WESLEY CHAPEL

Wesley Chapel, "a one-room log house" was constructed on a site located southeast of the intersection of highway 67 and Camp Wisdom Road.

The little church was attended by people of all denominations from the surrounding countryside.

It was served each Sunday by circuit riders of different religious persuasions.

In 1847, it was organized as a Methodist church, at which time it was called Wesley Chapel.

Although it was officially a Methodist church, it was still attended by people of differing religious beliefs, since it was the only church in the area.

A small cemetery was also located at the site. The Wesley chapel burial ground was a little north of the church, the front of the church faced south.

"Four big pecan trees were planted to mark the corners of the original Wesley Chapel church.

They are all that remain of Wesley Chapel. Somehow this small plot of land located off Highway 67 (Marvin D. Love Freeway) east of Duncanville where Camp Wisdom crosses, has managed to escape excavation and modern development. Today these trees are now tall and majestic.

The log structure was demolished on April 29, 1856, by a tornado, then called a 'cyclone'.

The same day, a storm killed nine persons and severely injured twelve others at Cedar Hill.

The building was restored by the congregation. It is interesting to note that the Dallas Herald, in reporting details concerning the destruction done by this storm, in its issue of may 10, 1856, described Wesley Chapel as 'the Methodist Church that camps on Five Mile Creek.'

Wesley Chapel and Cemetery were located in the northwest Portion of the J. R. Bell survey 123, in southwest Dallas County. The present day location description is city of Dallas, block 1/6929, city plan no 68-185, on Marvin D. Love Freeway southeast of the Camp Wisdom intersection.

Wesley Chapel: records on headstones in the tiny Wesley Chapel showed that a burial took place there in 1852.

"Here lies Margaret Garner--she died so young-- 1852."

There were thought to be as many as 40 burials at Wesley Chapel.

According to the markings on the graves, the last burial at Wesley Chapel Cemetery was in 1932.

The graves that could be found were moved to Wheatland cemetery in the fall of 1968, by land developers who had recently purchased the land.

The developers had also agreed to erect a marker indicating the site of Wesley Chapel, but failed to fulfill their promise.

Hidden among blooming redbuds and majestic pecan and elm trees where the twentieth century goes roaring by in streamlined cars is the almost forgotten settlement of Wesley's Chapel.

No one maintains this land as a cemetery and it has not been in use since 1968.

Graves known to have been moved from Wesley Chapel to Wheatland Cemetery are:

Nannie Laster married F. L Garner 1884, born February 15,1865 and died July 22, 1902.

M. Margaret Garner

A.J. Garner 1810-1902

William Garner.