DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just here to carry the story down the road. Out in Brazoria County, there's a piece of ground that holds more Texas history than most folks will ever reckon with standing still. We're talking about the Old Columbia Cemetery — and friend, this land has a pedigree.
The site was given by the Josiah H. Bell family, carved right out of their grant. Now here's the part that ought to stop you cold: that grant was the first deeded to one of the Old 300 in Stephen F.
Austin's colony. The first. Of the whole original colony.
That's the ground we're talking about. Sleeping underneath it are many heroes of the Texas Revolution of 1836 — men who showed up when the stakes were as high as stakes get, and didn't walk away from it. In 1852 the site was deeded to Bethel Presbyterian Church, which took stewardship of a place that already carried generations of weight.
Then, come 1933, the Columbia Cemetery Association stepped in and has managed it ever since. So the next time you pass through Brazoria County and the land looks quiet and unremarkable, remember — some ground earned its silence.
What the marker says
Site given by Josiah H. Bell family-- out of their grant, the first deeded to one of "Old 300" in colony of Stephen F. Austin. Has graves of many heroes of Texas Revolution of 1836. Deeded in 1852 to Bethel Presbyterian Church; since 1933 managed by Columbia Cemetery Association.