Pleasant Grove Methodist Episcopal Church South Cemetery
New Salem, Rusk County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The East Texas farming community of Pleasant Grove, also known as "Shake Rag", was established during the 1850s by southern planters. Among the first settlers were Judge Stephen Decatur Morris (1819-1898) and his wife, Mary (Bradford) (1823-1906), on whose plantation early Methodist worship services in the area were held. About 1853, a sanctuary for the Pleasant Grove Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was built. The Methodist cemetery was established here in 1873, with the burial of James Bradford Morris (b. 1856). He was the son of Stephen and Mary Morris. Others buried here include Dr. Richard H.C. Shelton, an eminent southwestern surgeon; other friends and relatives of Stephen and Mary Morris; and pioneer settlers. Church trustees Seaton Moore, Simpson Moore, and G.D. Boatwright purchased this land for the church and cemetery in 1877. The Pleasant Grove church eventually disbanded, with the remaining members joining St. Paul's Methodist Church in Henderson (11 mi. NE). By 1929, the year of the last burial in this graveyard, most Methodist families were using the City Cemetery in Henderson. The Pleasant Grove cemetery remains an important part of the record of early settlement in this part of Rusk County. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Settled in the 1850s by Southern planters and nicknamed "Shake Rag," the Pleasant Grove community held its first Methodist services on the plantation of Judge Stephen Decatur Morris. A sanctuary rose about 1853 and this cemetery was consecrated in 1873 with the burial of the Morrises' young son. Among those laid to rest here are pioneer settlers and a noted surgeon, marking the graveyard as a record of early East Texas settlement.
Why it matters
The cemetery preserves the story of the Southern planters who carried their world westward into East Texas, one of countless communities that shaped the antebellum and postwar rural South.
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Related people
- · Stephen Decatur Morris
- · Mary Bradford Morris
- · Richard H.C. Shelton
Themes & tags
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