Shady Grove Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's what the official marker has to say, and I'll tell it to you straight from the inscription itself. Way back in 1877, a man named Louis H. Caster put pen to paper and deeded away one acre of his land, not for himself, mind you, but for his whole community.

That one acre was meant to hold a graveyard, a church, and a schoolhouse all at once. Now that right there is a man thinking about the future, because Louis Caster was born in 1826 and he lived all the way to 1908, long enough to see what he started take root. Then in 1888, his son-in-law Lewis Dowd came along and gave even more acreage to the cause.

Two men, one vision, and the place folks came to know as Shady Grove had itself a beating heart. The church, the school, the cemetery; together they made this a genuine center of social life for the pioneer families of the area. People gathered here to learn, to worship, and eventually, to say their goodbyes.

Now the church and the school have been relocated over the years, but the cemetery, the cemetery never left. It remains in use to this day. The oldest of the 450 marked graves is dated 1878, just one year after Caster signed that deed.

Think about that. The ink was barely dry. Veterans rest in that ground too, men who served in the Civil War, in World Wars I and II, and in the Korean War.

In 1962, a cemetery association formed to make sure none of it was forgotten, and in 1971 the W. Q. Seale family and Gifford Hill and Company stepped up with additional land.

Generation after generation, somebody keeps saying yes to this place. One acre in 1877, and it's still going. Some things, once they take hold in Texas soil, just don't let go.

What the marker says

In 1877 Louis H. Caster (1826 - 1908) deeded one acre for a community graveyard, church, and schoolhouse. His son-in-law Lewis Dowd gave further acreage in 1888. Once a center of social life for the pioneer families of Shady Grove, the church and school have been relocated. The cemetery remains in use. Oldest of the 450 marked graves is dated 1878. Veterans of the Civil War, World Wars I and II, and the Korean War rest here. A cemetery association, formed in 1962, maintains the site. Additional land was given in 1971 by the W. Q. Seale family and by Gifford Hill & Co., Inc.