Bethel\Boonsville Cemetery List of Burials

2026 Research by Edna Wood - Wise County Texas Historical Commissioner

    In early settlement of Wise County, Texas there lived a man with the name of James Anderson Paschall. He was born in Warren County, North Carolina, in about 1829, to Michael Paschall and Elizabeth Wood. On March 30, 1852, James married Sarah Annie [S. A.] Marshall in Lewis County, Tennessee. He was a Confederate Soldier, where he served with Company D 4th Battalion Tennessee Cavalry CSA. He first appears in Precinct 8 of Wise County, in 1880 and it is known, the Paschall family came to Wise County Texas, in 1876. Their home, in 1880, was near Draco in the Bethel community west toward a community that is now known as Boonsville. This Bethel community thrived for a short time and had a Methodist Church plus a cemetery which still exists. Nine children were born to James Anderson Paschall and Sarah Annie Marshall. These children were: William, Mary Elizabeth, Robert, James, George, John F., Lucy, Charles A. Paschall [also buried in the Bethel Cemetery], and Virginia Paschall. James Anderson Paschall died in about 1907 and lies buried in the Bethel Cemetery near Boonsville, Texas. Descendants  of  James  Anderson  Paschall  and  Robert Paschall still live [in this year of 2026] in the area where this Bethel Cemetery is located.

[Sally Ann] Sarah Annie [Marshall] Paschall was the wife of James Anderson Paschall and the daughter of Eli Barnes Marshall and Henrietta [Ritter] Marshall. Sarah Annie was born July 09, 1835, in North Carolina. She had siblings, James Kelley Marshall, Martha Winnie Marshall, George T. Marshall, V. B. Marshall, William C. Marshall, J. O. K. Marshall, and E. C. Marshall. Sally Ann [Marshall] Paschall died April 16, 1900, and lies buried near her husband in the Bethel Cemetery located near the Draco and Boonsville communities.

Emma Florence [Gwin] Slover was born October 21,1866 to Thomas Jefferson Gwin and Gatsy Hazelson Price. Emma married William Sanderson Slover on July 30, 1886, in Parker County, Texas. She died at age 24 March 19, 1891. They were parents to two children: Rebecca Ann Slover [born in 1887 and died in 1960]. Rebecca was this writer’s 1st and 2nd grade teacher at Paradise School in 1946-47. A son, John Washington Slover, was born November 21, 1888, died in June 1960. The husband of Emma Slover, William S. Slover, remarried in 1892 to Zena Simpson. William and Zena are buried in Paradise, Texas. Zena, their step-mother helped raise Rebecca and John.

Harriet Addie [Carr] Bartlett was born in Jackson County Tennessee, in 1842, to Elijah Carr and Elizabeth Lollar. She married Joseph Leroy Bartlett in year, 1866, in Putnam County, Tennessee, but they were living near Draco Wise County, Texas, in 1900, when Harriet was aged 58 and Joseph was aged 55. Harriet died in the year of 1901 and lies buried in the Bethel Cemetery. This cemetery is located between Boonsville and Draco in Wise County. Children listed for Joseph and Harriet Bartlett are Lemuel D. born in 1869, Helen Sarah born in 1870, Taylor Milton born in 1873, Phillip Leroy born in 1877 and Cordelia Paralee “Delia” [Bartlett] Perry, born in 1880.

Daniel Carl Huddleston was born in Blount County Alabama on November 27, 1844, to William Newton Huddleston and Mary Jane Morton. He married Martha Ann Jordan December 7, 1869, in Texas. Daniel was a Confederate soldier. He served as a Private in Company D 13th Regiment Burnetts Texas Cavalry. Children born to Daniel and Martha Jane Huddleston were Henry C., Myra A., William Newton, Perry Lee, Daniel Carl Jr., Jonathan, Lewis Monroe, Reubon Reeves, Joseph Price, Pleasant Jim, Matthew Ector, Lillian Beatrice, and Ferman G. Huddleston. Daniel Carl Huddleston died in 1922 and lies buried in the Bethel Cemetery between Draco and Boonsville, Texas.

Martha Ann [Jordan] Huddleston was born May 13, 1852, to William Hendric Jordan and Martha Price. She married Daniel Carl Huddleston on December 7th , 1869 in Henderson, Rusk Republic of Texas. They were parents of 11 sons and 2 daughters. The 1910 census shows Daniel and Martha lived near the Bridgeport and Agnes Road, in Wise County’s Precinct 8. Their neighbors were Hollis Scroggins, Henry J. Plumlee, Henry Fitzgerald, Walter Crawford, Mutt Huddleston, Oliver Pierce, William Leonard and James Sipes. Daniel and Martha had two children to die, and they, also lie buried in the Bethel Cemetery near Draco Texas. They were Myre A. Huddleston who was born on July 23rd, 1895, and died August 13, 1895. The other child who is buried near his parents is Henry C. Huddleston, who was born on April 16, 1888, and died November 15, 1891, at about age 3.

