Naler Cemetery
Moody, McLennan County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Joseph Naler (1803-1882) migrated to this area from Georgia in 1851. Originally part of his land, this site was first used as a cemetery in 1863 for the burial of his wife Polly (Pruitt) (b. 1813). Naler died in Waco and was later reinterred here. The burial ground was chartered in 1900 and a cemetery association was organized in 1947. The original 2-acre tract was later enlarged by the addition of adjoining land, the former site of a Cumberland Presbyterian Church building. Started before the founding of Moody, the cemetery contains the graves of many pioneer settlers.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When Joseph Naler brought his family from Georgia to the Central Texas prairie in 1851, the country around present-day Moody was still raw frontier. The first grave dug on his land in 1863 was for his wife Polly, and over the decades the plot grew from a family burying ground into a chartered community cemetery holding many of the district's earliest settlers. That the graveyard predates the town of Moody itself makes it a quiet record of who came first.
Why it matters
Pioneer cemeteries like this one are often the oldest surviving trace of a settlement, preserving the names of the families who turned open land into a Texas community.
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Related people
- · Joseph Naler
- · Polly Pruitt Naler
Themes & tags
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