Creek Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Creek Cemetery, out in Houston County. Pull over if you like. This one's worth a moment.

Back in 1887, a man named Addison P. Hester and his wife Melissa made a decision. They had two acres of land, and they deeded it over to the Creek Community, which folks were calling Georgia Camp at the time, for a school.

Just two acres, given over freely, for the sake of a community that wanted to learn. Now, the land had a school on it. But land, especially land held by a community, has a way of taking on more meaning than anyone plans for.

Two years later, in 1889, Addison and Melissa Hester suffered the kind of loss that no parent should know. Their infant son, Sydney Hester, died. And when they needed a place to lay him to rest, it was that same two acres, that ground they had given to their neighbors, that received him first.

Sydney Hester, the first person interred in what would become Creek Cemetery. The community held onto that ground. Tended it.

And in 1930, another acre was donated, the cemetery growing to meet the need of generations. Today, Creek Cemetery holds the gravesites of many local pioneer settlers. It holds veterans, men who served in the American Civil War, men who served in World War I, men who served in World War II.

Lives lived across a wide and complicated stretch of American history, all come to rest in Houston County. And here's the part that gets you. Neighboring communities and many local residents who are descendants of the very pioneers buried there, they continue to use this cemetery.

They continue to maintain it. The land Addison and Melissa Hester gave away in 1887 is still held, still cared for, still receiving the people whose grandparents and great-grandparents built this corner of Texas. Sydney Hester was the first.

He won't be the last. And the community keeps its promise to remember.

What the marker says

Addison P. and Melissa Hester deeded two acres of land to the Creek Community (then called Georgia Camp) for a school in 1887. Their infant son, Sydney Hester (d. 1889), was the first person interred here. An additional acre was donated in 1930. Creek Cemetery contains the gravesites of many local pioneer settlers, as well as veterans of the American Civil War and World Wars I and II. Neighboring communities, and many local residents who are descendants of pioneers buried here, continue to use and maintain the cemetery.