Marcelina Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna pass it along to you. Way back in 1876, Isaac and Malinda Sims packed up everything they had in Mississippi and pointed themselves toward Wilson County, toward a place that would come to be known as the Marcelina community. Now, they didn't just arrive and set down roots.

They grew them. Seven years after they got there, Isaac and Malinda deeded part of their own land for two things that tell you everything about what a community needs to last: a burial ground, and the Marcelina Baptist Church. Isaac's stepbrother, Samuel Foster, wasn't far behind in that spirit.

Samuel deeded land of his own for burial purposes too, and here's the part that stops you cold: that land included the site of his own mother's grave. He made sure she would always be part of the place. Over time, the two separate plots, the land from the Sims and the land from Foster, merged into a single cemetery.

One ground holding all of it together. The oldest marked grave belongs to Martin Donaho, dating to 1882, and it has been keeping watch over that land ever since. The cemetery never stopped being used.

The community never let it go quiet. In 1954, Sally Sims and others organized a cemetery association, and that association still maintains the burial ground to this day. Some places just refuse to be forgotten.

Marcelina Cemetery is one of them.

What the marker says

In 1876, Isaac and Malinda Sims moved from Mississippi to Wilson County's Marcelina community. Seven years later, they deeded part of their land for a burial gound and the Marcelina Baptist Church. Samuel Foster, Isaac's stepbrother, also deeded land, including the site of his mother's grave, for burial purposes. Over time the two cemeteries merged into one. Th oldest marked grave, that of Martin Donaho, dates to 1882. The cemetery continues to be used by the community. A cemetery association, organized in 1954 by Sally Sims and others, still maintains the burial ground, which remains a link to the area's rich history. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2003