Ellen Jane [Powell] Hines was born in 1829 to unknown Powell parents. She became the second wife of Andrew Jackson Hines in about 1859 in Dangerfield, Morris County, Texas [formerly known as Titus County, Texas]. She died in 1879 and lies buried in the Bethel Cemetery between Boonsville and Draco in Wise County, Texas. It is not known for sure if Ellen Jane [Powell] Hines was related to Rebecca [Powell-Laird] Provence who was mother of Clark Laird, who was killed by the Hill Gang in Springtown, Texas in 1873. Rebecca was also buried in one of three Bethel Cemeteries in Wise County. Both Ellen Jane Powell and Rebecca Powell were born in Bartow, Tennessee and both lived in Titus County Texas, in 1860. Andrew Jackson Hines was first married to Eliza Frances Riddle who died, in 1858.

Andrew Jackson Hines Jr. was born, in 1857, to Andrew Jackson Hines Sr. and Elizabeth Frances Riddle. His siblings were William S. Hines, Rhoda A. Hines and Frank P. Hines. He had half siblings, Eliza F. [Hines] Laird, Mathias Turner Hines, Ellen Jane [Hines] Newby and Thomas Benjamin Hines. His half siblings were children of Ellen Jane Powell second wife of Andrew Jackson Hines Sr. Andrew Jackson Hines Jr. died on November 29, 1879, at age 22.

Vinson Hugh Middleton was born in 1811, in South Carolina, to John Middleton and Rebecca Dale. In 1869 Vinson married Mary Catherine Jackson. They had 9 children, Martha Ann was born in 1870, Julia was born in 1871, Sarah Joanna was born in 1874, Lydia A. was born in 1876, Eliza was born in 1879, Vinson Monroe was born in 1882, John Calvin was born in 1885, Jesse was born in 1890, and Benjamin Hugh Middleton was born in 1891. Vinson Hugh was married first to Martha Snow, and they had 3 children, Zion, Westley and William Marion. In 1899 Vinson Hugh Middleton died and was buried in the Bethel Cemetery in Wise County Texas, between Draco and Boonsville.

William Henry Mattingley was born in 1871 to Mike Mattingley and Sarah Frances King, in Jasper Co. Illinois. He was married in Boonsville, Texas, to Josey Neighbors. They were parents to two daughters, Stella [Mattingley] Barfield and Edda [Mattingley] Pierce. They were also parents to one son, Leslie A. Mattingley. Leslie had children of his own, Thomas William “Tex”, Sammye Lou and Weldon Finis who attended Paradise School in the 1950s. William Henry Mattingley died January 8, 1961, and lies buried in the Bethel Cemetery between Draco, and Boonsville, Texas. The name of William Henry Mattingley is listed as Willard H. Mattingley in the Wise County Gen Web [Bethel Cemetery Listing].

Luster Alonzo Mattingley was born June 22, 1896, to William Henry Mattingley and Josephine Neighbors who lived 4 miles east of Boonsville in Western Wise County, Texas [old Bethel Community]. He lived a very short life, his death is recorded in Wise County as October 7, 1896. He lies buried next to a small sister, Marvie H. Mattingley, who was born June 28, 1899, and died April 27, 1900. The mother of these children and wife of William Henry Mattingley, also buried in the Bethel Cemetery near Boonsville, was Josephine [Nabors] Mattingley. Her death is written about in the Bridgeport Index, and it says she is also buried there, though no stone has been found. She was born in Alabama on February 7, 1872, and came to Texas when she was about 8 years old. Her parents were Berry Oliver Neighbors and Bethany Strickland. She married W. H. Mattingley on July 18, 1895. She joined the Methodist Church at Bethel when she was age 13. Her death date is recorded as January 13, 1943.

Walter Elbert Brown was born, January 3, 1870, to Henry C. Brown and Louisa J. Prather, in Kentucky. He married Ida Belle Russell of Bethel, on November 2, 1890, and they were parents to four children, Ethel, Lena, Henry, and Walter Jr. Brown. Walter Brown Sr. was first Vice President of the Epworth League Society at Bethel. [The Texas Epworth League was a youth organization created by the Methodist Church in 1892]. He died October 4, 1896, during an influenza epidemic and his youngest child was born the next month after his death. His death was written about in the Wise County Messenger on November 13, 1896. The Messenger stated that he died at his home 4 miles east of Boonsville. His wife, Ida Bell Russell, was daughter of Dr. Robert Young Russell, who also lies buried in the Bethel Cemetery. Walter Elbert Brown was raised in the Methodist Church being baptized in infancy. He proposed religion at the campground at Bethel.

