DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Round Rock Cemetery — established in the early 1850s in what is now known as Old Round Rock, and still standing watch over more than two thousand souls. Now, before I tell you who's buried here, let me tell you something about what this ground is.
It's four and a half acres of Williamson County history, and every corner of it has a story. The oldest legible tombstone belongs to eleven-year-old Angeline Scott, and that stone bears the year 1851. But here's the thing — there are unmarked graves scattered throughout that could date from before even that.
This cemetery was keeping secrets long before anyone thought to write them down. One half acre in the northwest portion was used as a burial ground for slaves and freedmen during the nineteenth century. Half an acre of names the ground knows even when the stones don't say them aloud.
Numerous war veterans rest here too, men who answered a call and came home to this corner of Texas for their final rest. And then — well, then there's Sam Bass. Bank robber.
Outlaw. The kind of man whose reputation rides ahead of him on every road through Texas. Sam Bass died July 21, 1878, two days after being shot by Texas Rangers right there in Round Rock.
Two days. He made it that far and no farther, and Round Rock Cemetery is where he's been ever since. Now, not everyone here arrived by such a dramatic road.
G. T. Cole, one of the few eye doctors in the whole area, is buried here.
So is Sam Landrum, who owned a broom factory right there in Round Rock. John H. Gray, a stonemason — a man who shaped stone for a living, which feels right, given where he ended up.
The Reverend John Hudson, minister of the Round Rock Presbyterian Church. And J. W.
Ledbetter, a Methodist circuit rider — a man who spent his life moving from place to place, preaching the word, and finally stopped moving here. But I have saved one last detail, and it is a small mystery the cemetery has never quite explained. There is a tombstone marking the gravesite of Mary Ann Lavender, and that stone bears the date February 30, 1870.
Now, I'll let you sit with that for a moment. February 30th. A date that has never existed on any calendar ever printed.
Whether it was a stonemason's error or something stranger, nobody left a note. The Round Rock Cemetery Association cares for this ground today, tending more than two thousand graves — pioneers, freedmen, veterans, outlaws, preachers, and a woman who, by the stone's own account, was buried on a day that never came. Some places carry history.
This one carries all of it.
What the marker says
Established in the early 1850s in what is now known as Old Round Rock, this cemetery is the burial ground of many area pioneers and outstanding Round Rock citizens. The oldest legible tombstone, which marks the burial site of 11-year-old Angeline Scott, bears the year 1851, although there are many unmarked graves that could date from before that time. One-half acre in the northwest part of the 4.5-acre cemetery was used as a burial ground for slaves and freedmen during the nineteenth century. Numerous war veterans are buried here, as is bank robber and outlaw Sam Bass, who died July 21, 1878, two days after being shot by Texas Rangers in Round Rock. Other buried in the cemetery include G. T. Cole, one of the few area eye doctors; Round Rock broom factory owner Sam Landrum; stonemason John H. Gray; Round Rock Presbyterian Church minister John Hudson; and Methodist circuit rider J. W. Ledbetter. One unusual tombstone, which marks the gravesite of Mary Ann Lavender, bears the date February 30, 1870. The Round Rock Cemetery, which contains more than 2,000 graves, is a visible reminder of the early history of this part of Williamson County. The burial ground is cared for by the Round Rock Cemetery Association. (1983)