DUANE
Duane's take
The way the official marker tells it, here's what happened out in Rusk County — and you'd best listen close, because this one's got layers. It starts around 1833, when Daniel Martin and his family settled at this very site, right alongside the historic Trammel's Trace. That's the kind of detail that makes you stop and think — a family planting roots next to one of the oldest travel routes in the region, building something meant to last.
And last it did. Though the cemetery may have been in use much earlier than any written record shows, the oldest documented burial in Martin Cemetery is the 1883 grave of Jewel Williamson. Eighteen eighty-three.
That's as far back as the paper trail goes, anyway. The site wasn't officially deeded for cemetery purposes until 1972 — so for a good long while, it existed on memory and custom more than any legal document. Then things got complicated, the way they tend to in Texas when the land itself becomes valuable.
In 1986, graves from the nearby Grant Cemetery were relocated to the Martin Cemetery site. The reason? Coal mining was going to be conducted where the Grant Cemetery stood.
The dead were moved so the earth beneath them could be worked. That's worth sitting with for a moment. And if that weren't enough, sometime during the late 1970s, Martin Lake was constructed.
The water crept in on three sides. A cemetery that had stood open on the Texas land for well over a century suddenly found itself perched on a peninsula, water surrounding it on three sides like the world was slowly trying to reclaim it. But here's the thing — Martin Cemetery is still active.
The cemetery association meets several times each year. Coal came, water came, and still, people tend to those graves. Some places just refuse to let go.
What the marker says
MARTIN CEMETERY DANIEL MARTIN AND HIS FAMILY SETTLED AT THIS SITE CA. 1833, ADJACENT TO THE HISTORIC TRAMMEL'S TRACE. ALTHOUGH THE CEMETERY MAY HAVE BEEN IN USE MUCH EARLIER, THE OLDEST DOCUMENTED BURIAL IN MARTIN CEMETERY IS THE 1883 GRAVE OF JEWEL WILLIAMSON. THE SITE WAS NOT OFFICIALLY DEEDED FOR CEMETERY PURPOSES UNTIL 1972. IN 1986, GRAVES FROM THE NEARBY GRANT CEMETERY WERE RELOCATED TO THE MARTIN CEMETERY SITE SO THAT COAL MINING COULD BE CONDUCTED. WHEN MARTIN LAKE WAS CONSTRUCTED DURING THE LATE 1970s, THE CEMETERY WAS SURROUNDED ON THREE SIDES BY WATER AND NOW SITS ON A PENINSULA. MARTIN CEMETERY REMAINS ACTIVE, AND THE CEMETERY ASSOCIATION MEETS SEVERAL TIMES EACH YEAR. HISTORIC TEXAS CEMETERY - 2010