DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna tell it to you. Rowland Nichols was born about 1805, and by the time his story found its final chapter, he'd made himself a real piece of Kerr County. He settled here, served as county commissioner, put down roots the way a man does when he means to stay.
And he did stay — longer than most, in a way, because Rowland Nichols had a wish. He wanted to be buried under a live oak tree on his own farm. That was the ask.
Simple enough. On April 11, 1859, that wish was honored — though the circumstances were anything but simple. Rowland Nichols died at the hands of Indians, and so they laid him down beneath that live oak, just as he'd wanted, on his farm in Kerr County.
Now, something happens when a man is buried with that kind of intention. The ground around him starts to mean something to other people. One grave became two, two became many, and before long that spot on Rowland Nichols's farm had become a community burial ground — a place where the pioneers of this whole stretch of country came to rest.
Among them, J. C. W.
Ingram, born in 1829 and gone in 1902, the man for whom the town of Ingram was named. The cemetery kept growing. Additional property was purchased from Lafayette Nichols to enlarge it, making room for more of the area's pioneers as the years rolled on.
For over a century now, Nichols Cemetery has served the residents of this part of Kerr County. It all started with one man, one live oak tree, and one last wish that turned out to be bigger than anybody knew.
What the marker says
Born about 1805, Rowland Nichols settled in Kerr County where he served as county commissioner. Upon his death at the hands of Indians, Nichols was buried, as he wished, under a live oak tree on his farm on April 11, 1859. This site became a community burial ground and the burial place of many area pioneers, including J. C. W. Ingram (1829-1902), for whom the town of Ingram was named. Additional property was later purchased from Lafayette Nichols to enlarge the cemetery. For over a century Nichols Cemetery has served the residents of this part of Kerr County. (1982)