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In 1875 he was married to Rachel Ann Bennett, daughter of John Thomas and Ladocia Moore Bennett who had settled in the community in 1858. That year N. F. Watts bought a small farm in the area of Johnson County, afterwards known as Watts Chapel. Mr. Watts kept adding land to the original farm until he owned 575 acres. In 1881 he erected a cotton gin, which he fitted up with a hundred saws and a twenty horse power steam engine. Watts was a Mason, landowner, farmer, cotton gin owner and was elected commissioner for Johnson County in 1890.(3) Watts and others established the church and cemetery in 1892 and continuous worship services have been held from that time, in the same building and location. Nathaniel Franklin Watts deeded a three acre tract of land to the trustees of the Cleburne Circuit, Northwest Texas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South on December 17, 1892. Trustees of the Cleburne Circuit were N. L. Clardey, B. Blanton, J. F. Morrow, M. S. Gordon, R. J. Davie1, B. Wright, N. F. Watts, and James Cooper. The land was given (for one dollar) "And the further consideration of encouraging and advancing the religious interest of our community."(4) The minister of the Cleburne Circuit, which included Watts Chapel, was D. P. Badget(5), who was the first minister to serve the newly organized church. The adjoining cemetery predates the church by over a decade and probably started out as the N. F. Watts Family Cemetery. After their marriage in 1875, N. F. and Rachel Ann Bennett Watts had 12 children. Five of the Watts children died at an early age and are buried in this cemetery. According tCHNKWKS vјџџџџTEXTTEXTЂbFDPPFDPPfFDPCFDPChSTSHSTSHjSTSHSTSHj2SYIDSYIDPjSGP SGP djINK INK hjBTEPPLC ljBTECPLC „jFONTFONTœj<STRSPLC иj:PRNTWNPRkkFRAMFRAM}sˆTITLTITLt"DOP DOP 'td Ladocia Moore Bennett who had settled in the WATTS CHAPEL METHODIST CHURCH AND CEMETERY Watts Chapel Methodist Church and Cemetery was established in 1892. The Church was a "Circuit" church of the Cleburne, Texas Circuit of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The land given for the church is situated in Johnson County, Texas, and part of the Ethan Melton Survey. It is located about seven miles southeast of Cleburne;(1) just East of Farm to Market Road 4, on County Road 300, at the intersection of County road 308A. As population in the county increased, Watts Chapel was assigned to the newly established Cleburne East Circuit in l897,(2) and later the Grand View Circuit, and the Alvarado Circuit. These three Johnson County towns were the most populated areas near the present Watts Chapel Community. Settlers began building homes in this community many years before the church was organized. Methodist from here attended Prices Chapel-3 1/2 miles to the west, going by buggy, wagon and horseback. The young ladies who used this latter method of transportation used side saddles. Nathaniel Franklin Watts (1851-1919) who gave the land for the Church and Cemetery was the son of Alexander M. and Martha Spann Watts. He was born In Sumter District, South Carolina, in 1851. The parents of Alexander M. Watts, Julius and Agnes Benson Watts, of English-Scotch descent, lived all their lives in South Carolina. Alexander and Martha Spann Watts and their children moved to Anderson County, Texas in 1857 where Alexander was a farmer and gunsmith. He manufactured small arms, such as muskets and pistols. Three of N. F. Watts older brothers served in the confederate army and two other brothers became Methodist Ministers. N. F. Watts received an education in the subscription schools of Anderson County ano inscriptions on the stones the oldest child who died was nine years old, and the others just infants The first one buried here, Sallie Watts, born in 1878 died in 1879, was probably the first person buried in this cernetery.(6) This was some 13 years before the church was established Tragically an infant son, Franklin P. (December 13, 1890 to August 9, 1891) died the year prior to their gift of the land and an infant daughter, Benet C. (April 17, 1692 to May 27, 1693) the year after their donation to establish the church. Today the cemetery contains 181 graves. 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 Calvary C.S.A. The dates of birth and death is not inscribed on the stone. He was an orphan who was raised by J. T. and Ledocia Bennett. The Bennetts, also buried at Watts Chapel, were early settlers of the community. Thirty six years after the church and cemetery was established, on March 22, 1928, Rachel Ann Watts (1856 - 1936), the surviving widow of N. F. Watts, reaffirmed the original gift and specifically included the further purpose of the Church and necrology use for the Watts Chapel Community for all coming time.'4 The trustees for Watts Chapel named on the deed on that date were, C. N. Byars, R. H. Venable, and J. C. Chapman.(7) Dyars and Venable were charter members of the church. The minister of the Cleburne Circuit and Watts Chapel on that date was the Reverend J. M. Perry.(8) The church building has next to it an open air tabernacle for warm weather worship and singing. The buildings were constructed by early church members and local carpenters. The tabernacle, constructed just after completion of the church, was located across the road (now County Road 308A) about 60 yards east of the church. It was destroyed in April 1927 by the same tornado that destroyed Sand Flat Baptist Church 2 miles west. The Watts Chapel Church building was spared damage.