Born into slavery in Greenville, Tennessee, Henry Keller became a prosperous Dallas-area landowner and civic leader in the years following the Civil War. After emancipation, Keller married Mary Jane “Jennie” Reed (1845-1898), who had been raised on the same plantation. The couple had ten children: Alice, Minnie, Florence, Laura, John, Henry Jr., Thomas, George and Charles. The Keller family moved to Collin County around 1878 to engage in sharecropping. Despite difficulties African Americans faced with purchasing land of their own during this time, the Kellers saved money for several years and purchased a farm with a natural spring in the new community of Addison, now known as Far North Dallas. The spring provided the family with clean water, which they generously shared with their neighbors at no cost. Later, the road bordering their farm was named Keller Springs Road. Keller purchased additional land in the Upper White Rock area, eventually totaling more than 650 acres, making him one of the largest African American landowners and farmers in Dallas County at the time. He used his resources to uplift the Upper White Rock community. In 1886, Keller helped found Christian Chapel CME Church, which was located on Celestial Road until 1954, when it relocated to Montfort Drive. Three years later, Keller, Giles Armstrong and George Coit purchased land later designated as a cemetery for their community. That cemetery, now known as White Rock Cemetery Garden of Memories, is the final resting place of his wife after her passing in 1898, Keller himself, who died in 1911 at the age of 94, and several of their children. Henry Keller’s legacy of hard work, determination and generosity continues to inspire the community. (2022)