DUANE
Duane's take
The way the marker at John Shelburne Cemetery tells it, here's how I'm passing the story along to you. Now, most folks rolling through Austin County don't slow down long enough to hear what the land is trying to say, but out along Mill Creek, if you know where to look, there's a quiet place that speaks volumes. Eight known graves, rock-lined, with obelisks standing at the center like they're still keeping watch.
And the story behind them starts a long way from Texas. Nancy and John Pamplin packed up their lives in Lauderdale, Alabama in 1837 — and when I say packed up, I mean they brought eleven children along for the journey, plus Nancy's mother, Jane Dunkin. That is not a small undertaking.
That is a commitment. They arrived in Texas and settled here the following year, putting down roots and establishing a plantation along Mill Creek. Now, the frontier had a way of testing a family's resolve just about the moment they got comfortable, and 1842 was one of those moments.
That was the year General Adrian Woll led an invasion, and John Pamplin and his son-in-law Alfred Minton did not sit on the porch and watch it happen. They joined the Republic of Texas army to turn back that invasion. Think on that — a man who'd only just settled his family on new land, turning right around to defend it.
The cemetery that carries the Shelburne name today holds eight known graves belonging to members of the Shelburne and Minton families. Those rock-lined gravesites and the obelisks rising above them are what the marker calls reminders of the area's pioneer settlers. And that's exactly right.
Not monuments to great battles or famous names — just stone and earth saying: we came here, we built something, and we stayed.
What the marker says
John Shelburne Cemetery Nancy and John Pamplin, their eleven children, and Nancy's mother, Jane Dunkin, came to Texas from Lauderdale, Alabama in 1837. They settled here the following year and established a plantation along Mill Creek. In 1842, John and his son-in-law, Alfred Minton, joined the Republic of Texas army to turn back the invasion of Gen. Adrian Woll. The eight known graves at this site are for members of the Shelburne and Minton families, whose obelisks are the central features. The rock-lined gravesites serve as reminders of the area's pioneer settlers. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2002