Grapevine Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do my best to honor every word. Samuel D. Coble arrived in this part of Tarrant County in the 1850s; settled right here, put down roots the way men did back then, quiet and deliberate.

His brother Allen B. Coble followed him in, and the two of them made a life of it together on this land. Now, brothers who settle the same ground and stick together: that's a particular kind of loyalty, and the Cobles had it.

Then came 1878. Samuel, born in 1830, and Allen, born in 1836, looked at four and a half acres of their land and made a decision that outlasted both of them by a long stretch. They sold that parcel right here for use as a public cemetery.

Four and a half acres. Doesn't sound like much until you start counting what it holds. The oldest known grave belongs to Louisa C.

Guiry, who died in 1860 at the age of twenty-two. Twenty-two years old, gone before the cemetery even had a name on a deed. She was here first, at least as far as anyone knows.

Buried in this ground are people who shaped the whole character of this region. Barton H. Starr, born 1850, died 1912, was elected the first Mayor of Grapevine in 1907; the very first.

And James Tracy Morehead, born way back in 1809 and still going until 1897, served as the second Judge of Tarrant County. Think about that for a moment. The second judge of an entire county, resting in a cemetery founded on land two brothers decided the community needed more than they did.

In 1925, additional land south of that original four-and-a-half-acre tract was acquired, because the story kept growing, the way stories out here tend to do. Mayors and judges, pioneer settlers, a young woman named Louisa (all gathered together on ground the Coble brothers had the foresight to give away).

What the marker says

Samuel D. Coble (1830-1890), joined later by his brother Allen B. Coble (1836-1906), settled here in the 1850s. In 1878 they sold 4.5 acres of land at this site for use as a public cemetery. The oldest known grave is that of Louisa C. Guiry (d. 1860), who died at the age of 22. Many pioneer settlers of the area are buried here, including Barton H. Starr (1850-1912), elected the first Mayor of Grapevine in 1907, and James Tracy Morehead (1809-1897), who served as the second Judge of Tarrant County. Additional land south of the original tract was acquired in 1925. (1980)