Union Grove Cemetery
Troup, Smith County, Texas
Marker Inscription
On Sept. 25, 1887, local residents met in the Old Stone Schoolhouse to organize Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church with 12 charter members. In 1905, T.W. and Laura Marshall, and J.J. and Mattie Suber donated land to trustees Arthur O' Neal and L.C. Shuttlesworth for the church and cemetery. The oldest marked graves, for Jesse Richard Thompson and Mary Ann (Worley) Richardson, date to 1904. Other burials include those of Confederate veteran Albert Green Pullium (d. 1918) and veterans of World Wars I and II, and the Korean Conflict. The present church building dates to 1924.A cemetery association formed in 1972 oversees maintenance and homecoming activities on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekends. Recent changes to the historic cemetery include a pavilion and enlargement of the property with an additional donation of land.For more than a century, families and local residents have gathered here to remember, to worship, to pay respects to those of the past and to visit with loved ones. Union Grove Cemetery serves as an important historical reminder of the role churches and burial grounds play as centers of rural communities.Historic Texas Cemetery-2004
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1887, residents of this corner of rural Smith County gathered in the Old Stone Schoolhouse to found Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church, and by 1905 donated land gave the congregation a permanent home and burial ground. The graves here trace the arc of a farming community across generations—among them a Confederate veteran and men who served in both World Wars and the Korean Conflict. A cemetery association formed in 1972 still tends the grounds and hosts a Memorial Day homecoming, keeping the old rhythm of remembrance alive.
Why it matters
Rural churchyards like this one were the civic and spiritual anchors of the post-Reconstruction South, where a scattered farm population came together to worship, mourn, and remember its own.
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Related people
- · Albert Green Pullium
Themes & tags
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