Lake Creek Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Lake Creek Cemetery in Houston County. Now settle in, because this one starts not with a bang, but with something quieter, and something that took a whole lot of courage to build from nothing. After the Civil War, emancipated African Americans established two communities out here, the Durden community and the Lake Creek community.

Folks were putting down roots, building lives, and for many years, when a family lost someone they loved, they buried them right there on their own farm. That was how it was done. Private, personal, close to home.

But communities grow, and communities grieve together, and eventually a place like that needs a shared piece of ground. That moment came in 1906, when a woman named Malissa Scurlock and her two sons, Dan and George, made a decision. They donated three acres of their own land to serve as a community burial ground.

Three acres, freely given. The first interments were two infants. The daughter of Willie and Pearl McCelvey.

The son of Ike, that's Isaac, and Hanna Berry. Two little ones, laid to rest first in this new shared earth. Then in 1910, the Lake Creek Cemetery Association organized, and the community put two people in charge of keeping it all together.

Hayne David served as chairperson. Beatrice Murphy served as secretary. And here is where the story gets its quiet thunder.

Both of them held those positions until 1959. Nearly five decades of showing up, year after year, keeping the records, tending the trust. That kind of steadiness is rare anywhere, and it is something to reckon with out here in the East Texas pines.

Today Lake Creek Cemetery is still active. Generations of burials. A cherished and tangible link to the past, as the marker puts it, and that phrase earns every word.

Because what Malissa Scurlock gave, what those first families brought here, what Hayne David and Beatrice Murphy held together for all those years, it is still here. Still receiving. Still remembering.

What the marker says

Emancipated African Americans established the Durden and Lake Creek communities in the area following the Civil War. For many years most families buried loved ones on their own farms. In 1906, Malissa Scurlock and her two sons, Dan and George, donated three acres of their land as a community burial ground. The first interments were two infants, the daughter of Willie and Pearl McCelvey and the son of Ike (Isaac) and Hanna Berry. The Lake Creek Cemetery Association organized in 1910, with Hayne David as chairperson and Beatrice Murphy as secretary; both continued in these positions until 1959. With generations of burials, this active cemetery is a cherished and tangible link to the past. Historic Texas Cemetery – 2021 [second name and date marker -- Lake Creek Cemetery Established 1911 Historic Texas Cemetery - 2021]