Donie, Freestone County
Located in the southwest corner of Freestone County, the Wilson Chapel Cemetery is within the Isaac Connelly survey. Isaac Connelly was given a league and a labor of land by the Republic of Texas in 1838. In 1854, Connelly sold 250 acres to F.E. Wilkinson. In 1866, Wilkinson sold this land to Frederich Wilson (1810-1891). Wilson’s son inherited the land and sold a portion to the G.W. Ivy family. Eventually, Ivy descendants, Haskell and Nona Roberts, deeded 1.16 acres to the Wilson Chapel Cemetery Association in 1947 along with two acres that had been set aside as a cemetery in 1891 but never recorded. Additional acreage was donated by the Houston Light and Power Company in 1981. The first burial is attributed to Frederich Wilson’s daughter, Martha, when she died in 1867 and was buried on a knoll. Frederich Wilson is also buried here, along with J.N. Connelly, son of Isaac Connelly, and his wife, Milisa, and an early Texas ranger. Many veterans are buried here from the Mexican War, Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War and the Persian Gulf Conflict. Among the cedars and crepe myrtle trees are limestone, granite and marble tombstones. Also on the grounds is the Wilson Chapel Church. Originally, the church was a white wooden structure but, in 1958, a new red brick structure was built. A pavilion was added to the site in 2008 for social gatherings. The Wilson Chapel Cemetery Association was formed in 1912 to maintain this historic cemetery. A memorial day was established to decorate grave sites and honor family and friends buried here. Wilson Chapel Church and Cemetery are the last remnants of a once-thriving farming community.