Bill Text: TX HR2392 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Enrolled

Texas House Resolution 2392 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Commemorating the unveiling of an Official Texas Historical Marker at Long Branch Cemetery in Falls County.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)

Status: (Passed) 2015-05-14 - Reported enrolled [HR2392 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-HR2392-Enrolled.html



	H.R. No. 2392



	R E S O L U T I O N

	WHEREAS, The Texas Historical Commission has recognized Long
	Branch Cemetery as a Historic Texas Cemetery, and this honor is
	being celebrated with the unveiling of an Official Texas Historical
	Marker on May 16, 2015; and
	WHEREAS, One of the oldest graveyards in Falls County, this
	bucolic site is all that remains of Long Branch, an African American
	community of tenant farmers and manual laborers, many of whom came
	to Texas from Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, and
	Virginia; the cemetery traces its beginnings to 1883, when trustees
	of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Long Branch purchased land in
	the settlement for the purpose of erecting a sanctuary and
	establishing a burial ground; and
	WHEREAS, The Long Branch Cemetery was a community graveyard,
	meaning that any African American who was born and raised in Long
	Branch could be buried there without indebtedness; while many of
	the early interments went unrecorded, the cemetery is known to hold
	the graves of 25 freed slaves, and the remains of many Long Branch
	natives who spent their lives elsewhere were brought home by loved
	ones to this final resting place; the more than 200 known burials
	include those of sharecroppers, domestics, hotel workers, taxi
	drivers, seamstresses, midwives, teachers, carpenters, butchers,
	brick masons, and farmers; and
	WHEREAS, Notable individuals buried in Long Branch include
	Silvia King, a native of Morocco who is believed to have been born
	in 1803 and who died in Falls County in 1937; her remarkable life
	story was recorded in the 1930s by staff of the Works Progress
	Administration; also buried in the cemetery are a Civil War
	veteran, Anthony Shaw of the 104th U.S. Colored Infantry, as well as
	veterans of World War I, World War II, and Vietnam; and
	WHEREAS, The last worship services in the church were held in
	1971 and the building was later destroyed by fire, but Long Branch
	Cemetery remains an active burial ground and a hallowed reminder of
	the rich history of this once-vibrant Texas community; now,
	therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas
	Legislature hereby commemorate the unveiling of an Official Texas
	Historical Marker at Long Branch Cemetery in Falls County and
	extend to all those present sincere best wishes for a meaningful and
	memorable event.

	Kacal

	______________________________
	Speaker of the House

	I certify that H.R. No. 2392 was adopted by the House on May
	13, 2015, by a non-record vote.

	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House