Connell Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. William Connell came to Texas in 1834, and he brought his family with him. That right there sets the clock.

This was the Republic of Texas era, and William wasn't the kind of man to sit still. He served in the Republic of Texas Army. He rode with the Texas Rangers.

And when the Confederate Army came calling, he answered that too. Three flags, three chapters of a life spent in service on this hard Texas ground. Now, somewhere along the way, the land around William and his wife Loumisa Wills Connell began to hold something more than cattle and mesquite.

It began to hold the dead. Connell Cemetery is believed to be one of the oldest in all of Brown County, probably in use before 1861. That word, probably, is doing a lot of work out here.

Because this place was keeping its secrets long before anybody thought to write them down. Then came 1866. William and Loumisa buried their son, William Archibald.

And in their grief, they did something that would outlast all of them. They erected what is believed to have been the very first headstone on this site. Think on that.

A cemetery already holding the dead, and yet it took a parent's loss to put the first stone in the ground. The last marked grave belongs to Edward Bruce McCallum, dated 1949. Between that first stone and that last one, sixteen families left their people here.

And still, over twenty graves remain unmarked. No name. No date.

Just ground. In 1893, Connell Cemetery was deeded to Brown County, which means the county has been the keeper of this place, the marked and the unmarked alike, for well over a century. Some cemeteries tell you everything.

This one tells you just enough to make you wonder about the rest.

What the marker says

William Connell came to Texas with his family in 1834. He later served in the Republic of Texas Army, the Texas Rangers, and the Confederate Army. Connell Cemetery, believed to be one of the oldest in Brown County, was probably in use before 1861. When William and Loumisa Wills Connell buried their son William Archibald in 1866, they erected what is believed to have been the first headstone on this site. The last was that of Edward Bruce McCallum, dated 1949. Sixteen families are noted; over twenty graves remain unmarked. Connell Cemetery was deeded to Brown County in 1893. (1997)