Freestone County is the birthplace of blues musician Blind Lemon Jefferson

Blind Lemon Jefferson gives Freestone County a quiet place in blues history. He was born in the mid-1890s on a farm in Couchman, near Wortham. His parents, Alec and Clarissy Banks Jefferson, were sharecroppers.

Music carried him far from home. A Paramount scout took him to Chicago in 1925. From 1926 to 1929, he made records that reached listeners across the country. He became the first folk or country blues singer with a guitar to find a national audience.

Jefferson died in Chicago in 1929. He was buried back in Freestone County at the old Wortham Negro Cemetery.

The Texas Historical Commission marker stands at Blind Lemon Memorial Cemetery on SH 14 just north of Wortham. The grave was unmarked until the 1967 marker. A granite headstone followed in 1997, and the cemetery took its current name in 2007.