Carroll Springs Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Out here in Henderson County, there's a piece of ground that's been holding stories longer than most folks care to count. Carroll Springs Cemetery.

Let me set the scene for you. The community took its name from the Carroll family and from the springs nearby. And it was A.M.

Carroll himself, a man who held property in both Henderson and Anderson counties, who made things official. In 1884, he set aside nearly five acres right here, land meant to serve a school, a church, and a cemetery. Now, the Methodist church and a school had already started meeting at this site in 1883, so the community was already gathering, already putting down roots.

But the ground had been receiving the departed even longer than that. As early as 1859, people were being laid to rest here. The earliest marked grave belongs to John Buck Hogg, who died in March of 1859, though several others are believed to date to that very same year.

Think on that. Before the Civil War had even begun, this soil was already keeping watch over the gone. And speaking of that war, veterans of the Civil War are among those buried here, along with men and women who served in American conflicts that came after.

Ministers are here. Schoolteachers too. Generations of area pioneer families, the kind of people who built a community from scratch and trusted the land to remember them.

The Carroll Springs School kept going until 1947, when it consolidated with the Athens district. But the Methodist Church, it never stopped. It continues to serve the area to this day.

And every year, members and friends of the community gather at this cemetery to remember those who have passed on. The ground is maintained as a perpetual care burial ground now. Which means someone made a promise to these people, and someone keeps showing up to honor it.

That's not nothing. Out here on a Texas road, that might just be everything.

What the marker says

The Carroll Springs Methodist Church and a school began meeting at this site in 1883. The following year, A.M. Carroll, who owned property in Henderson and Anderson counties, set aside nearly five acres here to be used for a school, church and cemetery. The community, which derived its name from the Carroll family and nearby springs, began using this site for burials as early as 1859. The earliest marked grave is that of John Buck Hogg, who died in March 1859, although several others are believed to date to that same year. Generations of area pioneer families are buried in the cemetery, which is also the final resting place of veterans of American conflicts dating to the Civil War. Other area residents buried in Carroll Springs Cemetery include ministers and schoolteachers. Although the Carroll Springs School consolidated with the Athens district in 1947, the Methodist Church continues to serve the area. Today, the cemetery is maintained as a perpetual care burial ground, and members and friends of the community gather annually to remember those who have passed on. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2003