Murray Cemetery

Duane's take

The official marker for Murray Cemetery in Milam County tells it like this, and I'll do my best to honor every word of it. Now, out here in southwest Milam County, there's a piece of ground that's been holding stories longer than most folks can remember. It started out with a gentler name.

Pleasant Grove Cemetery, attached to a community called Pleasant Grove, where the schoolhouse and the burial ground shared the same stretch of earth. That's the kind of arrangement that tells you everything about how small and tight-knit a settlement truly was. In 1872, the residents organized the Pleasant Grove Church, and they held services right there in that schoolhouse.

In time, those members merged with a nearby congregation, and together they formed Mt. Zion Baptist Church, worshipping several miles east of here. The old ground, though, it stayed.

Now here's where the name changes. Madison Murray was born in 1821, and he died in 1897, and in between those years he did enough to have a cemetery named after him. A Civil War veteran, he came out of Mississippi in the late 1860s, moving here with two brothers.

He didn't just settle in. He became a community leader and an educator, and he obtained possession of that very Pleasant Grove schoolhouse, operating it as a private institution. When Mt.

Zion Baptist Church formed and the community reorganized itself around a new center, this burial ground took on his name. Murray Cemetery. Just like that, a man's legacy got pressed into the land itself.

The earliest marked grave here belongs to Nancy Phillips, dating to 1856. Before the church was organized. Before Madison Murray arrived.

Someone was already being laid to rest in this quiet corner of Milam County. Also buried here are Joseph Hook, a Rockdale blacksmith, and George Banzhaf, a celebrated Milam County agricultural extension agent. Early area pioneers.

Veterans of conflicts dating all the way back to the Civil War. The cemetery features Woodmen of the World markers, vertical stones, curbing, and interior fencing. It's a place that was built to be remembered.

The Pleasant Grove community itself declined over the years, as communities sometimes do. But the cemetery didn't follow it into obscurity. It stretched its arms wider, serving the Bushdale and Bethlehem settlements too.

The ground kept receiving the people of southwest Milam County, regardless of which community's name was still on the map. In 2004, the Murray Cemetery Association organized to care for the place. That's the thing about a burial ground with real roots.

Somebody always steps up. From 1856 to today, this land has been a memorial to the early settlers of southwest Milam County. Nancy Phillips was the first name carved in stone here.

She won't be the last.

What the marker says

Originally named Pleasant Grove Cemetery, this burial ground was at first associated with the Pleasant Grove Community. The settlement's school was also once located on this site. In 1872, residents organized the Pleasant Grove Church, which in the schoolhouse. Members later merged with a nearby congregation to form Mt. Zion Baptist Church, worshipping several miles east of here. The current name for this cemetery can be traced to Madison Murray (1821-1897), a Civil War veteran who in the late 1860s moved here from Mississippi with two brothers. He became a community leader and educator, obtaining possession of the Pleasant Grove schoolhouse and operating it as a private institution. After Mt. Zion Baptist Church formed, this burial ground became known as Murray Cemetery. The earliest marked grave here, that of Nancy Phillips, dates to 1856. Other notable burials include Joseph Hook, a Rockdale blacksmith, and George Banzhaf, a celebrated Milam County agricultural extension agent. Also interred here are early area pioneers and veterans of conflicts dating to the Civil War. The cemetery features Woodmen of the World markers, vertical stones, curbing and interior fencing. Although the Pleasant Grove community declined, the cemetery later also served the Bushdale and Bethlehem settlements. In 2004, the Murray Cemetery Association organized to care for the burial ground, which remains a memorial to the early settlers of southwest Milam County. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2007