DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do my best to do it justice. Now, some places get their names from geography, or from whoever drew the map that day. But Menard Chapel — this little farm and ranch community that grew up along Menard Creek in Polk County — carries the name of a man who helped write the future of Texas itself.
Michel B. Menard was a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. And sometime around 1833, he and his brother Pierre J.
Menard settled right here. Two brothers, putting down roots in country that was still figuring out what it was going to become. Now the community that took shape around that creek, it developed the way a lot of East Texas communities did — quietly, stubbornly, one generation at a time.
And sometime prior to 1854, according to local tradition, the Mt. Gileard Baptist Church built a small sanctuary here in Menard Chapel. That's the beginning of the church story, and it's a long one.
Then the Civil War came, and went, and left its mark on the whole country. Shortly after it ended, a woman named Mrs. E.
O. Rhoden made a decision. She donated two acres of land here — for church and school purposes.
Two acres. That gift set the course of this community for generations. The Baptist congregation built a new church building on that land, and here's where the story gets practical in the best possible way: that building served double duty.
House of worship on Sunday, schoolhouse the rest of the week. The Menard Chapel School. That arrangement produced some remarkable people.
A teacher by the name of A. A. Duff also served as pastor — one man carrying both callings at once.
And another early teacher, V. A. Collins, went on to serve Polk County as a Texas state senator.
Not bad for a schoolhouse that doubled as a church. The school kept on until 1935, when it was consolidated with the Livingston Independent School District. Some things run their course, and that's all right.
Now, across the way from the church, the cemetery tells its own long story. It was established with the burial of Rutha Nicholas in 1876. That's when the ground became sacred in that particular way — the way it does when the first person is laid to rest.
In 1902, Eli and Unity Rhoden executed a deed setting aside the church and cemetery acreage, making it official, making it permanent. The congregation kept building, kept gathering. A new sanctuary went up in the 1920s and served as a place of worship all the way until 1983.
More than half a century of Sundays under that roof. Today, the Menard Chapel Cemetery Committee maintains the cemetery with perpetual care funds. And out among those graves rest veterans — men who served in the Civil War, in World War I, and in World War II.
Three wars. Three generations of people from this one small community along one creek in Polk County, who went out into the world when the world called for them. A signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, two donated acres, a building that was a church and a school at the same time, a senator who started out as a teacher, and a cemetery that has been keeping faith with its people since 1876.
That's Menard Chapel. Some places carry more history than their size would suggest they have any right to.
What the marker says
Michel B. Menard, signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, and his brother Pierre J. settled here in 1833. According to local tradition sometime prior to 1854 the Mt. Gileard Baptist Church built a small sanctuary here in Menard Chapel, a farm and ranch community which developed along Menard Creek. Shortly after the Civil War ended Mrs. E. O. Rhoden donated 2 acres here for church and school purposes. The Baptist congregation constructed a new church building which for many decades served as a house of worship as well as a schoolhouse for the Menard Chapel School. Early teacher A. A. Duff also served as pastor. Another early teacher, V. A. Collins, went on to serve Polk County as Texas state senator. The school was discontinued in 1935 when it was consolidated with the Livingston Independent School district. The cemetery was established with the burial of Rutha Nicholas in 1876. Church and cemetery acreage was set aside in a deed executed by Eli and Unity Rhoden in 1902. A new sanctuary, built here in the 1920s, served as a place of worship until 1983. The cemetery is maintained with perpetual care funds by the Menard Chapel Cemetery Committee. Veterans of the Civil War, World War I, and World War II are buried here.