Jolly Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Out here in Williamson County, there's a patch of ground that holds more history than most folks ever stop to consider. They call it Jolly Cemetery, and the name alone ought to give you a hint about whose story we're steppin' into.

John Grey Jolly was born in 1825, and so was his wife, Nancy Isabel Eskew. Same year, different souls, and together they would leave a mark on this corner of Texas that time hasn't managed to shake loose. It was John and Nancy who formally set aside this burial ground.

Both of them rest here now, the community they gave their name to still carrying it forward. Jollyville. Named for them.

That's not nothing. Now, the earliest marked grave in this cemetery belongs to Margaret Evergreen Robinson, who died in 1872. Say that name out loud sometime.

Margaret Evergreen Robinson. It has a ring to it, and she deserves to be remembered. But there's another thread runnin' through this ground, and it goes back even further than 1872.

The Thomas V. S. Strode family settled in this area of Texas in 1841.

That's the Republic of Texas era, friends. Five citizens of that Republic are buried right here, members of that same Strode family. Think about what that means.

These were people who lived under the flag of an independent Texas nation. The last burial in Jolly Cemetery came in 1929. That was Charlie Strode, a Texas Confederate veteran, the final chapter written in this particular book.

Nancy Isabel Jolly herself had been born in 1825 and lived all the way to 1921, so she very nearly saw that last burial herself. From the Republic of Texas to 1929, this little pioneer ground held it all. And it still does.

What the marker says

This pioneer burial ground is a reminder of the area's earliest settlers. It was formally set aside by John Grey Jolly (1825-99) and his wife, Nancy Isabel (Eskew) (1825-1921) -- both buried here -- for whom Jollyville community was named. The earliest marked grave is that of Margaret Evergreen Robinson, who died in 1872. Others buried here include five citizens of the Republic of Texas -- members of the Thomas V. S. Strode family, who settled in this area of the state in 1841. The last burial in the Jolly Cemetery, that of Texas Confederate veteran Charlie Strode, took place in 1929. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986