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Bays Chapel Community
Montgomery County Texas
Their Never was a town called Bays Chapel.
It was known as
Bays Chapel Community
Town of
Bays Chapel,
Montgomery County Texas
From
Heritage Museum of Montgomery
http://www.heritagemuseum.us/countyhistory.shtm
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BAY’S CHAPEL. A decade before the Civil War, Thomas Bay and his wife,
Mary, left Haywood County, Tennessee for Texas. The couple had 8 children.
Their families traveled with the Bays. The families included William
Harrison and wife Cynthia, Andrew Foster and wife Elizabeth, Bob and
Jane Williamson, James Henry, Rebecca, Joseph, Sallie and Thomas Boen, a
Mr. Duckworth, a widower, and his three children. The families bought and
settled on/rthe J. H. Collard headright. They built homes of hewn logs.
They constructed a log building which served as church and school. The
building became known as Bay’s Chapel Church and School. There were eight
members who joined the church by letter in 1851. Their names were:
Thomas and Mary Bay, William Harrison and Cynthia Bay, Andrew Foster
Bay, Jane Williamson, James and Sarah Bay. Over the next few years the
congregation and community increased in size. Among early settlers were
Williamsons, Neasons, Hokes, Sims, Keislers, Edwards, Leonards, Satchers,
Harmons, Oliphants, Hendricks, Myres, Coopers, Gortmans, Welches,
Thomases, Worshams, Johnsons, and Caldwells. After the Civil War, many
of these families moved on to Longstreet which was three miles east of
Anderson and two miles into present day Montgomery County. |
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Correction of Bays Chapel, TX
and a question about
Longstreet Community Center.
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B'roque
Cowgirl <thejerseylilly2000@gmail.com> |
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Wed, Oct 26, 2022 at 8:02
PM |
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To:
Jsmoorenburg@gmail.com |
Hello, |
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I was recently on
your Montgomery county TXGenweb page and the write up
that is titled, The Town of Bays Chapel, Montgomery
County, Texas. There never was a town named Bays Chapel,
it was named Keisler, Texas. my husband's great
grandfather Jesse Thomas Keisler owned the general store
and was postmaster at Keisler, Texas, which is just a
short distance from Bays Chapel Church. The Keislers
owned the sawmill that all the lumber was cut at to
build the church. Just thought it should be corrected.
Before the post office was in operation, it was just
known as "Bays Chapel Community" and they got their mail
at the Longstreet Post office, which was located near
where the Longstreet Community Center is today at Bays
Chapel Rd and FM 149. |
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I was actually
searching for information on the Longstreet Community
Center, hoping to find out when it was built. This last
weekend, and Jeep ran into the sbuilding and knocked it
completely off all of its supporting concrete blocks.
Area residents have asked when it was built and I can't
find anything stating when. |
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I had contacted the
TXGenWeb Project through Facebook messenger, and they
asked me to send my info to you. |
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Thank you, |
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Gwen Pool |
***************************************
The Bay's Chapel
Community was near Richards Texas.
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Gwen
Thus far I have found no evidence that "There never was a
town named Bay's Chapel, it was named Keisler, Texas" but I
did find info from a historical marker for Bay's Chapel
Cemetery that talks about the Bay's Chapel Community.
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Marker Text
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This
burial ground is named for Thomas and Mary Bay, who
settled here in 1850. Along with other area
pioneers, the Bays established a community, whose
focal point was a building that was used as a church
and school. The Bay family also deeded the property,
which would be used as a community cemetery. The
earliest known burial here, of Mary Francis
Williamson, dates to 1852. Others interred include
community leaders and veterans of conflicts dating
to the War of 1912. Cemetery features include
vertical stones, curbing, interior fencing and
Woodmen of the World monuments. Today, a cemetery
association cares for the historic burial ground.
(2008) |
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Marker No: 15829 |
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Texas Historic Cemetery Marker |
Geographic:
30.601454,-95.802521
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Location: From
Richards, FM 149 South. 2 miles, left on Bay's
Chapel Road, go 4.1 miles., turn right on cemetery
Road, go .6 miles to end of Cemetery Road on left.
Location of
Longstreet Community Center
Long
Street Community Center ·
20240 Bays Chapel Road
Richards, Texas 77873 ·
For
information call 936-539-7815. |
Bays Chapel
Montgomery County Texas from the Montgomery County
Historical Commission, October 15, 2022
from
Larry Foerster
MCHC Vice-Chairman Victor Uher is one of the volunteers we
are soliciting, who will photograph Recorded Texas
Historical Landmark (RTHL) structures, of which Bay's Chapel
in northwest Montgomery County is one of many. These photos
of the RTHL structures will be found on the new app that the
Texas Historical Commission is creating.
