Lindsey-Randolph Cemetery

Duane's take

The way I tell it comes straight from the official marker, so let me lay it out just as the record has it. Now, you want to talk about a piece of ground that's been holding stories since before the Civil War, before the railroad, before any of this part of Fannin County had much of a name at all, well, pull up close. Thomas Lindsey was born in Tennessee in 1794, and by 1837 he had packed up his family and pointed them toward this corner of Fannin County.

That's a man who knew where he was going, even if the rest of the world hadn't quite caught up yet. Come the late 1840s, Lindsey took four acres of his own farmland and gave it away, donated it outright, for a school and a cemetery. Now that tells you something about a man right there.

The first burial in that cemetery was for one of Lindsey's slaves. That's the first name this ground received, and it deserves to be said plainly and with weight. A one-room schoolhouse went up right next to the graveyard, and that little building did double duty, serving as a community church where funeral services were held.

One room, carrying all of it. Then in 1887, a community called Randolph was founded, brought to life by the Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas Railroad. The main street of Randolph sat about three-quarters of a mile southwest of the Lindsey School and cemetery, and somebody had the practical good sense to connect the two with a wooden sidewalk.

Picture that, a plank walkway stretching out between a town finding its footing and a piece of ground that had already been holding the community's grief and ceremony for decades. In the middle 1890s, the Lindsey School was moved into Randolph, and when it left, those original school grounds got folded right into the cemetery. The land remembered what it was for.

Thomas Lindsey himself is buried here, alongside his wife Rebecca and their son-in-law the Reverend Burwell Cox, a man who organized several Presbyterian churches in the area. And beyond that family plot, this ground holds businessmen, farmers, doctors, pioneer citizens and their descendants, and veterans of several wars. Four acres donated by a Tennessee man who came to Fannin County in 1837, and all these years later, the land is still doing exactly what he gave it to do.

What the marker says

Tennessee native Thomas Lindsey (b. 1794) brought his family to this part of Fannin County in 1837. In the late 1840s, Lindsey donated four acres of his farmland for a school and cemetery. The first burial in the cemetery was for one of Lindsey's slaves. The one-room schoolhouse built next to the graveyard served as a community church where funeral services were held. Over the years, this cemetery has served residents of the surrounding area, including the community of Randolph, which was founded in 1887 on the Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas Railroad. The main street in Randolph was located about 3/4 mile southwest of the Lindsey School and cemetery, and a wooden sidewalk connected the two. In the middle 1890s, the Lindsey School was moved to Randolph, and the original school grounds were added to the cemetery. Among those buried here are Thomas Lindsey and his wife, rebecca, and their son-in-law, the Rev. Burwell Cox, who organized several Presbyterian churches in the area. Other graves located here include those of businessmen, farmers, doctors, pioneer citizens and their descendants, and veterans of several wars.