Rochelle Cemetery
Rochelle vicinity, McCulloch County, Texas
Marker Inscription
E.E. Willoughby (1853-1935), a cattleman from Tarrant County, moved to Rochelle (then about 1.5 mi. SW) in 1883. He acquired land here in 1886 along the Brady-San Saba Road. In 1889 he donated two acres near this site for the community's school and church building, moved here from its original 1886 site about one mile south. When Willoughby's 19-month-old son Ernest Eckie died in 1894, he buried the infant near the school. In 1896, Willoughby deeded one acre here as the Rochelle Cemetery. A new school was built here in 1899. The community and schoolhouse were moved in 1903 about 2 miles northwest to the new Fort Worth & Rio Grande Railroad. This cemetery continued to serve the new community, first named Crothers but soon renamed Rochelle. The tombstones here of the Rev. and Mrs. C.W. Jones indicate that she died in Crothers (1906) and he died in Rochelle (1910), though they both died at their home in the same town. Willoughby deeded another acre to this cemetery in 1910, but he was ultimately buried in Brady at Live Oak Cemetery. The rock fence here was built in 1935, and four more acres were purchased in 1943. The cemetery contains almost 500 graves, of which 105 are unmarked. An association founded in 1972 cares for the grounds. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Cattleman E.E. Willoughby settled near Rochelle in 1883 and, over the following years, donated land for the community's school, church, and — beginning with the 1896 burial plot around his infant son's grave — the Rochelle Cemetery. As the town migrated to follow the Fort Worth & Rio Grande Railroad, the cemetery endured and grew, now holding nearly 500 graves.
Why it matters
This burying ground records how railroads pulled entire Texas communities across the map while their cemeteries stayed rooted, keeping the memory of the first settlers.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · E.E. Willoughby
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Western Trail
Brady vicinity, TX
Through this gap in the Brady Mountains ran the Western Trail—also called the Dodge City or Fort Griffin Trail—the last of the great Texas cattle routes after farmers fenced off the eastern trails. From about 1876 to 1886 enormous herds moved north along it, more than 200,000 head in 1881 alone. Starting near Brownsville, the trail wound through San Antonio and the Hill Country, forded the San Saba and Colorado rivers, and pushed on through Doan's Crossing to Dodge City, Kansas, and eventually Wyoming and Montana.
Town of Trickham
Coleman County, TX
Founded around 1855 as a trading post serving cattle baron John Chisum's ranching country, Trickham grew into a rowdy crossroads on the great cattle trails during the decades after the Civil War. Legend holds that pranks pulled at the local general store earned it the name "Trick'em" when settlers sought a post office.
James Louis & Ellen Austin Baker
San Saba, TX
Jim and Ellen Baker married in 1859 into families that had come to Texas during the Republic era, and Jim built one of the region's early cattle fortunes—driving 6,000 head into newly formed San Saba County in 1856. Their family survived a Comanche attack in 1861 that left Jim wounded, and after the Civil War he and his brother ran vast herds along the Goodnight-Loving Trail into Colorado and out to the Quitaque country of the Panhandle. In 1880 the brothers sold their 140,000-acre Quitaque Ranch and 20,000 cattle to Charles Goodnight, then returned to ranch quietly in their beloved San Saba.
Mason House Hotel & Stage Station
Mason, TX
Built in 1869–70 by S. F. "Lace" Bridges, the Mason House served as a hotel and stagecoach stop on the San Antonio to El Paso Road. It offered weary travelers rest and local residents hearty meals, and was marred by a tragic 1900 fire that killed 23-year-old Annie Medlock. Later converted to apartments, it still keeps historic features such as its original kitchen cistern and stone fences.