By Pete Kendall/reporter@trcle.com
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Watts Chapel homecoming began at a particularly opportune time, 1949, between two wars, when most of the boys were around to participate in family activities.
Eighty or so are expected to congregate Sunday for another round of back-slapping, yarn-telling and multi-course eating at the little white church off Farm-to-Market Road 4, on County Road 308 about halfway between Cleburne and Grandview.
Watts Chapel United Methodist Church has been part of the serene surroundings since 1892, when Nathaniel Franklin Watts (1851-1919) donated the land for the structure. He was the son of Alexander M. and Martha Span Watts. The Watts family moved from South Carolina to Anderson County, Texas, in 1857. N.F. Watts came to Johnson County in 1872, farming near Grandview for three years.
In 1875, the year he married Rachel Ann Bennett, Watts bought a small farm in an area henceforth known as Watts Chapel. He eventually owned 575 acres and a cotton gin with a 20 horsepower steam engine. Watts was more than a farmer and land baron. He was elected a county commissioner in 1890. He put his money where his mouth was two years later, gifting three acres of land for the church to trustees of the Cleburne Circuit, Northwest Texas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South on Dec. 17, 1892.
Today, Watts Chapel serves a far-flung congregation of folks who reside inside and outside Johnson County. In 1892, it served an immediate vicinity.
“In this part of the county, Liberty Chapel was older and had a Methodist Church,” said Earl Gatlin, Watts Chapel area native and church member, along with wife, Marie. “As the population increased in the southeastern part of the county, the people around Watts Chapel no longer wanted to go to Liberty Chapel. They wanted their own church.”
What you see in 2010 is pretty much what you would have seen in 1892. Even the trees are pretty much the same. Two trees, in particular, bear signs of what may have been anchors for a long-lost hitching post. In 1892, you didn’t drive your Oldsmobile to church. You drove your horse and buggy.
Watts Chapel Cemetery, located adjacent to the church and fellowship hall, predates the church by about a decade. It was created for the Watts family — five of the children died at an early age — but expanded when Watts deeded the land for the church. The first known burial was Sallie Watts in 1879. Daughter Benet C. Watts was the first of the Watts children buried in the cemetery after the donation of land for the church.
“The children died of natural causes,” Gatlin said. “They were buried on the property, and that was the start of the burials at Watts Chapel. We still have quite a few burials, I would estimate four a year. There are between 160 and 180 buried here now. Originally, the whole lot was trees. One part was cleared by Mr. Tolleson, a member in the ’20s and ’30s. We cleared the rest about 15 years ago.”
The cemetery history states: “There are 21 graves with rock headstones without legible names or dates. The cemetery contains a Civil War memorial tombstone for James Dunford, who served in Co. A 18th Texas Cavalry.”
His birth and death dates are unknown.
“What strikes me as interesting is that both Confederate veterans and Union veterans are buried there,” Gatlin said. “In my mind, it took a Christian community to bury them together because I can imagine someone saying, ‘Don’t bury me next to that Yankee’ or vice versa.”
The cemetery is officially Watts Chapel Rest Cemetery.
“It seemed to be a custom in the 1890s to make ‘rest’ part of a cemetery’s name,” Gatlin said.
Among those resting in its confines are Gatlin’s parents and late first wife, Carlene, who also helped write the Walls Chapel history.
The church was constructed of lumber, part of it highly valued cypress, imported from Dallas. G.N. Byars, John R. Harris and Richard Venable were among the builders. New church pews were installed in 1962, the original wood floor was patched and finally replaced, and the roof and doors redone. The walls, windows and ceiling are identical to what church-goers saw 118 years ago.”
In the early days, the church grounds contained a tabernacle that was destroyed in 1927 by the same storm that obliterated Sand Flat Baptist Church two miles down the road. Watts Chapel church was none the worse for wear and doubtless the congregation welcomed the Baptists from the neighboring hamlet.
According to the history, much of it crafted by Gatlin, the homecoming was begun by two children of pioneer G.N. Byars, Lillian Cooper and Wyatt Byars.
“I didn’t make but a few of the homecomings until I retired in 1988 and came back to this area,” Gatlin said. “Of the ones I remember, people who came were mainly ancestors of early community members. As I recall, we used to give a small prize to the person traveling the farthest. One year, it was a lady from San Benito in the Valley. She was descended from an early family.”
The homecoming is not a particularly formal occasion. You’ll see more tennis shoes and jeans than wingtip brogans and suits.
After the customary Sunday School and services, lunch will be served at around noon. Homecoming festivities will start about 1 p.m.
“We welcome everyone who attends,” Gatlin said, “and we make time for people to stand up and introduce their families and friends and talk about their memories in a concise manner. Then we have our wonderful lunch.
“That’s normally followed by a cemetery association meeting to discuss finances and upkeep. For the most part, homecoming is a time to remember the people who came before us.”
