DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Roberts Branch Cemetery, out in Jack County, Texas. Pull over if you can — this one earns it. In the early 1870s, a small settlement began to take shape along a creek called Roberts Branch, a tributary of the West Fork of the Trinity River.
The creek had been named by settlers after Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Oran Milo Roberts, who passed through the area on a gubernatorial campaign stop prior to his 1878 election. Most of the families who put down roots in that Roberts Branch community were ranchers or sharecroppers, and a few made their living working at the nearby Branum Coal Mine. Not a lot of fanfare.
Just people carving out a life in Jack County. Now, every community eventually needs a place to lay its people to rest, and Roberts Branch was no different. The oldest portion of the cemetery gathered itself around a single grave — the grave of an unknown cowboy who died driving cattle through the area during those same early 1870s.
Nobody knew his name then. Nobody knows it now. The markers around him were cut from unmarked sandstone.
No names. No dates. Just rough stone standing watch over strangers who decided he was worth remembering.
The earliest marked grave in the cemetery carries a date of 1881, and it belongs to the infant granddaughter of Meddie and Piney White. So this ground has held both the nameless and the named, the old and the heartbreakingly young, almost from the very beginning. Over the years, more than twenty United States service members came to rest in Roberts Branch Cemetery — veterans of the Civil War, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
Four conflicts. Generations of families sending their sons and daughters into the world and, sometimes, receiving them back in the hardest possible way. What strikes you about this place is that the community never let it go quiet.
An annual cemetery clean-up day has taken place each spring since the late 1890s. Not occasionally. Every spring.
And when the 1930s came around — hard times by any measure — they didn't scale back. They added a fall work day. In 1950, Addie Smith, known on the records as Mrs.
W.H. Smith, officially deeded the cemetery property to the Roberts Branch Cemetery Association, putting the ground in the community's hands for good. Then in 2003, Smith family descendants donated an additional point-fifty-three acres to keep it growing.
An unknown cowboy. A sandstone marker. The infant granddaughter of Meddie and Piney White.
Twenty-some veterans. And a stretch of Jack County ground that people have shown up to tend, twice a year, for well over a century. Roberts Branch Cemetery is still serving the needs of the descendants of those early settlers today.
Some stories don't end — they just keep going.
What the marker says
DURING THE EARLY 1870s, A SMALL SETTLEMENT BEGAN TO GROW IN THIS AREA, ALONG THE ROBERTS BRANCH, A TRIBUTARY OF THE WEST FORK OF THE TRINITY RIVER. THE CREEK HAD BEEN NAMED BY SETTLERS AFTER TEXAS SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE AND FUTURE GOVERNOR ORAN MILO ROBERTS VISITED THE AREA ON A GUBERNATORIAL CAMPAIGN STOP PRIOR TO HIS 1878 ELECTION. MOST OF THE EARLY FAMILIES ASSOCIATED WITH THE ROBERTS BRANCH COMMUNITY WERE RANCHERS OR SHARECROPPERS, WHILE A FEW WORKED AT THE NEARBY BRANUM COAL MINE. THE OLDEST PORTION OF ROBERTS BRANCH CEMETERY CONSISTS OF A CLUSTER OF GRAVES AROUND THE FIRST KNOWN BURIAL—AN UNKNOWN COWBOY WHO DIED DRIVING CATTLE THROUGH THE AREA DURING THE EARLY 1870s. THESE ORIGINAL GRAVEMARKERS WERE MADE OF UNMARKED SANDSTONE. THE EARLIEST MARKED GRAVE IS DATED 1881, AND BELONGS TO THE INFANT GRANDDAUGHTER OF MEDDIE AND PINEY WHITE. THE BURIAL GROUND IS ALSO THE FINAL RESTING PLACE FOR OVER TWENTY U.S. SERVICE MEMBERS, INCLUDING VETERANS OF THE CIVIL WAR, WORLD WAR II, THE KOREAN WAR, AND THE VIETNAM WAR. AN ANNUAL CEMETERY CLEAN UP DAY HAS TAKEN PLACE EACH SPRING SINCE THE LATE 1890s, AND A FALL WORK DAY WAS ADDED DURING THE 1930s. IN 1950, ADDIE (MRS. W.H.) SMITH OFFICIALLY DEEDED THE CEMETERY PROPERTY TO THE ROBERTS BRANCH CEMETERY ASSOCIATION. AN ADDITIONAL .53 ACRE WAS DONATED BY SMITH FAMILY DESCENDANTS IN 2003. TODAY, ROBERTS BRANCH CEMETERY STANDS AS A REMINDER OF THE EARLY SETTLERS OF THE ROBERTS BRANCH COMMUNITY, WHILE ALSO CONTINUING TO SERVE THE NEEDS OF THEIR DESCENDANTS.