The name Hollie Tatnell is a name that few, even students of history, have ever heard of. It’s safe to say that even fewer of those who have ever heard of her have actually ever seen her grave, or even know where to look for it.
Born in 1859, Hollie was the daughter of slaves. Her family lived and worked the fields in the area of Hearne, TX. Hearne was known at the time as the crossroads of Texas, since several highways and railroads converged in the area. Goods needed by nearby residents were brought in. Cotton, and other products from the region were loaded on trains and shipped out. At one time, it was a busy area.
Hollie died in 1911, and was buried in what was the African American Cemetery on the edge of Hearne. The cemetery contained the graves of slaves from the area, and many of their family members. In 1912, the cemetery closed. No new graves were allowed to be dug there.
In 1947, real estate developers purchased the land containing the cemetery. They quickly forced out residents of the area, and went so far as to try to force families of those buried in the cemetery to exhume the remains of their loved ones, and to bury them elsewhere.
While most complied, one family remained diligent. Georgia Carter and Andrew Hunter, the children of Hollie, fought. They refused to move their mother’s grave. The developers wanted rapid and vast expansion of their properties, so they decided on a compromise in an effort to avoid a long, and costly court battle.
They left Hollie’s grave in place, and diverted the street around it. Hollie’s children had won. They placed a plaque next to their mother’s headstone. The street diverted in an almond shape, with a small median where Hollie still remains. In 2007, the state of Texas designated the site as an historic area, and placed another marker on the median.
At 506 Wheelock St, in Hearne, TX lies Hollie Tatnell, a small but visual reminder of the area’s history, and of the many African Americans who once were buried here, but whose graves were lost to developers.
