Judson Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. This is the story of Judson Cemetery, out in Anderson County. It goes back further than most folks realize.

The graveyard traces its origin to the establishment of Judson Missionary Baptist Church of Christ, and that happened on September 20, 1854. The church served a pioneer community called Wildcat Bluff, which later went by the name Cayuga. Now, before the congregation settled in at this spot, they were meeting over at Gilmore's Chapel and Brush Arbor.

Around 1856 they relocated here, to a church building and acreage donated by Martin and Nancy Haywood. That donation was recorded on October 20, 1855. A piece of land given so a community could put down roots.

You don't forget something like that. The first recorded burial in this ground was a child. Seven years old.

Allen W. Barton, laid to rest on October 26, 1863. That fact sits there in the record quiet and heavy, and it deserves a moment.

Out here on the Texas frontier, when someone died, the community did everything. Members prepared the body. They made the shroud.

They built the caskets. They dug the graves. No one hired out that work.

You showed up for your neighbors. And when it came to marking those graves, they used what the land offered: cedar trees and large stones. Now here's the part that'll raise the hair on your arms just a little.

According to local tradition, cedar tree stumps still continue to disclose the sites of unmarked graves. The trees are gone, but the stumps keep pointing, quiet witnesses to people whose names the records never caught. The cemetery kept growing, kept gathering the community to it.

In 1910, a small parcel of land was added to the graveyard by donors L. J. M.

Sutton, L. B. Clay, Mrs.

Ida Harton, and Joe A. and Sarah Johnson. Then in 1925, Ellen and J. W.

Seat donated three and three-quarter acres to the Judson Baptist Church, and in 1954 they sold additional acreage for cemetery purposes. In 1970, the Judson Cemetery Association helped establish a perpetual care fund to maintain the grounds. And in 1986, the Judson Baptist Church deeded the cemetery to the cemetery association.

It continues to serve the church and the community to this day. From a donated piece of Texas ground in 1855, through pioneer hands building caskets and planting cedars, all the way to a perpetual care fund and a deed held in trust. Some places just refuse to let go of the people who loved them.

What the marker says

This graveyard traces its origin to the establishment of Judson Missionary Baptist Church of Christ on September 20, 1854. The church served the pioneer community of Wildcat Bluff (later called Cayuga). The congregation relocated here about 1856 from the nearby Gilmore's Chapel and Brush Arbor to a church building and acreage donated by Martin and Nancy Haywood on October 20, 1855. The first recorded burial here was that of 7-year-old Allen W. Barton on October 26, 1863. Pioneer burials were a community effort. Members prepared the body, made the shroud, built the caskets and dug the graves. Cedar trees and large stones were used as grave markers. According to local tradition cedar tree stumps continue to disclose the site of unmarked grave sites. In 1910 a small parcel of land was added to the graveyard by donors L. J. M. Sutton, L. B. Clay, Mrs. Ida Harton, and Joe A. and Sarah Johnson. Ellen and J. W. Seat donated 3-3/4 acres to the Judson Baptist Church in 1925 and sold additional acreage in 1954 for cemetery purposes. The Judson Cemetery Association helped establish a perpetual care fund in 1970 to maintain the grounds. The cemetery, deeded to the cemetery association by the Judson Baptist Church in 1986, continues to serve the church and community. (1993)