Lindale Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Lindale Cemetery, up in Montague County. Now, some stories start with a bang. This one starts with a dollar.

Four of them, to be exact. Back in 1880, J. W. and A.

W. Gibbins sold one acre of land to the school trustees of Lindale School District No. 15, and the price of that ground was four dollars. Four dollars for an acre, set aside as a burial ground.

And just like that, the Lindale Cemetery had its beginning. The first recorded burial on that site was E. T.

Foster, born in 1849 and laid to rest in 1883. That's a name worth saying out loud, because somebody thought to write it down, and so it carries forward. The years kept turning, and the families came.

Cooper, Ferrell, Griffin, Hill, Huskey, Kilcrease, Lamkin, Lindsey, Morris, Prater, Thomas. Among them, G. A. and Effie Griffin, who made their way to the Lindale Community in 1923.

Now, one acre of ground can only hold so many stories. So in 1893, J. K. and N.

E. Thomas sold an additional two acres to the cemetery for twenty-five dollars, bringing the whole thing out to three acres. Room enough to keep going.

And it did keep going. Veterans of World War One and World War Two found their rest here. By 1999, the count stood at two hundred and forty-one marked graves, and fifteen unmarked ones.

Fifteen souls whose names the ground is keeping to itself. That's the Lindale Cemetery. A few dollars, a few acres, and more than a century of Montague County families, all accounted for.

What the marker says

Named for the Lindale School District No. 15, the Lindale Cemetery was established in 1880 when J. W. and A. W. Gibbins sold one acre of land for four dollars to school trustees for a burial ground. The first recorded burial on this site was that of E. T. Foster (1849-1883). Others buried here include families such as that of G. A. and Effie Griffin, who came to the Lindale Community in 1923. Other families represented here include Cooper, Ferrell, Griffin, Hill, Huskey, Kilcrease, Lamkin, Lindsey, Morris, Prater and Thomas. In 1893 J. K. and N. E. Thomas sold an additional two acres of land to the cemetery for twenty-five dollars, increasing its size to three acres. Military veterans buried here include participants in World War l and World War ll. In 1999 the cemetery had 241 marked and 15 unmarked graves. (2000)