Alleyton Cemetery

Duane's take

The official marker for Alleyton Cemetery in Colorado County is the source of this story — I'm just the one bringing it to life. Now, before there was a town, before there was a railroad, before there was a cemetery, there were the Alley brothers. Rawson, Abraham, John, and Thomas settled in what would become Colorado County around 1822.

Then in 1824, William Alley came and joined his brothers. Five men, one family, planting roots in Texas soil. William, it turns out, would shape this place more than most.

In 1859, he donated a portion of his property for the right of way of the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railway. The railroad company built a roundhouse and a depot right there on the property. A town grew up around that site, and Alleyton — named for those brothers — became the largest town in Colorado County.

That is not a small thing. The original map of the town was filed in the county records in 1860, and right there on that map, blocks 57 and 68 were already marked as the graveyard. The founders knew, as founders always do, that a community needs a place for its dead just as surely as it needs one for the living.

But before those blocks were ever officially deeded as a cemetery, the ground was already doing its solemn work. The oldest marked burial at the site belongs to T.S. M.

Robinson. His marker reads simply: born in Arkansas, died in Texas, 1852, age twenty-two years. Twenty-two years old.

Came a long way from Arkansas to find his final rest in Colorado County. Then came 1867, and with it, yellow fever. Epidemics don't ask permission, and this one swept through Alleyton with a terrible thoroughness.

Several burials were made at that cemetery during that outbreak, including four members of the Captain Henry Clay Everett family. Four. From one family.

That is the kind of grief that doesn't leave a community quickly. Time kept moving, as it does. William Alley died.

The railroad went through foreclosure and reorganization. In 1875, blocks 57 and 68 were sold to a man named H.C. Gaedke.

Then Gaedke himself died in 1880, and that's when things were finally made official. Portions of those same blocks — totaling approximately two acres — were deeded to three trustees for the formal establishment of a cemetery at the site. That same year, 1880, two point four acres were sold to the trustees of the Alleyton Colored Cemetery, officially forming a burial ground adjacent to the white cemetery, set aside for the African American citizens of Alleyton.

Two cemeteries, side by side, separated by the customs of the time — both holding the same community, both holding the same grief. The years kept filling those grounds. Veterans of the Civil War.

The Spanish American War. World War One. World War Two.

Korea. Vietnam. Generation after generation of Alleyton's people, answering the call and, some of them, coming home to this place for good.

Today, Alleyton Cemetery is still an active burial ground. It hasn't closed its gates or become a footnote. It keeps receiving the people of this community, just as it has since at least 1852 — when a twenty-two-year-old from Arkansas was laid to rest in Texas, and the ground began quietly keeping its record of everyone who called this place home.

What the marker says

Alleyton was settled by brothers Rawson, Abraham, John and Thomas Alley ca. 1822; William Alley joined his brothers in 1824. William donated a portion of his property in 1859 for right of way for the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railway, and the company also built a roundhouse and depot on the property. A town developed around the site and Alleyton became the largest town in Colorado County. The original map of the town, filed in the county records in 1860, show blocks 57 and 68 marked as the "graveyard." In 1875, the blocks were sold to H.C. Gaedke, after the death of William Alley and the foreclosure and reogranization of the railroad. After Gaedke's death in 1880, portions of blocks 57 and 68 (totalling approximately two acres) were deeded to three trustees for the official establishment of a cemetery at the site. That same year, 2.4 acres were sold to the trustees of the Alleyton Colored Cemetery to officially form a burial ground adjacent to the white cemetery for the burial of the African American citizens of Alleyton. The oldest marked burial at the site is that of T.S.M. Robinson, whose marker inscription reads "born in Arkansas, died in Texas, 1852, age 22 years." A yellow fever epidemic swept through Alleyton in 1867, and several burials were made at the cemetery at that time, including four members of the Captain Henry Clay Everett family. Additional burials at the site include veterans of the Civil War, Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War. Today, Alleyton Cemetery remains an active burial ground while simultaneously reminding visitors of the pioneer settlers of this community. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2009