Bluewater Cemetery

Duane's take

The official marker for Bluewater Cemetery in Polk County — let me tell you what it says, in my own way. Now, after the Civil War, the woods of Polk County became something most people never expected them to be: a refuge. Families from Mississippi had supported the Union during the war, and when the post-Reconstruction attitudes of their neighbors back home grew too heavy to bear, they looked west into the Texas timber and said — that'll do.

Among those families were the Collins and the Knight families, and they weren't alone for long. As the close of the nineteenth century drew near, two communities took shape out there in those pines — the Knight community and the Bluewater community — built by people who had already survived things most folks only read about. And when communities take root, the first thing they do is care for their living.

The second thing they do is care for their dead. Bluewater Cemetery was established in 1898, and that same year, the Missionary Baptist Church of Bluewater was first organized. A local landowner by the name of E.

P. Dowden was one of the first members of that church. He'd go on, in 1907, to donate a parcel of land to the county for the construction of a school.

A man putting down roots in every sense of the word. The first known burial at Bluewater was Thomas Jefferson Collins — among the very first Mississippians to settle in this part of Polk County. Much of his family and descendants would follow him there, in time, as families do.

Today, Bluewater holds more than six hundred burials. Dozens of those graves carry veteran headstones. More than two hundred are engraved double headstones — two names, two lives, one stone.

Some graves are framed with homemade concrete borders. Others are handmade in full concrete, shaped by the hands of people who had more love than money and made it work just fine. And out among the older sections, prominent cedar trees stand watch over the graves — old trees marking old ground.

The front gate is black cast iron. The fences are chain link. And sitting on the corner of the property is a small wood frame building.

Some folks say it's the old church building. The records, though — the records can't fully support the claim. And isn't that just the way of things?

Some stories get written down, and some just get passed along, and somewhere in the distance between those two, the truth quietly keeps to itself. Bluewater Cemetery still stands — still maintained, still tended — as a reminder of the hardships and sacrifices of the ancestors who built something real out here in the Polk County woods, and of the proud descendants who keep coming back to make sure it's not forgotten.

What the marker says

The woods of Polk County provided refuge and a new home for many families from Mississippi following the Civil War. They supported the Union during the war but sought to avoid the post-Reconstruction attitudes of their neighbors. The Collins and the Knight families were among these new residents. Soon, both the Knight community and the Bluewater community would develop as families moved in during the close of the 19th century. Many of these founders of the community and war veterans would be buried in Bluewater cemetery, established in 1898. That same year, the Missionary Baptist Church of Bluewater was first organized, with local landowner E. P. Dowden as one of the first members. He went on to donate a parcel of land to the county for the construction of a school in 1907. The first known burial here was of Thomas Jefferson Collins, among the first Mississippians to settle here. Much of his family and descendants would be buried here. There are more than 600 burials, with dozens of veteran headstones. More than 200 are engraved double headstones. Some have homemade concrete borders, others are handmade in full concrete. Prominent cedar trees mark some of the older graves. The front gate is black cast iron, and the fences are chain link. A small wood frame building sits on the corner of the property. Some say that it is the old church building but records cannot fully support the claim. The cemetery still stands as a reminder of the many hardships and sacrifices of our ancestors and their proud descendants who continue to maintain the cemetery.