Greenwood Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Greenwood Cemetery, out in Grayson County. Now, some places wear their history plain on their face. Greenwood Cemetery is not one of those places.

This burial ground sits quiet, holding the stories of early settlers from both Fannin and Grayson counties, and it has spent a good long while keeping its secrets. Folks around here commonly called it Jenkins Cemetery, because the only way in was through John J. Jenkins' farm.

That's the kind of detail that tells you something about a place before you've even set foot on the ground. You want to pay your respects, you go through Jenkins' land to do it. Folks in those parts knew where the gate was.

The first person ever laid to rest here, though, nobody can say with any certainty. The first usage date is simply unknown. The oldest stones have had their lettering erased by weather, worn smooth and silent as if the names themselves decided to slip away.

The earliest stone that still carries a readable date belongs to Jas. P. Montgomery, who died in 1869.

Whatever came before that, the weather took. On March 31, 1882, a man named W. S.

Roddy made it official, formally deeding the cemetery site in trust for local citizens. That deed gave the place a legal footing, a kind of promise that the land would be kept for the people it served. But promises can fade just like carved letters in old stone.

Wooden markers stood at many of the graves, quiet tributes to folks whose families had done the best they could. Then came 1935, and a grass fire, and those wooden markers were destroyed. Just gone.

The cemetery fell into neglect after that, the kind of quiet, slow neglect that can swallow a place whole if nobody's paying attention. Then came 1972. Lt.

Col. and Mrs. Wm. K.

Langner, descendants of John J. Jenkins himself, the very man whose farm once served as the front door to this place, they came back. They restored the cemetery.

The people who gave the land its old nickname turned out to be the ones who saved it. Sometimes a story circles back in just the right way.

What the marker says

Burial site for early settlers of Fannin and Grayson counties. Commonly called "Jenkins Cemetery" as access was through John J. Jenkins' farm. First usage date is unknown; oldest stones have had lettering erased by weather. Earliest dated stone is for Jas. P. Montgomery, who died in 1869. On March 31, 1882, W. S. Roddy formally deeded the cemetery site in trust for local citizens. Wooden markers at many graves were destroyed by grass fire in 1935. The neglected cemetery was restored in 1972 through efforts of Lt. Col. and Mrs. Wm. K. Langner, descendants of John J. Jenkins.