Parker Memorial Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Parker Memorial Cemetery in Tarrant County. Now, every good cemetery's got a story underneath the quiet, and this one's no different. It starts, as these things often do, with a single grave.

The first burial here is thought to be that of Christina Driskill, who lived from 1797 to 1862. That word 'thought' does a lot of work; she was laid to rest on land owned by her son-in-law, Isaac Green Parker, born 1816, died 1875, and it's his name that would eventually take root here, though not for a good long while. Parker himself never saw that happen.

He passed in 1875, and it was his widow, Mary Parker Turner (known to everyone as Polly, born 1820) who made the move that mattered. In 1881, Polly Parker Turner deeded 4.31 acres of that land for a public burial ground. Four acres and a fraction, set aside for the whole community, signed over by a woman who understood that some things ought to outlast any one family.

Now the cemetery went about its business for decades, and then in 1928 a tabernacle went up on the grounds. It served first for funeral services, which is fitting enough, and later for meetings of the cemetery association itself; the living gathering in the same place they came to honor the dead. For a long stretch, the place was known as Clements Cemetery.

Then in 1937, it was renamed Parker. Christina Driskill's been resting on that ground since 1862, her son-in-law's name finally settling over the place like something that was always meant to be there. Many members of the Pleasant Glade Community are buried here; neighbors in life, neighbors still.

What the marker says

The first burial here is thought to be that of Christina Driskill (1797-1862), whose son-in-law Isaac Green Parker (1816-1875) owned the land. In 1881 Parker's widow, Mary (Polly) Parker Turner (1820-1897) deeded the 4.31-acre plot for a public burial ground. A tabernacle was erected in 1928 and used at first for funeral services and later for meetings of the cemetery association. Formerly known as "Clements Cemetery", it was renamed "Parker" in 1937. Many members of the Pleasant Glade Community are buried here.