Land Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Land Cemetery, out in Williamson County. Now, every piece of ground has a story underneath it, and this one goes back a good while. Land Cemetery originally served the Corn Hill community, an early Williamson County settlement.

County Judge John E. King named it, naming it for the fields of corn surrounding his home. By the eighteen eighties, Corn Hill had grown into something real: a post office, businesses, churches, fraternal lodges, cotton gins, mills, a newspaper, and a school.

That is a community with its boots on the ground. But before any of that bustle, there was a family, and a loss. The cemetery sits on property owned by settlers Nicholas and Elizabeth Ann Land, Elizabeth Ann being born a Giles.

In 1863, they buried Nicholas's oldest son, John, right there on that land. That burial established a family burial ground. And then, as neighbors do in hard country, they opened it to the families around them.

At least twenty-five individuals were interred in that graveyard before 1886. That year, the Salado Valley Cemetery Association purchased four point one acres from Nicholas and Elizabeth Land, setting this ground aside formally for cemetery use. Others involved in that land transaction were R.K. and Mary Lou Shaver, J.B. and Bell Shaver, and trustees G.B.

Buchanan, W.P. Routon, and J.W. Robertson.

Nicholas Land died in 1896. Elizabeth Ann Land died in 1911. The ground they set aside outlasted them both.

Then came the railroad, and the way railroads do, it changed everything. In 1909, the Bartlett Western Railway bypassed Corn Hill. The community of Jarrell was organized along the rail line, and the residents of Jarrell soon began to use this burial ground as well.

One cemetery, now carrying two communities. Walk through Land Cemetery today and you see the craft of grief: curbing, obelisks, interior fencing, vertical stones, grave slabs, and false crypts. Among those interred are veterans of foreign conflicts, and members of the Knauth, Langenegger, and Schwertner families, German immigrants who were among the area's early settlers.

And then, 1997. The F5 Jarrell tornado. Twenty-seven individuals lost their lives.

The storm damaged gravestones in the cemetery. Many were later repaired. Even in death, this place was not left alone to the weather.

Today, the Salado Valley Cemetery Association continues to care for this burial ground. It connects the early residents of Corn Hill to the many others who have lived near Salado Creek in northern Williamson County. One family's grief in 1863, grown into something a whole county leans on.

That is how the ground holds people, long after everything else moves on.

What the marker says

THIS BURIAL GROUND ORIGINALLY SERVED THE CORN HILL COMMUNITY, AN EARLY WILLIAMSON COUNTY SETTLEMENT NAMED BY COUNTY JUDGE JOHN E. KING FOR THE FIELDS OF CORN SURROUNDING HIS HOME. BY THE 1880s, CORN HILL HAD A POST OFFICE, BUSINESSES, CHURCHES, FRATERNAL LODGES, COTTON GINS, MILLS, A NEWSPAPER AND A SCHOOL. LAND CEMETERY IS ON PROPERTY OWNED BY SETTLERS NICHOLAS (d. 1896) AND ELIZABETH ANN (GILES) LAND (d. 1911), WHO IN 1863 BURIED HIS OLDEST SON, JOHN, HERE, ESTABLISHING A FAMILY BURIAL GROUND; THEY SOON OPENED IT TO NEIGHBORING FAMILIES AS WELL. AT LEAST 25 INDIVIDUALS WERE INTERRED IN THE GRAVEYARD BEFORE 1886, WHEN THE SALADO VALLEY CEMETERY ASSOCIATION PURCHASED 4.1 ACRES FROM NICHOLAS AND ELIZABETH LAND FOR CEMETERY USE. OTHERS INVOLVED IN THE LAND TRANSACTION WERE R.K. AND MARY LOU SHAVER, J.B. AND BELL SHAVER, AND TRUSTEES G.B. BUCHANAN, W.P. ROUTON, AND J.W. ROBERTSON. IN 1909, THE BARTLETT WESTERN RAILWAY BYPASSED CORN HILL. THE COMMUNITY OF JARRELL WAS ORGANIZED ALONG THE RAIL LINE AND RESIDENTS SOON BEGAN TO ALSO USE THIS BURIAL GROUND. CEMETERY FEATURES INCLUDE CURBING, OBELISKS, INTERIOR FENCING, VERTICAL STONES, GRAVE SLABS AND FALSE CRYPTS. THE INTERRED INCLUDE VETERANS OF FOREIGN CONFLICTS AND MEMBERS OF THE KNAUTH, LANGENEGGER, AND SCHWERTNER FAMILIES, GERMAN IMMIGRANTS WHO WERE AMONG THE AREA’S EARLY SETTLERS. THE 1997 F5 JARRELL TORNADO, WHICH RESULTED IN THE DEATHS OF 27 INDIVIDUALS, DAMAGED GRAVESTONES IN THE CEMETERY; MANY WERE LATER REPAIRED. TODAY, THE SALADO VALLEY CEMETERY ASSOCIATION CONTINUES TO CARE FOR THIS BURIAL GROUND, WHICH SERVES AS A CONNECTION BETWEEN THE EARLY RESIDENTS OF CORN HILL AND THE MANY OTHERS WHO HAVE LIVED NEAR SALADO CREEK IN NORTHERN WILLIAMSON COUNTY.