Just getting to the cemetery is a reminder there are still places in Texas that haven’t changed much in the past 100 years. You drive past open fields and farmland, then turn down a gravel road, and head along a bumpy, grass path, where the road ends at a gate that opens to the historic site.
Those who have been buried in the cemetery couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful final resting place. The site is at the top of a hill and overlooks green pastures and rolling hills. There is sun and shade, and a gentle breeze to add to the serenity of the setting.
Like most older cemeteries, it shows its age - a rusting gate, falling fences, cracking tombstones and fading display writing.
Gravestones date to the late 1800s, with dates of birth as early as 1802. While some are difficult to read, others reveal names, dates and inscriptions that provide insight into the lives of those who made up this community, located west of Holland.
There are those who “lived with Christ,” babies, including “Little Oscar,” age 6 months, and some who died as children.
There is a 23-year-old named Leroy, son of J.B. and A.E. Rowlett. He was born in 1869, died in 1892.
There’s TW Knight, 1848 to 1893, clearly identified as an early pioneer and an inventor.
Walking through the tall grass and wildflowers, you come across the grave of Thomas Hendon, 1824 to 1904. The inscription on his tombstone could sum it up for all buried here: “Beloved one farewell, weep not he is at rest, God’s finger touched him and he slept.”
The Texas Historical Commission recently designated the burial grounds as a Historic Texas Cemetery, meaning the site has been legally recorded through the commission’s Historic Texas Cemetery Program.
“This designation is a tool that will increase public awareness of these important cultural resources,” said Larry Oaks, executive director of the commission. “Knowledge and education are among the best ways to guarantee the preservation of a historic cemetery.”
The cemetery was built on land donated to the public by Alexander James Dallas, a Texas Republic pioneer and one of four men who helped found the village of Salado.
In 1854, Dallas purchased 160 acres of land located at Darrs Creek in Bell County, according to a press release from the Texas Historical Commission.
Dallas built his homestead on the property. In his last will and testament, dated June 9, 1879, he “bequeathed to the neighborhood and public” the cemetery and the public right of way to the site.
Protection of the site is not a given - historic cemeteries are threatened by urban expansion and development, vandalism, grazing animals and long-term deterioration from weather and uncontrolled vegetation.
But, according to the press release, the Texas Historical Commission encourages cemetery preservation because these sites often are the last reminders of early settlements and their historical events, religious beliefs, lifestyles and genealogy.
