Ovilla Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do my best to do it justice. The Ovilla community got its start in 1844, when members of the Peters Colony put down roots and began building something out of the Texas earth. Among those early arrivals were Benjamin and Erixna Caroline McFarlin, two people who clearly believed in community; believed in it enough that on November 17, 1886, they deeded four acres of their land to the new Ovilla Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

Four acres set aside for a church building, and for a burial ground. That second part is what we're here to talk about. Now, the earliest marked grave belongs to Rebecca Summers McElroy, wife of Tom C.

McElroy, who died in 1884. There may have been others before her (the marker allows for that possibility), but hers is the one that time left us a stone to read. From that first marked grave, the ground began to fill, slowly and steadily, the way a community fills: with lives lived, with seasons turned, with wars fought far from home.

At least seven veterans of the Civil War are buried here. Then came the veterans of World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. Generation after generation, each one answering a call, each one finding their way back to this patch of Ellis County.

More than four hundred and forty people in all, laid to rest in those original four acres that Benjamin and Erixna Caroline McFarlin handed over with a deed and, you have to figure, a good deal of faith. Ovilla Cemetery, the marker says, remains a chronicle of the pioneers of the Ovilla community. And that's exactly right.

Some chronicles are written in ink. This one is written in stone.

What the marker says

The Ovilla community was founded by members of the Peters Colony in 1844. Benjamin and Erixna Caroline McFarlin were among the early members of the thriving farm community. On November 17, 1886, they deeded four acres to the new Ovilla Methodist Episcopal Church, South, for a church building and a burial ground. Though there may have been earlier burials, the earliest marked grave is that of Rebecca Summers McElroy, the wife of Tom C. McElroy, who died in 1884. Among the more than 440 people buried here are early settlers, at least seven veterans of the Civil War, and veterans of World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Ovilla Cemetery remains a chronicle of the pioneers of Ovilla community. (2000)