McMinn Chapel Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about McMinn Chapel Cemetery, out here in Collin County. Now, every community's got a name, and this one's got a good one: McMinn. Named for two real people: John W. and Evaline McMinn, who pulled up stakes and settled in this part of Texas back in 1849.

When a community takes your name, you've left a mark on the land. And these two did just that. Decades passed.

The McMinn community grew; folks built a church out here, built a school, put down roots the way settlers do when they mean to stay. And then, in 1894, John W. and Evaline did something that tends to outlast nearly everything else a person can do. They donated land for a cemetery.

But here's the thing the ground already knew: the oldest known burial in that cemetery dates back to 1877. Seventeen years before the land was formally donated, somebody was already being laid to rest here. And beyond that, there are a number of unmarked graves.

Silent stones, or no stones at all. People the record doesn't name. Then came the railroad.

It arrived in Nevada (the nearby town), and railroads have a way of rearranging loyalties. Settlers who might've stayed began to relocate toward Nevada, and just like that, the McMinn community started its decline. Not a sudden collapse, just that slow drift that happens when the future sets up shop somewhere else.

The community faded. But the cemetery held its ground. It stands there today, a reminder, the marker says, of that early community.

John and Evaline McMinn settled here in 1849. They gave this ground in 1894. And the ground has been keeping faith with both the named and the nameless ever since.

What the marker says

This cemetery served settlers of what was known as the McMinn community. Both the community and cemetery are named for John W. and Evaline McMinn, who settled in this area in 1849. They donated land for the cemetery in 1894, although the oldest known burial dates to 1877; there are also a number of unmarked graves. Area residents also built a church and school at the site. The decline of the McMinn community started with the arrival of the railroad in Nevada, which encouraged settlers to relocate to the nearby town. Today, the cemetery stands as a reminder of the early community. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2005