Clark's Chapel Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Clark's Chapel Cemetery in Caldwell County. Now settle in, because this one's a story about roots, and how deep they can run. William A.

Clark moved with his wife Nancy, born a Copenhaver, and their children all the way from Alabama to Caldwell County in 1850, part of a whole group of settlers making that long haul together. Clark purchased land in this vicinity in 1854, and the community started taking shape around him and his neighbors. In those early days, folks had no proper building to gather in, so they did what people do when the land is new and the walls haven't gone up yet.

They met in homes. They met out of doors. They worshipped under whatever roof or sky was available.

Then came 1877, and something more permanent took hold. Twenty-six men and women, right there at the Clarks' home, organized the Clark's Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church, South, under the leadership of the Reverend J. W.

Brown. Twenty-six people. That's not a rumor.

That's a congregation. Two years later, Joseph and Jennie Magee deeded land to the group for a church building and grounds, and then they added more land alongside it, land that would become Clark's Chapel Cemetery. The first grave marker in that cemetery belongs to Martha R.

Smith, two years old, dated 1882. You sit with that a moment. A community builds something together, and then the first soul it buries there is a child.

The church building itself stood until 1950, when it was torn down, and by then the cemetery had fallen into poor state. But here's where the story turns, because families have a long memory when they choose to use it. Clark and Magee descendants, including Austin Magee, Guy Kelley, and a man known as Niram, though folks called him Nye, Nye Clark, they started gathering information about the church and the cemetery.

They organized annual reunions for family members. And through those reunions, through annual donations, those families today still maintain that burial ground. It is still in use.

Still a link, the marker says, to family and friends, and to area history. William Clark came from Alabama with his wife and children in 1850. And more than a century and a half later, the ground he helped establish is still being tended by the people who carry his story forward.

Some roots, friend, just don't let go.

What the marker says

As part of a group of settlers, William A. Clark moved with his wife, Nancy (Copenhaver), and children to Caldwell County from Alabama in 1850. Clark purchased land in this vicinity in 1854. Early community residents met in homes and out of doors for worship services, and in 1877, at the Clarks' home, 26 men and women organized the Clark's Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church, South, under the leadership of the Rev. J. W. Brown. Two years later, Joseph and Jennie Magee deeded land to the group for a church building and grounds, later adding land for Clark's Chapel Cemetery. The first grave marker, that of two-year-old Martha R. Smith, dates to 1882. The church building was torn down in 1950, and with the cemetery in poor state, Clark and Magee descendants, including Austin Magee, Guy Kelley and Niram "Nye" Clark, began gathering information about the church and cemetery, and organizing annual reunions for family members. Through these reunions and annual donations, the families today maintain the burial ground, which is still in use as a link to family and friends, and to area history. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2004