Center Hill Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Center Hill Cemetery, up in Houston County. Now settle in, because this story reaches back a long way. The Ellis family came out of Mississippi and made their way to Texas in 1839.

That's early days for this part of the state, and they came ready to put down roots. Charles McHenry Ellis and his wife Elizabeth, born a Lovelady, built a family that by any measure was substantial. Fifteen children.

You heard that right. Fifteen. Elizabeth and Charles raised that family on this land, and when Elizabeth passed in 1865, Charles went on and wed Aramenta Hartfield, and together they had seven more children.

The Ellis name was woven deep into the soil of Houston County. Now, Charles's oldest son, Byanthy Woodville Ellis, he's the one who made a move that would echo well past his own lifetime. In 1876, Byanthy deeded a piece of that land, the family cemetery included, for use as a church and burial ground.

He gave it over. Set it apart. And one of the first marked burials in that cemetery is Elizabeth Lovelady Ellis herself, the woman who came from Mississippi with Charles back in 1839 and helped build all of this.

But there's something else the marker doesn't let us look away from. There are unmarked graves there too, believed to be those of slaves. No names recorded, no stones standing, but the ground holds them just the same.

And the cemetery holds others as well, military veterans among them, people whose lives tied into the larger story of this region. Center Hill Cemetery stands today as a link to the area's early settlers and the history, complicated and layered as it is, that they left behind. Some legacies are carved in stone.

Some are written in silence. This place carries both.

What the marker says

The Ellis family came from Mississippi to Texas in 1839. Charles McHenry Ellis and Elizabeth (Lovelady) Ellis had 15 children. After her death in 1865, he wed Aramenta Hartfield, with whom he had 7 children. His oldest son, Byanthy Woodville Ellis, deeded land including the family cemetery in 1876 for use as a church and burial ground. One of the first marked burials is that of Elizabeth Lovelady Ellis. There area also unmarked graves believed to be those of slaves. Today, the cemetery, which includes military veteran burials, is a link to the area's rich history and early settlers. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2003