Medlin Cemetery

Duane's take

The way I tell it, I'm drawing straight from the words on the official marker, so let's let the stone do the talking. Now, 1847 is where this story begins, and it begins moving literally. Charles Medlin, born in 1807, packed up his wife Matilda, his widowed mother, his brother Lewis, and their whole household, and joined twenty other families rolling out of Missouri.

They were headed for land grants on Denton Creek, and that is no small undertaking. Twenty-one families, wagons loaded, crossing into what would become Denton County, Texas. They put down their first settlement in a spot folks sometimes called Garden Valley.

Sounded peaceful enough. Then the floods came. Denton Creek had opinions about where people ought to live, and Garden Valley wasn't one of the choices.

The water broke up that first settlement, and the colonists did what you do in Texas; they moved to higher ground. On that higher ground, the Medlin colony and their neighbors built something new. A neighborhood that would eventually grow into the town of Roanoke, sitting about a mile and a half to the west of where we're standing now.

But here is the piece of this story that'll stay with you. Charles and Matilda had a daughter named Mittie Ann, born in 1828. And Mittie Ann, she looked out at this hill (this particular rise of ground) and she said she admired the beauty of it.

Said she would like to be buried here someday. In April of 1850, Mittie Ann got her wish. She was the first.

The cemetery opened at her death, and in the years that followed, her parents, thirteen brothers and sisters, and a great many close relatives were laid to rest on that same hill she loved. Neighbors came to join them. Others from the locality, too.

Over time, this ground became one of the oldest cemeteries in all of Denton County. The story didn't end with the nineteenth century, though. In 1900, James W.

Medlin (son of the original land donors, Charles and Matilda) enlarged the cemetery to more than ten acres. He started selling lots to bring in funds for maintenance, because a place like this deserves tending. Then in 1947, a hundred years after those wagons rolled out of Missouri, the Medlin Cemetery Association was formed.

And in the 1970s, a new access boulevard and other improvements were provided for the grounds. A woman admired a hill. Said she'd like to rest there.

And out of that single quiet wish grew one of the oldest burial grounds in Denton County; still kept, still visited, still standing on the high ground where the floods couldn't reach.

What the marker says

In 1847 Charles Medlin (1807-1864) and his wife Matilda (Allen) migrated from Missouri with their household and 20 other families to take up land grants on Denton Creek. Also in the wagon train and colony were Charles Medlin's widowed mother and his brother Lewis. Floods broke up the first Medlin settlement, at times called "Garden Valley." Moving to higher grounds in this vicinity, the settlers formed a new neighborhood that was to grow into the town of Roanoke (1.5 miles west). Charles Medlin's daughter Mittie Ann (Born 1828) admired the beauty of this hill, saying she would like to be buried here. The cemetery was opened at her death in April 1850. Her parents, 13 brothers and sisters, and many other close relatives also rest here along with neighbors and others from the locality. This is one of the oldest cemeteries in Denton county. In 1900 James W. Medlin, son of the original land donors, Charles and Matilda Medlin, enlarged the area to more than ten acres, and began selling lots to bring in maintenance funds. Medlin Cemetery Association was formed in 1947. A new access boulevard and other improvements were provided for this cemetery in the 1970s. (1977)