DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker at McCulloch Cemetery has to say — and friend, this one reaches all the way back to the very opening shots of the Texas Revolution. October 9, 1835. The Battle of Goliad.
A man named Samuel McCulloch, Jr. takes a wound that day — making him one of the first casualties in the entire Texas Revolution. That is not a small thing. The fight for Texas independence hadn't barely gotten started, and Samuel McCulloch, Jr. was already bleedin' for it.
Now, time moves on the way it does. By 1850, the Republic had become a state, and Samuel received something for what he'd given — a bounty of land for his service. This very site is part of that grant.
You're standing on ground that was earned the hard way. His father was buried here, the oldest marked grave on the property, the elder McCulloch laid to rest in 1855. So before this place had a name anyone else would recognize, it was already family ground — already holding someone Samuel loved.
Then in 1861, Samuel McCulloch, Jr. deeded an acre and a half to the church, and for a time this place was known as Medina Baptist Cemetery. But 1866 brought a change — the congregation relocated, and what had been a church cemetery became something larger: a community cemetery, open to the surrounding country and all its people. And what a community found its rest here.
Area pioneers. Civil War veterans. A noted potter named Louis Meyer.
Early citizens of Bexar County, names and lives woven into the fabric of this part of Texas. The burial ground answers to more than one name, even now — some know it as McCulloch Cemetery, some as Medina Baptist Cemetery, and some as Mann's Crossing Cemetery. Three names for one piece of ground that started with a wounded soldier and a land grant, and quietly became the resting place of a whole corner of Texas history.
Samuel McCulloch, Jr. was born in 1810 and died in 1893. He lived long enough to see what his land became. I'd like to think he didn't mind the company.
What the marker says
Samuel McCulloch, Jr. (1810-1893), wounded at the Battle of Goliad October 9, 1835, was one of the first casualties in the Texas Revolution. This site is part of land he received in 1850 as a bounty for his service. The oldest marked grave is that of his father who died in 1855. It became known as Medina Baptist Cemetery after he deeded 1.5 acres to the church in 1861. In 1866 the congrgegation relocated and the site became a community cemetery. Buried here are area pioneers, Civil War veterans, noted potter Louis Meyer, and many early citizens of Bexar County. This burial ground is also known as Mann's Crossing Cemetery.