1879 | 1951 | |
| Stewart, Archie | 1867 | 1915 | |
| Stewart, Cora | 1874 | 1922 | |
| Stewart, Margaret | 1918 | 6 months old | |
| Taylor George | 1866 | 1910 | (Our Brother) |
| Stinson, John | 2 Nov 1872 | 10 Jul 1958 | |
| Stinson, Susie | 1875 | 1913 | (Our _____?) |
| Spriggs, Elizabeth Ann | 9 Feb 1922 | (My Dear Mother) | |
| Simms family plot | no tombstones | ||
| Stafford, Miss Viola | 1895 | 3 Oct 1928 | age 33 (hand carved stone) |
| Stone, baby | (unreadable, this has a lamb carving on top) | ||
| Smith Plot | NO STONES | ||
| Smith, Clo C. | 42067 | (BORN OR DEATH?) | |
| Snell, Italy | 26 Sept 1937 | (Texas Pvt 8 Engr Serv Co. ) | |
| Tarver, Nettie | 12 Oct 1906 | (A True Friend) | |
| Taylor, Emma | ??? | 1900 | |
| Taylor, H. | June 1848 | 9 Nov 1913 | |
| Temple, Bethesda | 1858 | 2 Jan 1926 | age 68 |
| Tibbitt, James Reed | 2 Aug 1891 | 13 Sept 1904 | |
| Tibbitt | 7 Sept 1888 | 25 Feb 1904 | dau of J.S. & E.W.Thomas |
| Thompson, Lee W. | 8 Aug 1906 | 14 July 1943 | (served in WW1) |
| Thompson, Edward | 6 Sept 1906 | ||
| Turner, Lewis | |||
| Vance, Frank | 12 Nov 1833 | 24 Dec 1910 | |
| Vance, Ellen | 1 Feb 1840 | 5 Jun 1897 | (see Lucy Gray for her mother) married 1 Dec 1855 |
| Vance, Sarah B. | 25 Oct 1876 | 13 Jul 1932 | also on this stone is John & Lucy Gray-see above |
| Ward, Eugenia | 10 Apr 1921 | Age 54 (Mother) | |
| William, Matilda | 3 Feb 1823 | 18 Dec 1918 | |
| Williams Plot | |||
| Williams, Julia | 1 Dec 1929 | MOTHER | |
| Williams, Lorenzo | 19 Jun 1916 | FATHER | |
| Williams, Lorenzo | Mar 24 1932 | BROTHER | |
| Williams, Zeke | 1878 | 1928 | |
| Woods, Mrs. L.W. | 1866 | 2 Jun 1926 | (age 66) (sacred to memory Delphia Black) |
| Warren, Eugene | 15 Oct 1903 | 18 Nov 1948 | (Ck 3 C USNR World War II) |
| Washington & Moore families plot | (no stones) | ||
| Washington, Annie | 1859 | 1919 | (Mother) |
| Webb Plot | |||
| Smith, Olive Webb | 1885 | 1919 | (Wife of Porter E. Smith) |
| Westbrook | no tombstones | ||
| William, Effie P. | 1905-1927 | (gone but not forgotten) | |
| Williams Plot | no tombstones | ||
| Williams, Zeke | 1878 | 1928 | |
| Williamson, James | 1829 | 1916 | |
| Williamson, John | 1867 | 1927 | |
| Wilson, Caucious A. | 14 Nov 1888 | 4 May 1954 | TX Pvt. 165 Depot Brigade World War I |
| Wilson, Pauline | 28 Dec 1990 | (dau of F.J. & Amy Wilson) | |
| Wilson, Sam | 5 Oct 1860 | 13 Nov 1930 | |
| Witherspoon | |||
| Woodley, Annie Mae | 11 Feb 193?? | (broken off) | |
| Wordfox, Theodore | 1877-1930 | (handwritten) | |
| Wren, Theodore | 1866 | 7 Aug 1910 | (b. Houston Texas) |
| Wren, Lula | 7 Apr 1867 | 27 Jan 1912 | (buried under olive branch No. 27) |