Our History

     The Bethlehem Church sprang from the Towash Church in 1879.  It was organized by E. D. Holley and T. F. Lockett.  The pastors were E. D. Holley, J. M. Glass, A. Marsh, G. W. Johnson, J. H. Johnson, M. C. Bolton, and  J. J. Harris.  The church was located three miles north of Whitney and was worked in the Towash and Hillsboro Association.

     On December 4, 1879 the deacons of Bethlehem Baptist Church voted to pay the sum of thirty dollars to E. J. Watson.  This was to convey approximately 2.00 acres to be used as a cemetery. This was transacted December 19, 1879 before Justice of Peace and Notary Public R. M. Elden.

     Filed and recorded in Vol Z Page 212 Deed Records, Hill County, Texas by Eastland Title Company on April 9, 1890.

     The first burial was in 1880 for Newt Williams and his small child that had drowned a few days before Mr. Williams passed away.  The child was originally buried in Towash, but when the father died it was disinterred and brought to Bethlehem Cemetery and buried in the same grave as its father.

     The Cemetery Association was formed in April 1900, with the following organizational committee: Mrs. T.P.S.  McCowen, Mrs. E.T. Williams, Mrs. May Tarver, Mrs. D.S. Mayes and Miss Lizzie Griffith were appointed.  Officers were elected as follows: Mrs. May Tarver, President; C.R. Rodgers, First Vice-President;  Mrs. Ed Boesch, 2nd Vice-President; Mrs. W. T.  Herrick, Secretary; D. S. Mayes, Treasure.

     According to record from 1906 there are fifteen Confederate solders and one Union solider buried in Bethlehem Cemetery as well as generations of several prominent families who helped develop the Bethlehem Community and the town of Whitney.  Some of the early community members were the Tarvers, Carvers, Spencers, Bashams, Harris, Wallings, and Gilmores.

     The D.S. Williams family moved to he Bethlehem Community in 1866 before the Town of Whitney was settled.  They raised six sons and one daughter in the area.  Four of the sons and their spouses are buried in Bethlehem Cemetery along with numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren.

     On the 24th day of July 1917, J. F. Wright surveyed the cemetery and recorded it on August 7, 1917 in Hill County.   We do not have the information as to when Bethlehem Baptist Church ceased to exist but sometime after 1919.  The land was donated to the Bethlehem Cemetery. There is 9.704 acres in the cemetery now.

     In October 1993 the Bethlehem Cemetery Association voted to incorporate and filed in the office of the State of Texas December 23, 1993 .

     In 2015 the board had a small structure built at the back of the cemetery.  It is furnished with glass enclosed bulletin boards with a list of names and the section number for each burial.

     A  history of the Baptist of Hill County, Texas, by J. C. Daniel in 1900

Deed Records of Hill County, Texas Volume Z Page 212

The Whitney Messenger, August 11, 1900

The Whitney Messenger, April 21, 1900

A. History of the Baptist of Hill County- June 1907