DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, most towns come into being for reasons that are plain enough — a crossroads, a river, a courthouse. Rosewood, up in Upshur County, came about when the Marshall and East Texas Railroad was built through the area in 1907.
Just like that, a new town organized itself right there, and the earlier communities of Double Springs and Essex stepped back and let Rosewood take the stage. But here's the thing about Rosewood. Before the town had much of anything — before it had a real identity to call its own — it had a grave.
February 16, 1907. A four-year-old boy named Denny Dell McDonald, son of J. P. and Zula A.
McDonald, died. He was buried in the nearby Hopewell Cemetery. And his parents, as parents do, found themselves drawn to that place — needing to be closer to their boy.
So J. P. and Zula McDonald made a decision. They donated property so that a Rosewood Community Cemetery could be established.
And a few months after Denny Dell was first laid to rest at Hopewell, he was reinterred here. The family had come home to him, in the only way left to them. That act of grief and love became the anchor of a community.
In the early years, the cemetery was maintained by the people of Rosewood themselves, neighbors taking turns digging graves — no small thing, that, when you think about it. A community showing up for its own, season after season. The plot was ringed by barbed wire in those first decades, practical and plain.
The 1950s brought a chain link fence to replace it. Walk through the grounds today and you'll find a variety of grave markers. Large granite stones.
Woodmen of the World monuments. And then, on the grave of Clara McKinney — born 1909, died 1921 — an intricately carved angel. There are also monuments for local veterans, including one who was lost at sea during World War II in 1943.
That one tends to stop you. In 1977, a cemetery association was formed to carry the work forward, and they've kept it up ever since — maintaining the grounds, and hosting an annual homecoming and memorial service. A railroad comes through, a town springs up, and a heartbroken mother and father donate a piece of land to be near their son.
That's the ground Rosewood stands on. Literally.
What the marker says
When the Marshall and East Texas Railroad was built through this area in 1907, the town of Rosewood was organized, replacing the earlier communities of Double Springs and Essex. Denny Dell McDonald, four-year-old son of J. P. and Zula A. McDonald, died February 16, 1907, and was buried in the nearby Hopewell Cemetery. Wishing to be closer to their son's grave, the McDonalds donated property for a Rosewood Community Cemetery, and the child was reinterred here a few months later. The cemetery was maintained in early years by members of the community, who often took turns digging graves. The plot was originally surrounded by barbed wire, which was replaced in the 1950s by a chain link fence. A variety of grave markers can be found here, including large granite stones, Woodmen of the World monuments, and an intricately carved angel on the grave of Clara McKinney (1909-1921). There are also monuments for local veterans, including one who was lost at sea during World War II in 1943. A cemetery association, formed in 1977, maintains the graveyard and hosts an annual homecoming and memorial service.