Z. Motley Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it: let me walk you through the story of the Z. Motley Cemetery. Somewhere back in 1856, a man named Zachariah Motley made up his mind that Texas was where he was headed.

He packed up his family, gathered his slaves, and left Kentucky behind. And when the Motleys arrived, they didn't just pass through; they put down roots. Zachariah and his wife Mary, five sons and three daughters, all of them worked to settle this corner of what would become Dallas County.

They built their home about two hundred feet northeast of this very spot, on a half-acre piece of ground drawn from the original Crittenden Survey. Now, when a family stakes its claim to a piece of land, eventually that land becomes something more than a homestead. It becomes a place of memory.

The earliest known burial in this plot came in 1863: Penelope Motley McLain, one of those Motley daughters, and the wife of a man named Captain J. B. McLain.

She was the first one laid to rest here that we know of, though she would not be the last. Twenty-five known graves lie in this ground. Family members, and the people enslaved by them (their lives bound together in this place as they had been in life).

What strikes you, standing here, is that this plot is still in use. Still owned and cared for by Motley descendants. A family came out of Kentucky in 1856, and more than a century later, this little half-acre of the old homestead still holds their names and their history.

Some places, it turns out, don't let go of you; or maybe you don't let go of them.

What the marker says

Zachariah Motley migrated to Texas (1856) from Kentucky with his family and slaves. He and his wife Mary, five sons and three daughters helped settle this area and built their home some 200' northeast of this site, a one-half acre portion of the original homestead bought from the Crittenden Survey. Earliest known burial (1863) was Penelope Motley McLain, a daughter, and the wife of Capt. J. B. McLain. The plot is still in use and is owned and cared for by Motley descendants. Twenty-five known graves include family members and their slaves.