Nancy Louise [Simpson} Ward was born November 16, 1837, in Hardeman, Tennessee to William M. Simpson and Mariah J. Ingram. She married William Daniel Ward on December 22, 1853, in Tennessee. They were parents to 6 sons and 4 daughters. Children were, Ann Marie, William, Albert, R. Bryant, Richard B., Robert D., Mary Elizabeth, Wilbert Ross, Lillian E. and Nancy Ward. Nancy Louise [Simpson] Ward had siblings, William Bryant, Needham King, Frances Josephine, Alice Susan, John J., and James Sanders Simpson. Nancy Ward died on November 17, 1890, and lies buried in the Bethel Cemetery between Draco and Boonsville, Texas, in Wise County.

Robert Young Russell was a retired physician who lived between Draco and Boonsville, Texas, and is shown in the 1880 census in Wise County. He was born in Newberry County, South Carolina to Robert Russell and Mary Brown. He married Martha Susan Mitchell on October 14, 1851, in Coweta County, Georgia. They had children, John Richard, Mary Elizabeth, William Shatteen, Thomas F., James P Caldwell, Martha Ellen, Muskogee Amogene, Judith Lila, Ida Bell, John Edgar and Josephine Russell. Robert Young Russell died April 5, 1884, and lies buried in the Bethel Cemetery near Draco, Texas. Burditt [Burdette] Brown Russell, son of Robert Young Russell and Martha Susan Mitchell, was born December 9, 1873, in Callisburg Cooke County, Texas. In 1880, he lived with his parents near Boonsville, in Wise County, Texas. On January 29, 1881, at age 7, Burditt Brown Russell died and his body was placed in the Bethel Cemetery near his father.

Martha Susan [Mitchell] Russell was born to Shatteen Coker Mitchell and Mahalah Jane Burdette, in 1835, in the state of Georgia. Martha married Robert Young Russell, in Georgia on October 14, 1851. They had 12 children. Martha Susan Russell died in 1899 at age 64 and lies buried in the Bethel Cemetery near Boonsville, Texas in Wise County.

Robert M. Rutherford is believed to be a son, of Daisy Mattingley and Hays Rutherford who lived near Boonsville about 1901. Daisy was a sister to William Henry Mattingley. Her child, Robert M. Rutherford, only lived 4 days and was buried in the Bethel Cemetery after his death, on April 1, 1903. Daisy was born on September 7, 1877, in Illinois, and came to Wise County with her parents. After she left Wise County, she lived in Oklahoma for about 20 years. Her relatives are listed, in her obituary, as brothers, W. H. Mattingley of Paradise, Texas and J.N. Mattingley of Collinsville, Oklahoma, a sister, is also listed as, Mrs. O. S. Jennings of Chico, Texas. Daisy Rutherford lies buried in Oklahoma.

G. W. Harrell was born March 10, 1847, and died October 28, 1871. Although he is buried in the Bethel Cemetery, his 24 years of life is not recorded in Wise County, only his death has been recorded. He is likely the first to be buried in this Bethel cemetery.

Maude Stephenson was born October 20, 1884, to George Stephenson and Magdaline “Maggie” Haney and died at age 20, of an enlarged spleen. Her gravestone in the Bethel Cemetery says she died February 3, 1905. Her siblings were Infant Stephenson born 1887 and died 1887 buried at Bethel Cemetery, James Hugh Stephenson, born 1890 died 1973, Henry Haney Stephenson born 1895 died 1973, George Elbert Stephenson born 1900 and died 1981.

Michael Mattingley was born in February of 1849 in Jasper County, Illinois to George Mattingley and Margaret Qualls. He married Sarah Elizabeth King, and they were parents to William Henry, John Nox, Daisy, Mary and Samuel Leo Mattingley. For that time, Michael had lived a long life when he died, in 1926, and was buried in the Bethel Cemetery along with several of his relatives.

A.V. Brians was born January 18, 1880, and died January 21, 1932. He lies buried in the Bethel Cemetery near Boonsville, Texas, in Wise County. After several attempts to find more information about A. V. Brians, this is all that has been found. He does not have a stone for viewing in this cemetery, but he is listed as being buried there. I did find his birthdate and his death date.