Stone's Chapel Cemetery
Clarksville, Red River County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Stone's Chapel Cemetery The first known burial at Stone's Chapel Cemetery is that of Parson Amos M. Stone (1813-1862). A New York native, Stone was a Cumberland Presbyterian minister in Tennessee who moved to Texas in 1857 with his wife, Margaret Rodgers, their five children and his four children from his first marriage to Jane McConnell. In Texas, Stone became the minister of churches in the Clarksville area, preaching for a time in San Antonio before returning in 1861 to this area, where he also served in a Confederate home guard unit. At least three of his sons also served the Confederacy. After coming to Texas, Stone led area residents in establishing Stone's Chapel Presbyterian Church on grounds near this cemetery, for which he donated land sometime prior to his death in 1862. The church continued until merging with Pine Grove Church in the 1950s. The Cherry School, named for early settler G.P. Cherry, was also located near the cemetery. There, Stone's granddaughter, Mable Gaines, served as a teacher. Little evidence exists of the Cherry Community or the Stone's Chapel Church, but the cemetery remains a testament to the lives of area settlers. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2002
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Parson Amos M. Stone, a New York–born Cumberland Presbyterian minister, moved his large family from Tennessee to the Clarksville area in 1857 and soon founded a church on ground near this cemetery. During the Civil War he served in a Confederate home guard while at least three of his sons joined the Confederate cause, and his 1862 death made his the first known grave here. His church later merged away and the nearby Cherry School faded, but the cemetery endures as a record of the settlers he served.
Why it matters
The graves of frontier preachers and their neighbors preserve the intertwined religious and wartime history of Civil War–era Texas settlement.
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Related people
- · Amos M. Stone
- · Margaret Rodgers Stone
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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