Pleasant Valley Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Pleasant Valley Cemetery in Brown County. Pull up a chair, because this one goes back a ways. Back to 1875, when a man named Robert Morrison English, born in 1837, packed up everything he had, loaded his wife Clarabelle Louisa, born in 1847, and their children, and left Cape Girardeau, Missouri, bound for Brown County, Texas.

One hundred and sixty acres of Texas soil, and they set to work. They farmed it. They helped build something called the Pleasant Valley Community, and that name tells you something right there about the kind of people they were and the kind of place they were trying to make.

Now, the English family, they didn't just work the land for themselves. In 1892, they donated a piece of that land to the Missionary Baptist Church of Pleasant Valley, later known as Pleasant Valley Baptist Church, so the community could have a house of worship. And because out here on the frontier a church building pulls double duty, that same building also served as a school.

That's two gifts wrapped in one deed. But they weren't done giving. The English family also donated land to the community for a cemetery.

And over the years, neighbors and community members added acreage, until the grounds grew to encompass more than eight acres. The first recorded burial there is a quiet and heavy one. Nancy Emaline English, daughter of Robert and Clarabelle, laid to rest in 1877.

Two years after the family arrived. They had come all this way to build something, and the ground had already asked something in return. Robert himself, who lived until 1910, and Clarabelle, who lived until 1914, are both buried there now too, along with many of their descendants, along with pioneers of the area.

Civil War veterans. Former pastors. Educators.

A Texas Ranger. Civil servants and community leaders. Some of those headstones have names and dates carved clean.

Some have no markings at all. In 1906, the Pleasant Valley Cemetery Association formed to maintain the grounds, and they made it a living thing, not just a resting place. Annual meetings, reunions, Remembrance Days.

Then in 1949, the church disbanded, and the cemetery association stepped up, accepting the land and the care of the building. The community had changed shape, but it hadn't let go. Many of the burial plots here hold multiple generations, family lines running deep into that Brown County soil.

The English family came looking for 160 acres and a place to build a life. What they built, and what their neighbors built alongside them, turned out to be something a whole lot harder to measure than acreage.

What the marker says

In 1875, Robert Morrison English (1837-1910), his wife, Clarabelle Louisa (Stratham) English (1847-1914), and their children moved from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to Brown County. They established a farm on 160 acres and helped develop the Pleasant Valley Community. In 1892, the English family donated land to the Missionary Baptist Church of Pleasant Valley (later Pleasant Valley Baptist Church) for a house of worship which also served as a school. The English family also donated land to the community for a cemetery. Additional acreage was added over the years from neighbors and community members to encompass more than eight acres. In 1949, the church disbanded and the cemetery association accepted the land and care of the building. Robert and Clarabelle English and many of their descendants are buried here, along with pioneers of the area. The first recorded burial is that of Nancy Emaline English, daughter of Robert and Clarabelle, in 1877. Veterans of U.S. Military conflicts dating to the Civil War, former pastors of local churches, educators, a Texas Ranger, civil servants and community leaders are also buried here. The cemetery is traditional in design with a variety of headstones, some with no markings. In 1906, the Pleasant Valley Cemetery Association formed to maintain the grounds, organizing annual meetings, reunions and Remembrance Days. Many burial plots have multiple generations and connections, demonstrating the deep family and community ties of the area.