Monte Verdi Family Slaves Historical Marker Dedication

The Texas Historical Commission (THC) has recognized Monte Verdi Plantation Family Slaves as a significant part of Texas history by awarding it an Official Texas Historical Marker.  The designation honors Monte Verdi Plantation Family Slaves as an important and educational part of local history.

A dedication and recognition ceremony to commemorate the event will be held on September 1, 2018, 10:00 a.m. at Monte Verdi Plantation located at 11992 CR 4233 W – Cushing, Texas in Rusk County.  Speakers for the event will include Travis P. Clardy, State Representative for Texas House District 11;  Joel Hale, Rusk County Judge; Louis E. Sturns, State District Judge (Tarrant County); Dr. Jolene Snider, Author and Retired History Professor (Texas State University); Dr. M. Scott Sosebee, President - East Texas Historical Association and Associate Professor of History (Stephen F. Austin University); Joan Smith, Marker Chair – Rusk County Historical Commission, and Robert Loftis, Board President – Laneville Independent School District.

The theme for this occasion is “WE Say Their Names” and will be part of the weekend activities when program participants will salute their legacy and honor the slave ancestors by speaking their names.  This is part of the activities being planned during the 150^th Sesquicentennial Anniversary celebration of the Anadarco, and the surrounding communities/villages. 

Any questions may be directed to the Event Coordinators: Deborah Foster deborahfoster0160@att.net, President of Laneville Allen High School Alumni Association and Dorothy Franks dfranks345@aol.com, Project Director of Texas Slave History and Inventory Preservation. 

Please NOTE!!!  For those planning to attend the event, DO NOT PARK at Monte Verdi Plantation.  Instead, park at the Anadarko Christian Church located at 13410 FM 1662, Laneville, TX.  Transportation will be available to shuttle you 3.3 miles to the venue said Jeri Mills, the events Public Relations Coordinator.  

Monte Verdi Plantation owners and hosts Joe and Cecilia Koch and members of two local nonprofit organizations have partnered to coordinate a special Slave Ancestors Recognition Ceremony to celebrate the Texas Historical Marker. During the ceremony, descendants will commemorate names of some of the slaves who once lived there.  In the 1856 Will and Estate of Julien Sidney Devereux (Monte Verdi Plantation owner), 80 slaves were named in the probated inventory and distribution.  They are the pioneers who blazed the trails and organized the communities three years after the Civil War in 1868. While some of the freedmen of the Monte Verdi Plantation continued to reside and work in the area, others moved away from the house seat, branched out and formed other villages located within 16 miles that comprised the 10,700+ acre Monte Verdi Plantation.  These include Anadarco/Anadarko, Cushing, Fairview, Glenfawn, Laneville (Freeneytown), Minden, Mount Enterprise, Mount Zion, New Salem, Pine Grove, Reklaw, Sacul, Shady Grove, Sulfur Springs, Valley Grove, West Holly Spring, and Zion Grove.  Some are in Cherokee and Nacogdoches counties.