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Batson
Prairie School
& Church and Guedry Cemetery -
Batson Prairie and the present day town of Batson were named for the pioneer Batson family who settled in this area by the 1840s. Matilda Guedry and her family were among the early settlers on Batson Prairie. Matilda purchased a large
tract of land in 1873, and in 1896 her oldest son, Jerisan Guedry, donated one
acre of land for a community school. A one-room school house named Batson School
was built and served the area for ten years.
In 1897 the Batson Prairie
Baptist Church
was organized by Pastor Sims Stovall and eight charter members. Early worship
services were held in the schoolhouse until 1905, when land adjoining the
school was donated by Jersian Guedry for a church building. Later the
congregation constructed new facilities that continue to serve the community.
Land for a cemetery was donated by Jerisan Guedry and his son-in-law Marion Smith. The first recorded burial was that of Nathaniel Foreman, Guedry's
grandson, in 1900. Named Guedry
Cemetery, the site is
maintained through a perpetual trust and contains more than 2,000 burials including those of descendants of early settlers to the area.
The cemetery continues to serve the community. (1997)
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