Wade Cemetery

This burial ground was established in 1846 by William Wade, a wealthy plantation owner from Mississippi who came to Texas by the 1820s. He purchased considerable acreage from members of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundren Colony. By the 1840s, Wade owned over 11,000 acres of Republic of Texas land. His plantation extended from what was then Austin County (now Waller County) to the banks of the Brazos River. Wade brought horses and other livestock to the area, along with many workers. He and Churchill Fulshear were instrumental in the development of the area school and Methodist Episcopal Church South.

In the 19th century, it was typical for families who owned large ranches and plantations to establish cemeteries on their property when the first family member died. William's wife, Hulda, died in 1846 and her grave is the earliest in this cemetery. Before he passed away in 1859, William Wade began deeding land to his sons, Robert, Thomas and Alexander. Alexander Wade (d. 1915) fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War before settling on his property and marrying Sophronia (Fronie) Bell (d. 1925), granddaughter of Josiah Hughes Bell, one of the Old Three Hundred colonists. The couple is interred here along with their sons, Thaddeus Wade (d. 1906), whose grave is marked by a Woodmen of the World gravestone, and James Hall Wade (d. 1957), and other family members.

In addition to Wade family members, other area residents, including those living in the Brookshire and Fulshear communities, are interred. Today, the Wade Cemetery remains as a testament to the pioneering Wade family and other early settlers of Waller and Fort Bend Counties. Historic Texas Cemetery-2007