Polley Cemetery

Joseph Henry Polley (1795-1869), born in Whitehall, New York to Jonathan and Rachel Hubbard Polley, moved to Missouri and became a friend of Moses Austin, traveling with him to Texas in 1820. In 1821, he returned to Texas with Stephen F. Austin as one of the original Old 300 colonists, settled in the Brazoria District, and married Mary Augusta Bailey, daughter of pioneer Brit Bailey. They built a home named Whitehall. Polley served as sheriff and helped retreating settlers during the Runaway Scrape in 1836, while Mary helped mold candles for use by the first Texas Congress. In 1847, Polley moved his family to this area, then part of Guadalupe County. The family established a cemetery at this site in 1848 after Emeline Elizabeth Polley James, one of their eleven children, died while giving birth, and two years later her daughter of the same name was buried beside her. The family completed the Whitehall home about 1850. Over the years, several family members, including Joseph Henry Polley, were buried there, and Mary Bailey Polley, who died in 1888, was the last to be laid to rest in the cemetery.

Texas · United States