Pool's Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Pool's Cemetery in Montgomery County. Now settle in, because this one's about the kind of place that holds more history than it lets on at first glance. Out here among the pines, the story begins in the 1850s, when settlers were putting down roots in this corner of Texas.

Among them were John W. Pool, born in 1823, and his wife Joannah, born in 1825. They came, they stayed, and they built something that outlasted them both.

John would live until 1901, Joannah until 1910. That's the kind of staying power this ground seems to inspire. Their son, William J.

Pool, born in 1855, carried that legacy forward in a very particular way. In 1885, William deeded about two acres in the Hezekiah Farris Survey to the Union Grove Baptist and Methodist Churches. Two acres.

Doesn't sound like much, but what grew on those two acres is something else entirely. The church housed a school, and then, as tends to happen when a community puts down roots, a cemetery began. The first burial was John C.

Montgomery, born in 1885, gone in 1888. Three years old. That's where the solemnity of this ground really takes hold.

The years kept moving. By the 1950s, Eugenia Pool Gazette and Frank Gazette conveyed additional land to the cemetery, expanding what William had started generations before. And resting in this ground are Confederate soldiers Henry E.

Williams, born 1825, died 1900, and John Randolph Stovall, born 1812, died 1903. Men who lived long lives and came to rest in Montgomery County soil. Union Grove Baptist Church has since moved to a larger sanctuary nearby, but the cemetery remains.

The Pool's Cemetery Association coordinates an annual work day, keepin the grass cut and the memory alive, maintaining this historic graveyard and the traditions of past generations. Some places hold a community together while the people are living. This one keeps holding them together long after.

What the marker says

AMONG 1850s SETTLERS HERE WERE JOHN W. POOL (1823-1901) AND HIS WIFE, JOANNAH (1825-1910). THEIR SON, WILLIAM J. POOL (1855-1936), DEEDED ABOUT TWO ACRES IN THE HEZEKIAH FARRIS SURVEY TO THE UNION GROVE BAPTIST AND METHODIST CHURCHES IN 1885. THE CHURCH ALSO HOUSED A SCHOOL, AND A CEMETERY BEGAN WITH THE BURIAL OF JOHN C. MONTGOMERY (1885-1888). IN THE 1950s, EUGENIA (POOL) AND FRANK GAZETTE CONVEYED ADDITIONAL LAND. MILITARY VETERANS INTERRED HERE INCLUDE CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS HENRY E. WILLIAMS (1825-1900) AND JOHN RANDOLPH STOVALL (1812-1903). UNION GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH NOW HAS A LARGER SANCTUARY NEARBY. THE POOL'S CEMETERY ASSOCIATION COORDINATES AN ANNUAL WORK DAY AND MAINTAINS THIS HISTORIC GRAVEYARD AND THE TRADITIONS OF PAST GENERATIONS.