Joaquin Cemetery
Joaquin, Shelby County, Texas
Marker Inscription
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN MORRIS PROVIDED LAND FOR RAILROAD RIGHT-OF-WAY AND A 100-ACRE TOWNSHIP SITE FOR JOAQUIN IN THE 1880s. IN 1890, MORRIS DONATED ONE ACRE AT THIS SITE TO ESTABLISH JOAQUIN MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH. ON OCTOBER 24, 1894, WHEN ALLIE M. WHIDDON DIED AT AGE EIGHTEEN, VIOLA “OLA” WHIDDON RUSHING DONATED LAND ADJOINING THE CHURCH IN MEMORY OF HER YOUNG SISTER TO ESTABLISH JOAQUIN CEMETERY. ADDITIONAL EARLY BURIALS INCLUDE B. F. MORRIS’ GRANDSON AND TOWN NAMESAKE, JOAQUIN MORRIS (1898), JAMES W. TAYLOR (1897), WESLEY A. SMITH (1897), IMA SOJOURNER (1898), WILLIAM TAYLOR (1898), BERTIE TRUITT (1899), AND ALMER WOOD (1899). A SURVEY RECORDED MORE THAN 800 GRAVES AND IDENTIFIED TWELVE CIVIL WAR VETERANS. JESSIE AVERY FERGUSON (1859-1943), FIRST MAYOR OF JOAQUIN AND ONE OF THE FIRST SCHOOLTEACHERS, IS BURIED HERE, AS ARE TWO VICTIMS OF THE NEW LONDON SCHOOL EXPLOSION (1937). OTHER NOTABLE GRAVES INCLUDE PHYSICIANS DR. WILLIAM ALLEN RAMSEY (1880-1962) AND DR. EDGAR RUSHING (1877-1943) AND PHARMACIST EDWARD LEWIS RAMSEY (1875-1947). MANY EARLY SETTLERS, POSTMASTERS, BUSINESS AND CIVIC LEADERS ARE BURIED HERE. THE LAND WAS FORMALLY DEEDED IN 1954 BY VIOLA RUSHING’S SON, DR. E. O. RUSHING, TO THE CHURCH. A CEMETERY ASSOCIATION FORMED IN THE 1960s, AND CONTINUES TO HOLD AN ANNUAL HOMECOMING ON THE SECOND SUNDAY IN JUNE. THE GRAVES OF B. F. MORRIS (1827-1900) AND HIS WIFE, JANE (1829-1883), WERE MOVED HERE FROM MORRIS CEMETERY ON GRAVEYARD HILL IN 1994 BECAUSE OF LACK OF PERPETUAL CARE AND DIFFICULTY OF ACCESS. PROMINENT FEATURES OF THE CEMETERY INCLUDE EAST-FACING GRAVES, FAMILY PLOTS, A LARGE CONCRETE CRYPT, STATELY MARBLE WOODMEN OF THE WORLD MARKERS, AND GRAVESTONES OF COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHO WERE CITIZENS OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS. THIS HISTORIC SITE CONTINUES TO SERVE THE BURIAL NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Benjamin Franklin Morris gave land for a railroad right-of-way and a township in the 1880s, and the depot town of Joaquin grew up around it. A one-acre gift in 1890 established the Baptist church, and in 1894 Viola Rushing donated adjoining ground for a cemetery in memory of her young sister. Among its more than 800 graves lie a dozen Civil War veterans, the town's first mayor, and two children killed in the 1937 New London School explosion.
Why it matters
The cemetery maps the rise of a railroad town and holds, side by side, the Republic-era settlers, Civil War veterans, and disaster victims who make up its community memory.
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Related people
- · Benjamin Franklin Morris
- · Viola "Ola" Whiddon Rushing
- · Jessie Avery Ferguson
Related events
- · New London School explosion (1937)
Themes & tags
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