Amity Cemetery 
Comanche vicinity, Comanche County, Texas
Cemeteries of Texas Coordinator: Dolores I. Bishop

Information provided by the State of Texas Atlas Site

 Location:
 17 miles northwest on SH 36, then c. 6 miles west to cemetery. 

Marker : 
When 14-year-old Charles Farley died in Feb. 1878, his parents 
buried him near their farmhouse, as this frontier locality had no 
cemetery at the time. Three months later Fannie Nichols (1875-78)
died and was buried nearby. The Farleys then donated an acre of land 
as a community graveyard. The neighbors built an adjacent brush 
arbor for funerals and general gatherings. In the summer of 1878, 
Baptists organized a church, naming it Amity (friendship). Before 
erecting their own buildings, Baptists and Methodists held services 
in the brush arbor or at Amity School (1 mi. NW). William H. Lindley 
(1840-1913) bought land south of the Farley Farm in 1885. When new 
surveys placed the cemetery on his land, Lindley deeded the burial 
ground to the public. Later his son-in-law, George Brown, gave an 
additional acre to be used if needed. A large tabernacle with permanent 
fixtures replaced the brush arbor and was used for funerals until 1938 or 
1939, when it was severely damaged by a storm. Free-will donations have 
maintained the cemetery since 1951. A "First Sunday in June Singing" 
which Amity Baptist Church originated in 1897 now serves as an annual 
memorial day and homecoming. By 1978 Amity Cemetery has nearly 400 graves. (1978)