Alameda Cemetery

Duane's take

The official marker for Alameda Cemetery in Eastland County — here's how I tell it. Now, when you're driving through Eastland County, it's easy to let the land just roll by without giving it much thought. But the earth out here has been holding stories for a long, long time.

Let me tell you about one particular patch of it. The earliest Anglo settlers in this area were drawn together by something they all had in common: the harsh life they found in Texas. And out of that harshness, communities form.

That's what happened at Alameda. A man named William Mansker came to Texas with his family in the mid-nineteenth century, and at some point he looked at his land and made a decision that would outlast just about everything else he ever did. He set aside a portion of it — for a school, and for a community cemetery.

Now, here's where it gets interesting. Ask who was the first person buried in Alameda Cemetery, and you won't get one clean answer. You'll get legends.

One tells of a baby stolen by a large panther. Let that sit with you for a moment. The other pertains to a woman identified on a plaque inside the cemetery as Martha Coffee — though her name appears to have been Amanda Elizabeth Coffer, with the maiden name Henshaw.

The legend says she was killed by Indians in 1860, at what was described as Alameda community's peak. Two legends. Neither one settled.

That's the kind of ground this place is built on. As the years wore on, the community grew into itself. In the late nineteenth century, the Alameda Cemetery Association was formed.

They erected a tabernacle and community center right there inside the cemetery grounds. Then in 1911, a man named E. L.

Reid bought the old Mansker land and deeded approximately five acres of it to the Alameda Cemetery Association — making official what had long been the community's heart. But communities don't always keep growing. By 1936, Alameda had dwindled down to only four homes near the cemetery.

Four homes. The town had nearly let go. And yet — the cemetery continued to thrive.

That's the word the marker uses. Thrived. Because the dead have a way of keeping a place alive when the living have mostly moved on.

A count taken in 1996 turned up eight hundred and seventy-nine graves spread across seven acres. Several of those graves are marked by nothing more than rocks. Veterans of several American and international wars and conflicts are interred here, which tells you the reach of this one small community across history.

And then there's something that'll stop you cold if you let it. Among those graves are what the marker calls family clusters — tight groupings of kin laid down together. The Bell children are one such cluster.

Four of them died in the year 1877. Four children from the same family, in a single year. The marker says these clusters testify to the conditions endured by these pioneers.

It doesn't dress it up any more than that. It doesn't need to. Alameda Cemetery is still in use today.

Eight hundred and seventy-nine counted graves, some marked only by rocks, and the ground still receiving. William Mansker set aside a portion of his land, and it turns out that piece of ground may be the most enduring thing ever to come out of Alameda — outlasting the homes, outlasting the town, holding fast to everyone it's ever been given.

What the marker says

The earliest Anglo settlers in this area were drawn together by the harsh life they found in Texas. William Mansker, who came to Texas with his family in the mid-19th century, set aside a portion of his land for use as a school and community cemetery. The first burial in Alameda Cemetery is the subject of some debate. One legend tells of a baby stolen by a large panther; another pertains to Amanda Elizabeth (Henshaw) Coffer, identified on a plaque in the cemetery as Martha Coffee, said to have been killed by Indians in 1860, at Alameda community's peak. In the late 19th century the Alameda Cemetery Association was formed. A tabernacle and community center was erected inside the cemetery. In 1911, E. L. Reid bought the Mansker land and deeded approximately 5 acres to the Alameda Cemetery Association. Though the community of Alameda had dwindled to only four homes near the cemetery by 1936, the cemetery continued to thrive. A 1996 count revealed 879 graves, several marked only by rocks, in seven acres. Veterans of several American and international wars and conflicts are interred here. Family clusters like that of the Bell children, four of whom died in 1877, testify to the conditions endured by these pioneers. Alameda Cemetery is still in use. (1998)