Ruth Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Ruth Cemetery, out there in Coryell County. Now settle in, because this one's got layers. It starts with a fort being left behind, and it ends with a cemetery that you can only visit one day a year.

One day. Let that sit with you a moment. The Ruth community took shape about midway between Stovall Valley and Henson Creek, right at the foot of Henson Mountain, along the Gatesville to Killeen Public Road.

Settlement dates to 1853, and the reason goes back to the U.S. Army walking away from Fort Gates. When the Army abandoned that fort, settlers moved out of Fort Gates and formed small settlements for self-protection.

That's the seed this whole community grew from. A South Carolina native by the name of J. J.

Stovall came out to the area in the 1850s, and the Ruth Cemetery sits on part of his land. Now, the Ruth community was not some sleepy little crossroads. It had a cotton gin.

It had general stores, plural. A blacksmith shop. And in 1885, it got a post office, with a man named J.

C. Black serving as postmaster. They had a one-room school operating on the east side of Farmers Branch, on a half acre donated by the George Brown family, George going by the nickname Juber, and the William Brown family, William going by Bill.

That little schoolhouse pulled double duty on Sundays, hosting Methodist, Baptist, Primitive Baptist, and Church of Christ services under the same modest roof. In 1910, Ruth school consolidated with Ewing. Communities do what they have to do.

The cemetery itself was established on land dedicated by the Jud Jones family. And who is the oldest dated gravestone in that cemetery? J.

J. Stovall himself, the very South Carolina man who helped plant the community in the first place. He died April 27, 1878.

A cemetery survey in 1978 recorded 87 graves. The landscape is traditional in the old sense: burials oriented east-west, grave markers of granite, limestone, field stone, concrete, and metal. A few plots are curbed.

Now, here is where the story takes a turn that catches you off guard. Fort Hood was established in 1942, and that changed everything for Ruth. The community, the stores, the gin, the post office, all of it eventually passed into history.

But the cemetery held on, and three burials were permitted after Fort Hood was established, because the spouses of people already buried here needed a place to rest beside them. That's the kind of grace note that stays with you. After that, interments are no longer permitted.

Today, Ruth Cemetery sits inside the Fort Hood military reservation live fire area. Live fire. The last remaining vestige of the Ruth community is surrounded by the sounds of training and artillery.

Fort Hood provides maintenance, two mowings scheduled annually. There is no cemetery association. Nobody keeping records around a folding table at the fire station.

And the public, if they want to pay their respects, gets exactly one window: the Sunday before Memorial Day. One Sunday a year to walk among 87 recorded graves, granite and field stone and metal markers, on land that J. J.

Stovall once claimed, on land the Jud Jones family gave over to the dead. The community is gone. The school is gone.

The post office is gone. But the cemetery is still there, waiting, patient as the hill behind it, for that one Sunday when the road opens up again.

What the marker says

The Ruth community was about midway between Stovall Valley and Henson Creek at the foot of Henson Mountain, on the Gatesville to Killeen Public Road. Settlement dates to 1853 with the abandonment of Fort Gates by the U.S. Army. Settlers moved out of Fort Gates and formed small settlements for self-protection. South Carolina native J. J. Stovall settled in the area in the 1850s. The Ruth Cemetery is on part of his land. The Ruth community had a cotton gin, general stores, blacksmith shop and a post office established in 1885 with J. C. Black as postmaster. A one-room school operated on the east side of farmers branch, on 1/2 acre donated by the George "Juber" Brown and William "Bill" Brown families. The schoolhouse was also used for Methodist, Baptist, Primitive Baptist and Church of Christ services. Ruth school consolidated with Ewing in 1910. Ruth Cemetery was established on land the Jud Jones family dedicated. The oldest dated gravestone is that of J. J. Stovall, who died April 27, 1878. A 1978 cemetery survey recorded 87 graves. The general landscape of Ruth Cemetery is traditional in nature, with burials oriented east-west and grave markers of granite, limestone, field stone, concrete and metal. A few plots are curbed. Three burials were permitted after Fort Hood was established in 1942, since spouses were already buried here. Interments are no longer permitted. The Ruth Cemetery is now in the Fort Hood military reservation live fire area, and is only accessible to the public on the Sunday before Memorial Day. Fort Hood provides maintenance with two mowings scheduled annually. There is no cemetery association. The cemetery is the last remaining vestige of the Ruth community.