County Line Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about County Line Cemetery, out on the Harrison-Upshur county line. Now, every cemetery has a story. But some cemeteries hold stories older than their oldest stone.

County Line Cemetery is one of those places. It starts, the way so many Texas stories start, with people comin from somewhere else. Eli Henderson McCoy made his way down from North Carolina in 1859.

Jeremiah Brisco Ormes had arrived from Mississippi sometime in the 1850s. And Jessie Pierce came up from Georgia around 1870. These men, and their families with them, put down roots near the Harrison-Upshur county line and built what folks would come to call the Crossroads community.

They didn't just settle the land. They built something to last. Early residents founded the County Line Baptist Church, affiliated with the Soda Lake Association.

And they established the County Line Cemetery on land donated by Dr. T.B. Burford and his wife, Buena Vista, born a Craver.

That donation matters, because here's where the story gets a little complicated. The original deed, the piece of paper that made it all official, was lost. Gone.

But the Burford descendants weren't about to let that stand. In 1959, they formally deeded the land to the church and cemetery again. Some obligations, it turns out, outlast paperwork.

Now walk among those graves and the stones will tell you things. Tombstones reflect military service. Others show memberships in fraternal organizations.

And there are two early stone cairns, graves unlike most any others you'll find, marking someone's resting place in the old way, with nothing but stacked rock and time. Then there's this. The number of unmarked graves suggests some of them may predate the earliest marked one.

That earliest marked grave belongs to Eli Henderson McCoy, the man who came down from North Carolina in 1859, who later served in the Confederate Army. He died in 1863. And somewhere in that ground, there may be people who were buried before even his stone was set.

County Line Cemetery is maintained today by descendants of those buried here. They are keeping faith with the Crossroads community, with the Ormeses and the Pierces and the Burfords, with every marked stone and every unmarked one. Because a cemetery isn't just where stories end.

It's where they're kept.

What the marker says

Early settlers to this area included: Eli Henderson McCoy, who came from North Carolina in 1859 and later served in the Confederate Army; Jeremiah Brisco Ormes, who arrived from Mississippi in the 1850s; and Jessie Pierce, who came from Georgia around 1870. These men and their families established what became known as the Crossroads community near the Harrison-Upshur county line. Early residents founded the County Line Baptist Church, affiliated with the Soda Lake Association. They also established the County Line Cemetery on land donated by Dr. T.B. and Buena Vista (Craver) Burford. Although the original deed was lost, Burford descendants formally deeded the land to the church and cemetery again in 1959. The number of unmarked graves indicated some may predate the earliest marked one, that of Eli Henderson McCoy (d. 1863). Other tombstones also reflect military service, as well as memberships in fraternal organizations. Unique graves include two early stone cairns. Maintained by descendants of those buried here, County Line Cemetery is an important link to generations of area residents and the stories of their lives. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2004