DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker at Merrilltown Cemetery has to say — and friend, there's more story packed into this ground than you might expect from a quiet stretch of Travis County. Let's start at the beginning. The year is 1837.
A man named Captain Nelson Merrell arrives and settles here, and from that settlement grows a community that takes his name — Merrilltown. He's not the type to just plant a garden and call it a day. The Captain runs the post office.
He runs a store. He serves as Travis County Commissioner from 1852 all the way through 1859. He assists with the construction of Congress Avenue — that road you may well have driven yourself.
And if that weren't enough, he is recognized as a Texas Ranger, credited with leading a group of Rangers in protecting Austin from attacks by Native Americans. The man was busy. But here's the part that tells you something deeper about Nelson Merrell.
In 1856, he deeds this very property — the land you're standing near — to the trustees of School District Number Nine. Not for profit. For use as a burial ground.
He also deeds land for a church and a school. A man building community with both hands. This burial ground had already been serving the surrounding area since the early 1850s by the time that deed was signed.
And the oldest marked grave here belongs to Julia Merrell — the young daughter of Nelson and Rachel Merrell — who died in 1852. There's a weight to that. The man who would go on to deed this land as a cemetery had already laid his own child to rest in it.
Rachel Merrell followed in 1862. Nelson himself in 1879. Among the other noted burials here is Lemuel Summerwell Woodward, born 1813, died 1891 — himself a Travis County Commissioner, serving from 1860 to 1864.
The ground holds community leaders and veterans of military conflicts dating all the way back to the Civil War. When you walk it, you're walking through generations of people who made this corner of Texas what it became. And the cemetery itself has character.
Curbing. Vertical stones. Obelisks.
A Woodman of the World grave marker. Independent Order of Odd Fellows markers — I.O.O.F., if you know that fraternal order. These aren't just names on stones; they're affiliations, memberships, lives embedded in organizations that mattered to the people who lived them.
For well over a century, Merrilltown residents maintained these grounds themselves. That continued until 1982, when the Round Rock School District was named the cemetery's trustee. Then in 1996, the Calvary Worship Center assumed that charitable trust from the school district — and continues to care for it today.
This area has since been annexed into Austin. The community of Merrilltown, as such, is gone — absorbed into the sprawl. But the cemetery persists.
It persists as a reminder of the Merrilltown community and as a record of this area's early pioneers. Some things, once planted in the ground, don't get moved quite so easy.
What the marker says
THIS BURIAL GROUND HAS SERVED THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE THE EARLY 1850s. MOST OF THOSE INTERRED HERE LIVED IN THE MERRILLTOWN COMMUNITY, WHICH CAPTAIN NELSON MERRELL (d. 1879) ESTABLISHED WHEN HE SETTLED HERE IN 1837. HE OPERATED THE POST OFFICE AND A STORE IN THE COMMUNITY. CAPTAIN MERRELL DEEDED THIS PROPERTY TO TRUSTEES OF SCHOOL DISTRICT #9 IN 1856 FOR USE AS A BURIAL GROUND; HE ALSO DEEDED LAND FOR A CHURCH AND SCHOOL. MERRELL SERVED AS TRAVIS COUNTY COMMISSIONER (1852 – 1859) AND ASSISTED WITH THE CONSTRUCTION OF CONGRESS AVENUE; HE IS ALSO RECOGNIZED AS A TEXAS RANGER FOR HIS WORK IN LEADING A GROUP OF RANGERS IN PROTECTING AUSTIN FROM ATTACKS BY NATIVE AMERICANS. THE OLDEST MARKED GRAVE IN MERRILLTOWN CEMETERY IS OF JULIA MERRELL (d. 1852), THE YOUNG DAUGHTER OF NELSON AND RACHEL MERRELL (d. 1862). ANOTHER NOTED BURIAL HERE IS OF LEMUEL SUMMERWELL WOODWARD (1813-1891), ANOTHER TRAVIS COUNTY COMMISSIONER (1860-1864). OTHERS INTERRED INCLUDE COMMUNITY LEADERS AND VETERANS OF MILITARY CONFLICTS DATING TO THE CIVIL WAR. CEMETERY FEATURES INCLUDE CURBING, VERTICAL STONES, OBELISKS, A WOODMAN OF THE WORLD GRAVE MARKER AND INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS (I.O.O.F.) GRAVE MARKERS. MERRILLTOWN RESIDENTS MAINTAINED THE GROUNDS UNTIL 1982, WHEN THE ROUND ROCK SCHOOL DISTRICT WAS NAMED THE CEMETERY’S TRUSTEE. IN 1996, THE CALVARY WORSHIP CENTER ASSUMED THIS CHARITABLE TRUST FROM THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, AND TODAY CONTINUES TO CARE FOR THE BURIAL GROUND. ALTHOUGH THIS AREA WAS ANNEXED INTO AUSTIN, MERRILLTOWN CEMETERY PERSISTS AS A REMINDER OF THE MERRILLTOWN COMMUNITY, AND SERVES AS A RECORD OF THIS AREA’S EARLY PIONEERS. HISTORIC TEXAS CEMETERY – 2000