Elmwood Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Elmwood Cemetery in Montague County. Now settle in, because this story starts with a single act of generosity and just keeps growing from there. In 1880, an early settler by the name of James W.

Stallings donated the first portion of land at this site so that area residents would have a place to lay their dead. That's where it begins. A gift of ground.

And the very first person buried there was Willie B. Nelson, son of Francis M. and Mary Nelson, who passed on June 10, 1880. A child.

The very first. That fact has a weight to it, and it deserves a moment. Two years after that first burial, the town of Bowie was platted near the cemetery site, right along the route of the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad.

The town grew up next to its own graveyard, which, if you think about it, is about as honest an arrangement as a community can make. Stallings himself would come to know that ground more personally than he might have wished. In 1882, he buried his wife, Sarah E., who had been a Parker before she married him.

That same year, he buried his granddaughter. And his daughter. All three in 1882.

The land he gave became the land that held his grief. Then came the Tinkles. G.W. and Emily Tinkle conveyed additional land to the cemetery in 1884, then again in 1901, and once more in 1905.

Three separate times they gave more room for the dead, and further additions followed in later years. Somewhere in those early years, the Bowie Cemetery Association formed up to handle the business of the place, though the exact date of its organization has been lost to time. What we know is that the association kept things running until 1938, when they officially deeded the burial ground over to the city of Bowie.

Now here's a detail that doesn't get told often enough. Between 1935 and 1937, employees of the Civilian Conservation Corps constructed a native stone wall along Patterson and Nelson Streets. Portions of that wall still stand today.

Stone laid by working hands during hard times, and it's still there. Then in 1981, when the expansion of Lake Amon G. Carter required it, the graves located at Tarter Cemetery were relocated to Elmwood.

The dead followed the living, in a manner of speaking, finding new rest in familiar company. And the veterans. Elmwood holds the burials of men and women who served in the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.

Generations of service, all converging on this one piece of ground in Montague County. Today, Elmwood Cemetery still serves the citizens of Bowie and the surrounding area. And every stone out there, from Willie B.

Nelson in the summer of 1880 on forward, is a reminder of the early pioneer settlers who built this community one hard day at a time.

What the marker says

Early settler James W. Stallings donated the first portion of land for the establishment of a cemetery for area residents at this site in 1880. Two years later, the town of Bowie was platted near the cemetery site, along the route of the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad. The first burial at Elmwood Cemetery was that of Willie B. Nelson (d. June 10, 1880), son of Francis M. and Mary Nelson. Stallings later buried several of his own family members at the site, including his wife Sarah E. (Parker), his granddaughter and his daughter, all in 1882. In 1884, 1901 and 1905, G.W. and Emily Tinkle conveyed additional land to the cemetery, and further additions were made to the site in later years. The Bowie Cemetery Association formed during the early years of the cemetery’s existence, although the exact date of its organization is unknown. The association handled the business of the cemetery until 1938, when the cemetery association officially deeded the burial ground to the city of Bowie. In 1981, due to the expansion of Lake Amon G. Carter, the graves located at Tarter Cemetery were relocated to Elmwood. Portions of a native stone wall that was constructed along Patterson and Nelson Streets by employees of the Civilian Conservation Corps 1935-1937 remain today. The cemetery contains burials of veterans from the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Today, Elmwood Cemetery continues to serve the citizens of Bowie and the surrounding area while reminding them of the early pioneer settlers of the community.