Crosby Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Out here in Mason County, there's a piece of ground that's been holding the memory of this place since before the county itself had much of a shape to it. Crosby Cemetery.

And its story goes back to the 1850s. That's where we begin. This was the first burial ground for the citizens of Mason and Koocksville, and the land has been receiving the departed for a long, long time.

The oldest documented burial belongs to Kate Lemburg, who died in 1856. Whatever her story was, she was the first whose name was written down and kept. That matters, out here where so much was lost to time and weather and silence.

Now, also resting in this cemetery is a man whose name carries some weight in Mason County history. Thomas Milligan, born in 1810, died in 1860. He was Mason County's first sheriff.

First. Think about what that meant in a place still finding its footing, still drawing its borders. He's here, in this ground, among the others.

Then came 1866, and the Crosby family purchased the property surrounding the cemetery. From that time forward, it has been known as Crosby Cemetery. The name settled in and stayed.

Among those buried here are members of the Crosby family themselves, and other pioneer families who built their lives in this corner of Texas. It stands, the marker says, as a reflection of the area's heritage. And it does.

Every stone, every name, every year carved into that old ground is a thread running straight back to the beginning of things here.

What the marker says

The first burial ground for the citizens of Mason and Koocksville, this cemetery traces its history to the 1850s. The oldest documented burial is that of Kate Lemburg, who died in 1856. Also interred here is Mason County's first sheriff, Thomas Milligan (1810-1860). The Crosby family purchased the property surrounding the cemetery in 1866, and it has been known as Crosby cemetery since that time. Those buried in the cemetery include members of the Crosby and other pioneer families. It stands as a reflection of the area's heritage. (1988)