Hall Cemetery

Duane's take

The way this marker tells it, here's the story of Hall Cemetery in Caldwell County. John and Sarah Hall came to this part of Texas from Mississippi, around 1860, and the community that grew up around them carried their name. That's what it means to plant yourself somewhere, I suppose.

You move, you settle, and the land starts answering to you. A rural settlement built up gradually in the area, the way things do out here, quietly and without ceremony. Then came 1882, and a man named J.

R. Bishop, who owned land in the area, deeded two acres to the community for a school. Now, here's where the story takes a turn.

Part of that land already held grave sites. So the community set one acre aside, right then and there, for a cemetery to serve them all. The oldest documented burial in that cemetery belongs to an infant boy, unnamed, the son of W.

J. and Louisa Williams, who died at birth on June 21, 1873. No name to carry forward, just a date and a set of parents and a piece of ground that remembered him. The cemetery didn't only serve the Hall community, either.

It also served the nearby Wattsville community, those folks finding common ground, quite literally, with their neighbors. John and Sarah Hall came from Mississippi and put down roots. And the roots went deeper than anyone plans for.

What the marker says

The Hall community in this area was named for pioneer settlers John and Sarah Hall who moved here about 1860 from Mississippi. A rural settlement gradually built up in the area, and in 1882 landowner J. R. Bishop deeded two acres to the community for a school. Part of the land contained grave sites, so one acre was set aside for a community cemetery. The oldest documented burial is that of the unnamed infant son of W. J. and Louisa Williams, who died at birth on June 21, 1873. the cemetery also served the nearby Wattsville community.