Ebenezer Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do it justice. Way out in Walker County, there's a patch of ground that's been holding stories since before Texas was even a state in the Union. We're talking about Ebenezer Cemetery, and the tale goes back to 1854.

That year, Jonathan and Sarah McGary donated land right along a stagecoach road, the road running from Huntsville to Austin, and on that land two things took root at once: a cemetery and a church, Ebenezer Baptist Church, organized together like they knew from the start they'd need each other. A prominent Baptist minister named J.W.D. Creath came out representing the Southern Baptist Convention to organize the church, and the first pastor of that congregation was a man named Richard Pace.

Now here's a thing worth sitting with: Richard Pace, the very first pastor, is buried in that same ground he once served. The earliest marked grave dates to 1855, just one year after the organizing, and that grave established this place as a family cemetery. Not just a church yard.

A family burial ground. In time, the congregation disbanded and eventually reorganized, out in the West Sandy area. But the cemetery stayed.

And the people it held stayed too. Among those resting there are first families and citizens of the Republic of Texas itself, and veterans of conflicts dating all the way back to the Civil War. That ground carries generations.

Now, cemeteries can go quiet and forgotten if nobody tends them, and that almost happened here. But in 1986, the Ebenezer Memorial Association was incorporated, and they took on the work of caring for this place. They're still at it.

Some stories don't need a dramatic ending. They just need somebody to keep showing up, clearing the brush, and making sure the names don't disappear. Along that old stagecoach road from Huntsville to Austin, that's exactly what's been happening at Ebenezer Cemetery.

What the marker says

Along with Ebenezer Baptist Church, this cemetery organized in 1854 on land donated by Jonathan and Sarah McGary along a stagecoach road from Huntsville to Austin. Prominent Baptist minister J.W.D. Creath, representing the Southern Baptist Convention, organized the church. Richard Pace was the first pastor of the congregation and is buried here. The earliest marked grave in 1855 established this as a family cemetery. The congregation disbanded and the church reorganized in the West Sandy area. Among those buried here are first families and citizens of the Republic of Texas and veterans of conflicts dating to the Civil War. The Ebenezer Memorial Association, incorporated in 1986, continues to care for this family burial ground. Historic Texas Cemetery – 2005