The goal is to have the many RTHL structures photographed
and sent to the THC by December 1. It is hoped that these
photos will also be available on our MCHC website as we
promote our county history. We solicit everyone’s help in
getting these photos. Please let me know if you want to
help.
I am also attaching the
historical narrative of the
Bay's Chapel Church and Bay's Chapel Cemetery which is about
6/10ths of a mile down the road from the church.
Ann Meador sent me these
photos which were from Bessie Owens’ collection and indexed
by the 501c3 Montgomery County Taskforce.
Bay's Chapel Methodist Church Marker
Bay's
Chapel Front
Bay's
Chapel Front with Historical Marker
Bay's
Chapel Side View
Bay's Chapel
Sign
Ann Meader
asked
Cindy
Cheney, who is directing the indexing of Bessie
Owens documents, to see if the Taskforce had anything on
Bays Chapel. She pulled the attached pictures from our
file with Bessie Owens own notes written on them. I
believe that she has the front view of the building
mislabeled as the rear view in one photo. If they are to
be used somewhere, please label them from Bessie Owen
collection with permission of Catherine Price (Bessie’s
niece who now owns the collection).
Bay's Chapel Methodist Church ca 1975
from Bess Owen
Collection
Bay's Chapel
Methodist Church
from Bess Owen
Collection
Bays Chapel ca
1910 Loyce Hoke Tucker - Bay Family Portrait and Home
Mrs. Loyce Hoke Tucker, 84, of
Richards, passed away on June 22, 2004 in Houston,
Texas. She was born Jan. 24, 1920 in Bays Chapel
Community to Jesse and Hattie Hoke. Mrs. Tucker retired
from Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas after 25
years of dedicated labor. Among her many achievements
are 50 years in the Eastern Star; service as the
Anderson-Shiro CISD Librarian and she retired from
Montgomery Independent School District as the Librarian.
Mrs. Tucker is survived by her daughter, Lynda
Taliaferro and her husband, Charles; twin
granddaughters, Allison and Tiffany Taliaferro; her
brother, Emory Hoke; two sisters, Katherine Nichols and
Belle Pearce; and numerous nieces and nephews. She is
preceded in death by her parents; three brothers; and
six sisters. Services for Mrs. Tucker are scheduled for
2 p.m., Thursday, June 24, 2004 at Bays Chapel United
Methodist Church, with the Rev. Reagan Cooksey and the
Rev. Floyd Hoke officiating. Interment will follow at
Bays Chapel Cemetery in Richards, Texas. Mrs. Tucker
will lie in state throughout the day on Wednesday and
her family will receive friends from 5 to 8 p.m. that
evening. Arrangements under the direction of Huntsville
Funeral Home in Huntsville, Texas.
U S Post Office at
Keisler, Texas
| From |
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Larry Foerster <foerster@dfcllp.com> |
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to: |
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"phistory@usps.gov" <phistory@usps.gov> |
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cc: |
B'roque Cowgirl <thejerseylilly2000@gmail.com>,
Jean Smoorenburg <jsmoorenburg@gmail.com> |
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date:
Nov 4,
2022, 11:47 AM |
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TO HISTORIAN, US POSTAL SERVICE:
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I am attempting to locate
the U S postal records for a post office in the community of Keisler,
Montgomery County, Texas. It probably operated for a short time in
the late 1880s or the very early 1900s. |
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I am attaching a photo of
this old Keisler post office showing the postmaster Jesse Thomas
Keisler and his wife Cynthia Elizabeth Bay Keisler.
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Thank you for any
assistance you may be able to provide me.
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Hi!
What a
neat picture!
A list of postmasters who served at the
Keisler Post Office is online in Postmaster
Finder.
For a copy of the original postmaster
appointment records, see https://catalog.archives.gov/id/78776793 (page
7).
For a copy of the application to establish
the Post Office, see https://catalog.archives.gov/id/68763259 (pages
112-113).
I hope this is helpful.
Jenny Lynch
Historian an Corporation Information Services Manager
United
States Postal Service | 202.268.2074
Explore postal history at
https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/.
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Larry
Foerster |
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to Jennifer, thejerseylilly2000@gmail.com, me
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Thanks, Jennifer. This
is very helpful!!
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