Joseph H. Bowman, a veteran of the Texas War for Independence from Mexico, offered one hundred acres of land to the Rev. W.D. Lewis to come to the Mt. Hope community and establish a Methodist church and cemetery. The Rev. Mr. Lewis agreed, and the congregation began in 1875. In November of that year, Margaret (Ruby) Hicks became the first person buried in the adjacent cemetery. After the railroad came through in 1886, the church was moved to nearby Wells, but the cemetery remained an important place for the more than 1800 people from Wells, Mt. Hope, and other Cherokee County communities who are interred there. More than 200 military veterans, including eight Confederate soldiers, are buried in the cemetery, which serves as a chronicle of Cherokee County's history.