Rock Prairie Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker at Rock Prairie Cemetery has to say, and it's a story worth slowing down for. William D. and Delina Walker Hollis arrived in Texas in 1837, pioneers in the truest sense of the word. By 1855, they had put down roots in what would become known as the Hollis community, purchasing land that would carry their name forward.

Not long after, in 1860, Joshua and Martha Terrell Ford bought the adjoining land. Two families, side by side, carving something lasting out of the Texas prairie. Now, before we get to the markers and the deeds and the associations, oral history asks us to pause.

Before the Civil War, before any marked stone stood in that ground, a baby, born to slaves on the Hollis Farm, was buried there. No marked grave, just the memory passed down by word of mouth, generation to generation. That's the oldest story this land holds, and it deserves to be spoken plainly.

The first marked burial on the Hollis land came in 1861. William B. Best.

Then, on the Ford side of the fence, Martha Ford's mother, Isabella Terrell, was laid to rest in 1868. Two families, two pieces of ground, and somewhere in the quiet of it all, both families made the same decision. Each set aside acreage out of their own property for a community cemetery.

Not just for themselves. For the community. Land changed hands over the years, as it does.

J. W. Eaves and J.

Milton Jackson came to own that ground. And when the time came, the heirs of Jackson deeded the cemetery land to the Rock Prairie Cemetery Association, making permanent what those two pioneer families had always intended. Some things you build with timber and stone.

Some things you build with intention, and they outlast everything else.

What the marker says

Pioneers William D. and Delina Walker Hollis arrived in Texas in 1837 and purchased land in what became the Hollis community in 1855. Joshua and Martha Terrell Ford bought adjoining land in 1860. Oral history relates that a baby born to slaves was buried on the Hollis Farm prior to the Civil War. The first marked burial on the Hollis land was that of William B. Best in 1861. The Marked grave on the Ford's adjoining property was that of Martha Ford's mother, Isabella Terrell, in 1868. Each family set aside acreage out of their property for a community cemetery. Later owners of the land included J. W. Eaves and J. Milton Jackson, whose heirs later deeded the cemetery land to the Rock Prairie Cemetery Association. (1999)