DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker's the source here, and I'm just the one bringin' it to life — so let's talk about a patch of ground in Navarro County that's been holdin' stories since before most of Texas knew what it was. It starts with a railroad. In 1871, the Houston and Texas Central Railroad extended its line from Houston to Corsicana, on its way to Dallas.
And trailing right behind that iron track came people — Jewish settlers, many of them tracing their roots to Eastern Europe or Alsace Lorraine. Merchants, most of them. Folks who understood that where the railroad goes, commerce follows.
They came, they set up shop, and they stayed. Before long, the Jewish population in Corsicana was well established. And a community that puts down roots eventually needs a place to honor its dead.
So in 1881, the Hebrew Cemetery Association purchased this very property as a burial ground. Now — and here's where it gets interesting — the land had already been receiving the departed before that purchase was ever made. The earliest known burial here dates to 1877.
The community, it seems, didn't wait on paperwork to do what was right. Then in 1887, the Ladies Hebrew Cemetery Association formed, dedicated to raisin' funds to keep the grounds in proper order. By 1951, additional property had been purchased to make room for more.
The cemetery took on features you'd notice — obelisks, statuary, curbing. A place built with intention. Now, among the more than four hundred individuals buried here, a few names deserve their moment.
Sidney Marks — civic leader, businessman, and fourteen-term president of Temple Beth El. Fourteen terms. That's not a tenure, that's a calling.
Kalman Wolens, remembered as an entrepreneur and philanthropist. Max London, a Civil War veteran. And Ernest Joseph, who served as Rabbi for both the reform and orthodox congregations, right up until his death in 1999.
But then there's one more. And this one has no name. In 1884, a rope walker — an anonymous rope walker — fatally fell from a tightrope.
And what followed was a search for his identity that, according to the marker, gripped the community. He was laid to rest here among Corsicana's Jewish dead, a stranger given ground and remembrance even without a name to put on the stone. He's still here.
Still unidentified. Still somehow part of the story. This cemetery has served Corsicana's Jewish residents since the late 1800s, and the marker says it plainly: those residents have played a vital role in the community's civic, cultural, and economic development since then.
The Corsicana Hebrew Cemetery remains, as the marker calls it, hallowed ground — and four hundred lives buried here make a pretty convincing argument for that.
What the marker says
This burial ground has served the Jewish residents in Corsicana since the late 1800s. The first Jewish settlers in the community came here in 1871, when the Houston and Texas Central Railroad extended it's line from Houston to Corsicana en route to Dallas. The first Jewish settlers, many of whom traced their origins to Eastern Europe or Alsace Lorraine, were merchants who made use of the railroads. Soon, the Jewish population was well established in Corsicana and needed a cemetery. In 1881, the Hebrew Cemetery Association purchased this property for use as a burial ground. However, the land had been used for Jewish internments prior to this time; the earliest known burial dates to 1877. In 1887, the Ladies Hebrew Cemetery Association formed to raise funds for cemetery upkeep. In 1951, additional property was purchased. Cemetery features included obelisks, statuary and curbing. Noted individuals interred here include civic leader, businessman and 14 term president of the Temple Beth El, Sidney Marks; entrepreneur and philanthropist, Kalman Wolens; Civil War veteran Max London; an anonymous rope walker, who in 1884 fatally fell from a tightrope, leading to a search for his identity which gripped the community; and Ernest Joseph, who served as Rabbi for both the reform and orthodox congregations until his death in 1999. Today, there are over 400 individuals buried here. Corsicana Hebrew Cemetery remains a hallowed ground which chronicles the history of Corsicana's Jewish residents, who since the 1800"s have played a vital role in the community's civic, cultural and economic development. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2008