Blind Lemon Jefferson’s Grave

Lemon Henry Jefferson was born blind to African American sharecroppers in the Freestone County town of Coutchman in 1893 or 1894. Somewhere along the line, "Blind Lemon" took up the guitar, playing in brothels and on street corners around East Texas.

In the early 1910s, he began performing with Lead Belly in Dallas's Deep Ellum section, a thriving hub of Black culture. There, Jefferson wowed a Paramount talent scout who took him to Chicago in 1925 to record some songs.

Jefferson's innovative approach to blues brought him much success. He played his guitar like a piano, incorporated ragtime licks into his performances, and sang in a high-pitched voice. He made some 100+ recordings in total, becoming successful enough to buy himself a car, and even receiving one from Paramount. His distinctive style went on to inspire countless artists, such as B.B. King and T-Bone Walker, and earned him recognition as the father of Texas blues.

One of his most celebrated compositions is "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean," also known as "One Kind Favor," in which the singer gives a haunting account of his own burial and funeral and implores listeners to look after his final resting place.

Jefferson's own passing came under mysterious circumstances not long after he started recording. In 1929, he was found dead in the streets of Chicago. The official cause of death was listed as “probably acute myocarditis,” but other theories say a snowstorm disoriented him and he froze to death, or that his coffee was poisoned by the husband of one of his lovers. Regardless, he was taken back to Texas and interred in Wortham, not far from his hometown.

Jefferson was buried in an unmarked grave, though in 1967, blues fans saw to it that a historical sign be placed in the grave's general vicinity.

In a cruel twist of fate, over the next three decades, the cemetery became overgrown with weeds and the marker deteriorated. But in 1997, an organization called Blues Legends raised funds to give Jefferson an actual headstone and ensure the maintenance of his tomb. Another decade later, the graveyard was renamed Blind Lemon Memorial Cemetery.

Now, almost a century after his passing, cemetery officials and grounds workers are still doing Jefferson's "one kind favor."