Rockford 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 here in Lamar County, some stories don't come with a dramatic gunfight or a famous name. Sometimes the story is quieter than that, and somehow it hits harder for it.

This one starts before April of 1864, when a group of Cumberland Presbyterians set down roots and founded Rockford Church. Their pastor was the Reverend W. W.

Havanaugh, and whatever else was happening in the world that spring, these folks were building something meant to last. And for a good long while, it did. The congregation kept the faith, kept the doors open, and in 1925 they affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A.

That's more than sixty years of Sundays, more than sixty years of neighbors gathering under one roof. Then 1958 came, and the congregation was dissolved. No drama recorded on that marker, just that one word.

Dissolved. The church was gone, but the ground around it, that's another matter entirely. The cemetery was opened as early as 1874, and by the time anyone thought to count, it held more than a thousand graves.

A thousand souls, resting in Lamar County soil. The church couldn't hold on forever, but the land kept its promise. It still does.

What the marker says

Before April 1864 church was founded by Cumberland Presbyterians, with the Rev. W. W. Havanaugh as pastor. Congregation affiliated in 1925 with Presbyterian Church, U.S.A.; and in 1958 was dissolved. Cemetery was opened as early as 1874; has more than 1,000 graves. (1972)