Merit Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Merit Cemetery, out in Hunt County, Texas. Pull up a chair, because this one's got farmers and judges, a bank robbery with nitroglycerin, and a little patch of ground that's been holding a community together for well over a century. The 1870 U.S.

Census puts most of the settlers in this area down as farmers from the Upland South. One of those families was headed by a Dr. Alexander Murchison, who made the journey from Polk County, Georgia.

He got busy right away. Through his efforts, a Methodist Church organized in April of 1871. Now, the town needed a name, and that came about in a particular way.

In the 1870s, a Judge William W. Merritt paid a visit, gave a speech, and apparently impressed the residents so thoroughly that they named their town after him. Later it got shortened to Merit, and Merit it has stayed.

A post office opened in 1884. The railroad arrived in 1886, and with it came cotton production, stores, fraternal lodges, and a newspaper. A bank opened in 1904, and for a while, things were humming along just fine.

Then came November of 1912. Now, I want you to picture this. Somebody, or a group of somebodies, drove away from that Merit bank with four thousand five hundred dollars.

How'd they get it? They blasted open the vault with nitroglycerin. Not exactly subtle, but it worked.

After that, the town kept moving forward, until a 1921 fire came along, and then the Great Depression, and then World War II, and together those forces knocked the population down considerably. Recent suburban growth has started to reverse that. But through all of it, up on a rise just outside of town, the cemetery kept its vigil.

In October of 1907, Dr. Murchison and his wife, Mary Elizabeth, deeded fifteen acres atop that rise to the Odd Fellows Lodge for a community cemetery. An open-air wooden tabernacle was built soon after.

Care of the cemetery passed in 1947 to the Farmersville Odd Fellows Lodge, and then in 1952 to the Merit Cemetery Association, which still holds an annual meeting on Memorial Day. The oldest grave dates to 1882, the infant son of J.D. and L.E. Lawrence.

A quieter kind of heartbreak, that. The influenza epidemic of 1918 and 1919 left its mark here too, as it did everywhere it touched. Military veterans buried in this ground span from the Civil War all the way to the Vietnam War.

There are numerous tombstones bearing the emblems of the Woodmen of the World, the Odd Fellows, and the Masons, markers for longtime families and newcomers alike. The headstones are primarily granite, marble, and limestone. And here's something worth noting: Merit Cemetery is one of the few in Hunt County with swept graves.

Historic plantings include roses, irises, crape myrtles, and evergreens. It's a living landscape as much as a resting place. The marker calls this cemetery the link between modern Merit and the past generations who farmed the surrounding rolling Blackland Prairie.

Those farmers came up from Georgia and the Upland South, put down roots in the black soil, named their town after a man whose speech moved them, survived a bank robbery, a fire, a depression, and a world war, and they left behind fifteen acres on a rise that still keeps their memory. That's not nothing. That's everything.

What the marker says

The 1870 U.S. Census lists most area settlers as farmers from the Upland South. One such family was that of Dr. Alexander Murchison, who arrived from Polk County, Georgia. Through his efforts the Methodist Church organized in Apr. 1871. In the 1870s, Judge William W. Merritt's visit and speech so impressed residents that they found their town namesake (later shortened to Merit). A post office opened in 1884 and the railroad arrived in 1886, stimulating cotton production and helping stores, fraternal lodges and a newspaper to begin operations. A bank opened in 1904; in Nov. 1912, robbers drove away with $4,500 by blasting open the bank vault with nitroglycerin. A 1921 fire, the Great Depression, and World War II led to a population drop which recent suburban growth has reversed. In Oct. 1907, Dr. Murchison and his wife, Mary Elizabeth, deeded 15 acres atop a rise to the Odd Fellows Lodge for a community cemetery. An open-air wooden tabernacle was built soon after. Cemetery care transferred in 1947 to the Farmersville Odd Fellows Lodge, and in 1952 to the Merit Cemetery Association, who holds an annual meeting on Memorial Day. Merit Cemetery is one of the few in Hunt County with swept graves. Headstones are primarily granite, marble and limestone, and historic plantings include roses, irises, crape myrtles and evergreens. The oldest grave (1882) is the infant son of J.D. and L.E. Lawrence. The influenza epidemic of 1918-1919 caused many deaths. Military veterans date from the Civil War to the Vietnam War, and there are numerous Woodmen of the World, Odd Fellows and Masonic tombstones, used by longtime families and newcomers. The cemetery is the link between modern Merit and past generations who farmed the surrounding rolling Blackland Prairie. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2009