DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Welch Cemetery, out here in Rusk County. Now, most cemeteries come to be because somebody dies and folks need a place to put them. This one started a little differently.
Anna Welch, born in Georgia in 1804, chose this hillside herself. Picked it out. Said, in effect, this is the spot.
And when she passed in 1877, that's exactly where they laid her. The first grave at this site was hers, and it was her own choosing. You've got to respect a woman who handles her arrangements that decisively.
From that date forward, the land served as a family cemetery. The property belonged to her son, Andrew Jackson Welch, known to everyone as Jack, born in 1825 and a veteran of the Civil War. Jack Welch and his wife Nancy Ann made sure the place would hold.
In 1898, in the will of A. J. Welch and Nancy Ann, that original two-acre tract was formally designated a family cemetery.
Put it in writing. Made it official. Then, years later, their grandson A.
V. Welch, Vernon to his people, enlarged the grounds in 1969, bringing the total to two and forty-nine hundredths acres. Three generations of that family tending the same hillside Anna picked out for herself.
And who rests here? Pioneer settlers, for one. And veterans of four wars.
Four wars. Anna Welch found her spot on a quiet hillside in Rusk County, and the generations that followed made sure there was room enough for the rest of them.
What the marker says
The first gave at this site was that of Georgia native Anna Welch (1804-1877), who selected the hillside for her own burial. It was used as a family cemetery from that date. The property was owned by her son Andrew Jackson "Jack" Welch (1825-1899), a veteran of the Civil War. In 1898 the original two-acre tract was formally designated a family cemetery in the will of A. J. Welch and his wife Nancy Ann. It was enlarged to 2.49 acres in 1969 by their grandson A. V. "Vernon" Welch. Pioneer settlers and veterans of four wars are buried here.