Pilot Grove Church and Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Out in Lavaca County, there's a place called Pilot Grove, named for a landmark grove of trees that stood out there on the land like a beacon. And one of the first souls to plant roots in that community was a man named John Wesley Vick, who brought his family out here about 1875.

Now, Vick was the kind of man who thought ahead. When it became clear that the community needed a burial ground, he didn't wait around. He donated one acre of his own land for that purpose, with one condition attached: it had to be maintained as a free burial ground.

No exceptions, no fees. Just a place for folks to rest. The first adult laid to rest in the Pilot Grove Cemetery was Mary C.

Williams, in 1880. Though the marker is careful to tell us that several children of early residents had already been buried there before that time. Small graves before the first named one.

That's a quiet, heavy thing to sit with. Then comes 1889, and J. Wesley Vick and E.

J. Vick deeded one more acre, this one right next to that graveyard, to the Mt. Herman Baptist Church, which had itself been organized that same year.

Two years on, in 1891, the congregation raised a wood frame sanctuary on that land. Charter members and their descendants worshipped in that building for generation after generation. But by 1948, the lack of a regular pastor and regular worship services had worn the membership down to five.

Five people carrying the whole weight of that congregation. The building stood. The cemetery stood.

Descendants of early Pilot Grove residents kept caring for both of them through the years. And then in 1962, the original cemetery association, the one that had first come together back in 1906, combined with those remaining church members to form something new: the Pilot Grove Church and Cemetery Association. A grove of trees gave this place its name.

A man's donated acre gave it a resting ground. And enough stubborn, faithful people kept it from being forgotten.

What the marker says

The community of Pilot Grove was named for a landmark grove of trees. One of its first settlers was John Wesley Vick, who brought his family here about 1875. When the need for a community cemetery became evident, Vick donated one acre of his land for that purpose, provided that it was maintained as a free burial ground. The first adult buried in the Pilot Grove Cemetery was Mary C. Williams in 1880, although it is known that several children of early residents were buried here before that time. In 1889, J. Wesley Vick and E. J. Vick deeded one acre of land adjoining the graveyard to the Mt. Herman Baptist Church, which had been organized the same year. The congregation built this wood frame sanctuary on the land in 1891. Descendants of the church's charter members continued to worship here until 1948, when the lack of a regular pastor and regular worship services caused the membership to dwindle to five. Descendants of early Pilot Grove residents have cared for the cemetery and church building over the years. The original cemetery association that formed in 1906 combined with the remaining members of the Mt. Herman Church in 1962 to form the Pilot Grove Church and Cemetery Association.