Birdston Community and Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of the official marker for Birdston Community and Cemetery, as recorded by the Texas Historical Commission. Now, every town out here on the Texas plains has a beginning, and Birdston's is about as straightforward as they come — a man, a store, and a stretch of road that people needed to travel. Sometime in the 1860s, a fellow named V.

I. Bird opened a general mercantile store about two miles to the northwest of where this cemetery sits today. And just like that, a community took shape around him.

They called it Birdston. Cotton was king in those days, and the local economy depended on it. So it wasn't long before somebody built a gin near the store.

Makes sense — you've got the goods, you need the processing. Then, in a few years, the whole operation — store and gin together — picked up and relocated a mile east, landing at the halfway point on the main road running from Fairfield to Corsicana. That's prime real estate for a community trying to be somebody.

Things moved right along after that. The Birdston post office opened on December 11, 1866. By 1867, the community had a school.

By 1872, a church building stood there too — and here's a detail worth noting — it was used by all faiths. Not one denomination claiming the deed, but all of them sharing the space. That tells you something about the character of the place.

Now, the cemetery. It was opened on land donated by Edd and Juliett Burleson, set aside for church and school purposes. And the first grave — the very first — belongs to a child named Mary Rayburn.

Her family had been traveling the road between Fairfield and Corsicana, the same road that made Birdston what it was. They stopped at Sherrard's Boarding House in town. The child fell ill.

And she died there. That first grave was located near the church. The second grave came on December 5, 1872, when a man named T.

J. Gilbert died and was laid to rest near the church as well. Two graves, both near the church, both early markers of a community putting down roots and, inevitably, saying goodbye.

By 1888, the Burlesons were still part of the story — Mrs. Burleson sold additional cemetery land to trustees, expanding the ground set aside for those who would follow. But communities have their turning points, and Birdston's came in 1909.

That year, the Burlington Rock Island Railroad bypassed the town. And when the railroad goes around you instead of through you, things tend to unravel. The post office closed.

The businesses went with it. The school hung on a while longer, but it too closed, in 1920. What remained was the cemetery.

It kept going — through all the years that followed. And in the 1950s, a new section was annexed when acreage from the Charley Gregory Estate was purchased and added to the grounds. Birdston, the community, didn't survive the railroad's indifference.

But the cemetery endures. And somewhere in that ground, near where the church once stood, a child named Mary Rayburn rests — the first soul Birdston ever kept.

What the marker says

When V. I. Bird opened a general mercantile store about 2 miles to the northwest in the 1860s, Birdston community was founded. As local economy then depended on cotton, a gin was soon built near the store. In a few years, store and gin were relocated a mile east of this cemetery, at halfway point on main road from Fairfield to Corsicana. The Birdston post office opened Dec. 11, 1866. By 1867 the community also had a school; by 1872 a church building, used by all faiths. The cemetery was opened on land donated by Edd and Juliett Burleson for church and school purposes. The first grave, located near the church, was that of a child, Mary Rayburn, whose family had been traveling from Fairfield to Corsicana, stopping at Sherrard's Boarding House in Birdston, where the child fell ill and died. A second grave was dug near the church when T. J. Gilbert died on Dec. 5, 1872. By 1888 additional cemetery land was sold to trustees by Mrs. Burleson. When Birdston was bypassed in 1909 by Burlington Rock Island Railroad, it lost its post office and businesses; the school closed in 1920. The cemetery has continued in use through ensuing years, and in the 1950s had a new section annexed by purchase of acreage from the Charley Gregory Estate. (1972)