In 1879 Wesley Chapel Methodist Church was established. All early churches established a church cemetery that was located near the church building. Before 1879 there was not a community cemetery in the Wesley chapel community. When a member of the community died they were buried in a family cemetery or the cemetery of one of the few established churches in the area. Robert Watson Mabry who was one of the pioneers who settled in this community along with his wife Ester Hettie, and his son Robert Mabry are all buried in Mabry cemetery. Robert Mabry’s wife Eliza Jane died after Wesley Chapel cemetery was established and choose to be buried in the church cemetery.
Thomas Wesley Garrison who gave the land for the church, all the first church trustees who furnished the materials and did most of the work of building the first one room church are buried in the cemetery. There are also 4 civil war soldiers who are buried in the cemetery. In the early years a family who attended the church would mark a lot and it would be their responsibility to maintain the lot. When a person in the community died they would usually lie in state in their own home and members of the community would provide food, keep a wake , dig the grave and do all the tasks that a funeral home does today.
Most everyone who lived in the church community who were members of Wesley Chapel Methodist Church up to 1965 – 1970 are buried in the cemetery. In the 1920’s Virgil Mabry who lived near the cemetery was appointed to approve the location of all family burial lots in the cemetery. He died in 1969 and in 1970 the section of the cemetery that is referred to as the old section of the cemetery was filled to capacity. Jim Mabry and other church members laid out 34 lots in a new section of the cemetery and he took the job of assigning a lot to any church member who wanted one. Before 1965 most of the members of the church had lived in the community all their lives. After 1965 the church membership started to change. It now consisted of families who moved into the community from other states. After this time there was not as much demand from members wanting a burial lot in the cemetery because they were only here until the company that they worked for moved them to another state.
Up until 1970 the cemetery was maintained by the church members. 2 times each year the church had a cemetery clean up date. One was before Mothers day and the other one was in late summer. After 1970 a cemetery fund was established to help pay the cost of maintaining the cemetery. In1980 a grave opening fee of $150 was established for any grave that was dug in the cemetery. The fee helped to offset the cost of maintaining the cemetery. From the 1970’s to the 2000’s the elderly members of the church community supported the cemetery fund and it provided the funds to maintain the cemetery. After 2000 most of the cost for maintaining the cemetery has been provided by the church.
