Union Grove Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Union Grove Cemetery in Upshur County. Pull up a chair, because this one goes back a long way. All the way to 1835, when a man named Haden Harrison Edwards purchased this land from the Republic of Mexico.

Now Edwards was not a man who sat still. Soldier, merchant, legislator. He served in the First Congress of the Republic of Texas, then in the First and Eighth Texas Legislatures, stood as a member of the Secession Convention in 1861, and served as president of the Sabine Pass and East Texas Railway.

The man had a full plate, and that turns out to matter to this story. Because of his busy schedule, Edwards sold two hundred and seventy acres to James Riley Phillips in 1857, for a family homestead. James and his wife, Rebecca J.

Mackey Phillips, raised their three children on that land. And the land, as land tends to do, began to hold the family's stories in ways they couldn't have planned. The cemetery that would one day become Union Grove began with the burial of Florence Phillips, born in 1849, gone by 1855.

A child. The oldest marked burials belong to Rebecca's parents, Joel Lewis Mackey, born 1801, died 1855, and Mary Fonville Mackey, born 1801, died 1858. The ground was already speaking before anyone had given it a name.

By the mid-1880s, the surrounding area had come to be known as the Union Grove Community. William Marshall Phillips, firstborn of James and Rebecca, inherited the land and kept on farming it. A neighbor, John O'Byrne, operated a sawmill nearby.

Then in 1913, William Phillips's wife deeded acreage to O'Byrne, to J. L. Mackey, to A.

M. Phillips, and to the community itself, for a cemetery. At some point the name was changed from the Phillips Cemetery to Union Grove Cemetery, to better serve the community growing up around it.

Additional acreage was purchased in 1986, and again in 2001. Today the landscape is what you'd call traditional East Texas. White oak, pine, and post oak standing quiet over headstones of concrete, fieldstone, granite, marble, and wood.

And beneath those trees lie veterans, men and women who answered the call in the Civil War, World War One, World War Two, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The Union Grove Cemetery Association maintains the place to this day. What started with one family's grief, on land that passed through a busy legislator's hands, grew into something a whole community could call its own.

That's the kind of story the ground keeps for you, if you tend it right.

What the marker says

UNION GROVE CEMETERY HADEN HARRISON EDWARDS (1812-1864), A SOLDIER, MERCHANT AND LEGISLATOR, PURCHASED THIS LAND FROM THE REPUBLIC OF MEXICO IN 1835. EDWARDS SERVED IN THE FIRST CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS, IN THE FIRST AND EIGHTH TEXAS LEGISLATURES, WAS A MEMBER OF THE SECESSION CONVENTION IN 1861 AND WAS PRESIDENT OF THE SABINE PASS AND EAST TEXAS RAILWAY. BECAUSE OF HIS BUSY SCHEDULE, EDWARDS SOLD 270 ACRES TO JAMES RILEY PHILLIPS FOR HIS FAMILY HOMESTEAD IN 1857. PHILLIPS AND HIS WIFE, REBECCA J. (MACKEY), RAISED THEIR THREE CHILDREN ON THIS LAND. THE CREATION OF THE PHILLIPS CEMETERY BEGAN WITH THE BURIAL OF FLORENCE PHILLIPS (1849-1855). THE OLDEST MARKED BURIALS BELONG TO REBECCA'S PARENTS, JOEL LEWIS MACKEY (1801-1855) AND MARY FONVILLE MACKEY (1801-1858). BY THE MID-1880s, THE AREA BECAME KNOWN AS THE UNION GROVE COMMUNITY. WILLIAM MARSHALL PHILLIPS, JAMES AND REBECCA'S FIRSTBORN, INHERITED THE LAND AND CONTINUED TO FARM THE LAND. ANOTHER SETTLER, JOHN O'BYRNE, OPERATED A SAWMILL NEARBY. IN 1913, WILLIAM PHILLIPS" WIFE DEEDED ACREAGE TO O'BYRNE, J. L. MACKEY, A.M. PHILLIPS AND THE COMMUNITY FOR A CEMETERY. EVENTUALLY, THE NAME OF THE CEMETERY WAS CHANGED TO UNION GROVE CEMETERY TO BETTER SERVE THE COMMUNITY. ADDITIONAL ACREAGE WAS PURCHASED IN 1986 AND 2001. THE LANDSCAPE OF THE CEMETERY IS TRADITIONAL WITH WHITE OAK, PINE AND POST OAK TREES AND A VARIETY OF HEADSTONES INCLUDING CONCRETE, FIELDSTONE, GRANITE, MARBLE AND WOOD GRAVE MARKERS. VETERANS OF THE CIVIL WAR, WORLD WAR I, WORLD WAR II, THE KOREAN WAR AND THE VIETNAM WAR ARE BURIED HERE. THE UNION GROVE CEMETERY ASSOCIATION MAINTAINS THIS HISTORIC PIONEER CEMETERY. HISTORIC TEXAS CEMETERY - 2010