DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Out here in Gregg County, there's a piece of ground that holds a long and weighty story — and it goes by the name Grable Cemetery. Back in 1888, a man named M.H.
Graybill acquired land in this area. Now, somewhere along the way, the spelling of his name drifted a little when it came to the cemetery — Graybill becoming Grable — and the marker will tell you the spelling changed over time, though it doesn't say exactly how or when that drift settled in. But the land, and what Graybill chose to do with part of it, that stayed constant.
He set aside a tract specifically to be used as a burial ground for local African American sharecroppers and their families. Think about that for a moment. He didn't just let it happen — he set it aside.
Then in 1910, he sold that tract of land to the people of the area's African American communities. Many of those people were former slaves. Many others were descendants of slaves.
This was their ground now, purchased and held. Since that time — since 1910 — residents have maintained this burial ground, and it is managed by a cemetery association. The work of tending it didn't fall away.
People kept showing up. The earliest marked graves date to the early 1900s, and if you walk those grounds today, you'll find something that stops you cold — rows of white crosses marking the burial sites of former slaves. Not grand monuments.
White crosses in rows. Simple, deliberate, and unmistakable. This ground was designated a Historic Texas Cemetery in 2003, but the people who matter most to its story had already been keeping faith with it for nearly a century.
Some places earn their name quietly, through the hands of the living honoring the dead. Grable Cemetery is one of those places.
What the marker says
M.H. Graybill acquired land here in 1888. He set aside a tract to be used as a burial ground for local African American sharecroppers and their families. In 1910, Graybill (the cemetery spelling changed over time) sold this tract of land to the people of the area's African American communities, many of whom were former slaves or descendants of slaves. Since that time, residents have maintained the burial ground, which is managed by a cemetery association. The earliest marked graves date to the early 1900s, and unique features include rows of white crosses denoting burial sites of former slaves. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2003