Clark Cemetery

Duane's take

The official marker for Clark Cemetery in Parker County, Texas, tells it this way, and I'm going to tell it to you the way Duane does. Out along the Clear Fork of the Trinity River, the land kept a secret for a long time. Early pioneer settlers camped there, buried their dead there, and moved on, leaving behind graves that the earth quietly swallowed.

Some of those burial sites reach all the way back to the 1830s, which means the ground was holding people long before anybody thought to put a formal name on the place. Now, the story picks up a thread in December of 1853, when Reverend John William Godfrey and his wife Anzaline arrived in Parker County. They had come all the way from Missouri.

Reverend Godfrey, born in 1825, wasted no time. He established a Methodist church in the Wright Community, northeast of Weatherford, and that is where he and Anzaline made their home. But here is the part that settles heavy.

Anzaline Godfrey, born in 1831, passed away in 1859. She was buried in the Wright Community burial grounds. And when you visit Clark Cemetery today and you look for the oldest marked headstone, you will find hers.

Of all the names and dates in that place, hers is the one that goes furthest back among the stones still standing to be read. The cemetery itself was formally established in 1880, when Jim Clark and William Henry Ward put it on permanent footing, right at the original location of Godfrey's Chapel Methodist Church. From that point forward, the ground had a name and a purpose anyone could point to.

The years kept adding layers. In 1953, signed documents deeded Tract No. 1 and No. 2 of the land as burial plot property. Additional land was added in 1958, and again in 1999.

The place grew because the need grew, and the need never stopped. Consider who ended up here. Numerous pioneer families and farmers, yes.

But also a founder of early Parker County Methodist churches. An organizer of Jack County. A trustee of an early pioneer school.

A county chief justice. The kind of people who shaped a raw piece of Texas into something that could hold a community together. And the veterans.

Clark Cemetery carries veterans of the Texas Rangers, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Vietnam, and the Korean War. That is a span of service that crosses generations, conflict after conflict, each one represented somewhere beneath those live oak, elm, and post oak trees. About those trees.

The landscape is traditional, the marker says, and when you walk through that limestone and steel entrance gate, past the restrooms and the covered pavilion, you feel it. The place has the kind of quiet that old ground earns. Now, here is the thing that might stop you cold if you think about it too long.

When researchers brought in ground penetrating radar, they found sixty-five unidentified burial sites from the pioneer era. Sixty-five people resting there with no marked stone, no name anyone has been able to attach. They were there all along, and the ground knew, even when nobody else did.

The Clark Cemetery Association continues to care for this place. They are still tending it, which means the story is not finished. It just keeps getting longer, one name at a time.

What the marker says

CLARK CEMETERY A COMMON BURIAL GROUND FOR EARLY PIONEER SETTLERS WHO CAMPED ALONG THE CLEAR FORK OF THE TRINITY RIVER, THE CLARK CEMETERY CONSISTS OF MANY BURIAL SITES FROM THE 1830s. IN DECEMBER OF 1853, REVEREND JOHN WILLIAM GODFREY (1825-1897) AND HIS WIFE, ANZALINE (BARKER) GODFREY (1831-1859), ARRIVED IN PARKER COUNTY FROM MISSOURI. GODFREY ESTABLISHED A METHODIST CHURCH IN THE WRIGHT COMMUNITY, NORTHEAST OF WEATHERFORD, WHERE THEY LIVED. IN 1859, ANZALINE PASSED AWAY AND WAS BURIED IN THE WRIGHT COMMUNITY BURIAL GROUNDS. IN 1880, JIM CLARK AND WILLIAM HENRY WARD FORMALLY ESTABLISHED A PERMANENT CEMETERY AT THE ORIGINAL LOCATION OF GODFREY'S CHAPEL METHODIST CHURCH. IN 1953, SIGNED DOCUMENTS DEEDED TRACT NO. 1 AND NO. 2 OF THE LAND AS BURIAL PLOT PROPERTY. ADDITIONAL LAND WAS ADDED IN 1958 AND IN 1999. IN ADDITION TO NUMEROUS PIONEER FAMILIES AND FARMERS, CLARK CEMETERY IS THE FINAL RESTING PLACE OF A FOUNDER OF EARLY PARKER COUNTY METHODIST CHURCHES, AN ORGANIZER OF JACK COUNTY, A TRUSTEE OF AN EARLY PIONEER SCHOOL AND A COUNTY CHIEF JUSTICE. THE OLDEST MARKED HEADSTONE IN THE CEMETERY BELONGS TO ANZALINE GODFREY, ALTHOUGH SIXTY-FIVE UNIDENTIFIED BURIAL SITES FROM THE PIONEER ERA WERE DISCOVERED WITH GROUND PENETRATING RADAR. THE CONNECTION TO MILITARY SERVICE IS REPRESENTED BY VETERANS OF THE TEXAS RANGERS, THE CIVIL WAR, WORLD WAR I, WORLD WAR II, VIETNAM AND THE KOREAN WAR. THE LANDSCAPE OF THE CLARK CEMETERY IS TRADITIONAL WITH LIVE OAK, ELM AND POST OAK TREES WITH A LIMESTONE AND STEEL ENTRANCE GATE, RESTROOMS AND A COVERED PAVILION. THE CLARK CEMETERY ASSOCIATION CONTINUES TO CARE FOR THIS HISTORIC CEMETERY. HISTORIC TEXAS CEMETERY - 2011