Elm Grove Cemetery
Mabank, Van Zandt County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Early Elm Grove community leader Anthony Hyde originally donated this property as land for a local school and church in 1881. It was first used as a cemetery in 1883 for the burial of his grandchild. In 1886 Hyde gave an additional five and one-half acres to the cemetery. A cemetery committee formed in 1895 named M. Johnson the first caretaker. In 1900 Elm Grove United Church moved to adjacent land. This cemetery is the burial ground of pioneer settlers and prominent members of the Elm Grove and Roddy communities.(1983)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Community leader Anthony Hyde first set aside this land in 1881 for a school and church, but grief redirected its purpose when his own grandchild was buried here in 1883. Hyde added more acreage in 1886, and by 1895 a committee and caretaker were tending the grounds. As the burial place of pioneer families from the Elm Grove and Roddy settlements, the cemetery became a quiet record of the people who built these rural communities.
Why it matters
Rural cemeteries like this one preserve the names and connections of the ordinary settlers who turned open Texas prairie into lasting communities.
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Related people
- · Anthony Hyde
Themes & tags
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