Nelson Grove Cemetery
Gainesville, Cooke County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1875 Mollie Nelson, the 14-year-old daughter of Robert Carroll and Mary Elizabeth Nelson, died of pneumonia and measles and was buried on her parents' property. Two years later, R C. Nelson and J. C. Stockton deeded land including Mollie's grave site to the Cooke County judge for use as a "school, church and burying ground." The Nelson Grove School provided an education for neighboring families until 1924, and funeral services often were held in the schoolhouse. A cemetery association founded in 1964 cares for the graveyard and has held an annual Memorial Day meeting since 1970. At the turn of the 21st century, there were more than 800 burials in the cemetery. (2000) Historic Texas Cemetery - 2008
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When 14-year-old Mollie Nelson died of pneumonia and measles in 1875, her family buried her on their Cooke County land. Two years later her father deeded the ground to the county for use as a school, church, and burying place, and the Nelson Grove School educated neighboring children until 1924, often doubling as a funeral chapel. A cemetery association has tended the grounds since 1964, and by 2000 more than 800 people rested there.
Why it matters
It captures how rural Texas communities bound together in a single plot of donated land — schoolhouse, church, and cemetery — the shared institutions of frontier life.
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Related people
- · Mollie Nelson
- · Robert Carroll Nelson
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Oak Grove Community
Gainesville, TX
In the 1860s George Sanford Norrid brought his wife Tabitha and family from Missouri to this part of Cooke County, opening their home for church services. In 1875 Norrid and F.M. Dougherty deeded land for a Methodist Episcopal church and cemetery, and when Tabitha died in January 1876 she became the first burial in what grew into Oak Grove Cemetery. The congregation used the building for both worship and school until 1884, when they moved it to nearby Woodbine, leaving the cemetery as the community's lasting memorial.
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