(9) Separate covered tabernacles replacing brush arbors were in vogue for rural churches of the day and provided a more comfortable focal point for revival meetings and community singing which was a large part of early church life at Watts Chapel. For example, the following announcement is found in the Johnson County Review, Vol. II, No seven, - May 13, 1892: "Attention lovers of music: The next quarter1y singing of the Johnson County Musical Convention will be held with the class at Watts Chapel five miles west or Grand View on the Cleburne and Grand View road, commencing at 10 o'clock a.m., Saturday before the fifth Sunday in May, and lasting two days. There will be a musical entertainment Saturday night. All lovers of music and all interested in vocal music are earnestly requested to attend. By order of L. H. Hill, Pres., H. H. Easton, Sec". On June 3, 1892 it was reported in Vol. II No. 10, that 600 people were in attendance at this event. The present tabernacle was constructed in 1930 adjacent to the church building, between the church building and the cemetery. Some of the supporting timbers of the original tabernacle were used. The tabernacle is approximately 30' by 40' in size, has a dirt floor and Is still used for children's Sunday School class during summer months. Its' shade and uninhibited breeze is also the focal point for the annual Watts Chapel homecoming celebration held the first Sunday in August each year. The homecoming celebration was started in 1949 by two children of C. N. Byars: Lillian Cooper and Wyatt Byars. Mattie Wansley another daughter of C. N. Byars, had the name and date placed on the church building.(10) Today the Watts Chapel Congregation uses the same church building for worship services that C. N. Byars, John R. Harris, Richard Venable and others raised with lumber hauled by wagon from Dallas. The church building is representative of many of the Protestant rural community churches of the 1890,s. It is of simple, straight walled design, unadorned by arches, stained glass or even a steeple. The wood building is rectangular (approximately 36' by 50') with east/west gables. It is a one room structure with a raised area for pulpit and choir. The antique chancel railing, for the raised area, was not installed in 1892, but is very old. Although church pews were replaced in 1962, the original wood floor, patched and refinished many times, the roof replaced due to hai1 damage, exterior doors replaced, and concrete steps added at the front of the building, Watts Chapel Church goers are still surrounded by the same walls, windows, and ceiling that heard the prayers of that first 1892 congregation.(12) In the early years, heat was furnished by a wood burning stove. Lighting was provided by kerosene lanterns and wall lamps until about 1940 when rural electricity came to the community. Butane was installed for heating around 1948. Water was furnish by a hand dug well on the northwest corner of the church property. The well has been filled with dirt and is no longer used. In 1995 a new Fellowship Hall built on site of tabernacle with heat, cooling, a lovely kitchen and rest rooms and a water cooler. Before, there were only outdoor toilets. In 1997 windows in process of being replaced, using same method of construction as was used in original construction. The cemetery has been enclosed with cyclone type fencing. A metal arch over the gate is inscribed: Watts Chapel - Rest - 1892. The cemetery is well maintained under the direction of the cemetery association. The Watts Chapel Cemetery Association, Inc. was incorporated on the 4th of August 1985 under Article 1396-3,01, Texas non-profit corporation act. The incorporators were Ruby Hunt, Bernice Billingsley and Maurine Miller. The original Board of Directors for the Association were Charles E. Dobbins, Bob Walraven, Mrs. A. J. Marie Lambert Anna Forster Blount and Don prater.(13) Many years ago, Robert Jackson of the Cleburne, Texas Johnson County News, wrote: "Peacefully nestled in a grove of centurion oaks just south of Sand Flat is a tiny country church known as Watts Chapel. Around the frame building is an air of solitude and relaxation that seems to have lingered from the year of it's founding, 1892. Watts Chapel is probably the most serene place in the county. If you go there by yourself or with a friend you can feel the faith in God that built this nation out of the destruction of a Civil War and kept us free unto this day". Maybe we could learn a lesson from the peacefulness at the little Methodist Church under the Oaks."(14) Mr. Jackson may have captured the essence of why and how a small group of faithful descendants of the founding families and others, have sustained this small yet vital rural church. Watts Chapel Church and Cemetery continues to play an important role In "Encouraging and advancing the religious interest of our community", as N. F. and Rachel Watts envisioned so many years ago. In 1974 Watts Chapel United Methodist was placed in the Waxahachie District of the Central Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church and remains in this district today.(15) The Reverend Tim Russell (A former minister of Watts Chapel in 1969) is the District Superintendent. The Reverend Charles J. McAfee is the current Minister. A roster of Ministers who have served Watts Chapel since 1892 has been compiled. 1. Johnson County Deed Records~ Volume 53, Page 194. 2. Journal of Northwest Texas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, 1897, Page 31. 3. Viola Block, History of Johnson County and surrounding areas. Page 232, 230. 4. Johnson County Deed Records, Volume 53, Page 194. 5. Journal of Northwest Texas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, 1892, Page 27. 6. Viola Block, History of Johnson County and surrounding Areas, page 232, 238. 7. Johnson County Deed Records, Volume 265, Page 406. 8. Journal of Northwest Texas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 1926 Page 33. 9. Viola Block, History of Johnson County and Surrounding Areas, pages 232g 230. 10.Johnson County History Book Committee "The History of Johnson County, Texas". Dallas: Curtiss Media Corp. 11.Viola Block, History of Johnson County and Surrounding Areas, Pages 232, 238. 12.Viola Block, History of Johnson County and Surrounding Areas, pages 232, 238. 13. Local Church records (Watts Chapel) Layland Museum, Cleburne, Texas. 14. Robert Jackson, Newspaper article "Watts Chapel is Serene", Johnson County News, date unknown, Layland Museum, Cleburne, Texas. 15. Journal of the Centra1 Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church, 1974. s interest of our community", as N. F. and Rachel Watts envisioned so many years ago. In 1974 Watts Chapel United Methodist was placed in the Waxahachie District of the Cen8VZ> R 0Њ„5jHВO˜XЌXРXдX@YЪYZ„ZЬZ:[В[ \„\Ю\<]Т]^’^о^P_Ш_z`aЎaаbDc€c”cЈcМcаcфcјc d d4dHd\dpd„d˜dšdœdžd dЂdјєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєєЬЬЬЬ(2‚"'(Š  л)л @ЗS ЗVаc˜dšdœdžd dЂdаЂzpBpBp. "рŒ" $Š 08 " (" $Š 08. 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