DEVAULT FAMILY REUNION BEING HELD IN BRENHAM

  

Over two hundred people will be attending the DeVault Family Reunion on July 21.

The reunion tells the life story of Jerry DeVault, born in 1813, who purchased the freedom of a slave woman named Jenny Botts in West Virginia.  They would marry, then move to Brenham.  Jerry and Jenny Botts DeVault purchased 75 acres of land in the area.  The Mexican Land Grant gave 375 acres of land, and that combined 450 acres is now known as Jerry’s Quarters.

Jerry’s Quarters is on Farm Road 50, thirteen miles north of Brenham at the Burleson County border, and at the junction of Independence and Yegua creeks.  Formerly known as Jerry’s Quarters Old Town, the community was based in agriculture, and would be recognized and developed in the 1960’s.

Jerry was known to provide legal and financial assistance to people of the community, and to defuse any racial tension in the area.  Before passing in 1900, he was a pillar of the African American community.  He and his wife are buried at Liberty Community Cemetery in Independence.

The reunion will take place on July 21, with check-in at the Comfort Inn beginning July 20.  The reunion will attend Liberty Missionary Baptist Church in Independence, on 10755 FM 50, at 11:00 a.m.  Lunch will be held at We Care for All, at 900 East Blue Bell Road.  They will also take a walk through the Liberty Community Cemetery, at 8355 Cole Road.

For more information about the event, contact Ella DeVault at 562-343-0347.