Grayson County TXGenWeb

Sherman Democrat
December 1, 1963

Old Burial
Plot Marked
For Moving
by Jack King
Democrat News Editor

Overrun by weeds and neck-high grass, the plateau of land is dotted by cedar trees. Quiet and forlorn, the 8-acre plot south of town looks down upon a busy triangle formed by the juncture of new U.S.75 expressway and the Travis street access road.

Just across the highway to the southwest is the ultra-modern Johnson and Johnson plant. Down the road a piece to the south are other plants in Sherman's fast-growing industrial family.

100 Years Old
The plot is a small, unnamed cemetery, almost a 100 years old. And its cluster of 20 to 30 graves are huddled together as if in awe of the sight and sound of the space age.

It's this age of rapid change and progress that now makes it necessary that those laid to rest so long ago shall have a new place to rest in peace. The area belongs to the Greater Sherman, Inc., a non-profit organization owning land intended as sites for future industrial or commercial projects.

The job of relocation falls to David H. Brown, president of the industrial foundation. Brown said he anticipates no problem in the relocation because the burials were all in the last century and there are no known near relatives.

$2,500 Moving Cost
The graves would be moved by a licensed undertaker at a cost of about $2,500 to the industrial group. Brown said the graves would probably be re-located in near-by Akers Cemetery.

"This apparently was privately-owned and never dedicated or designated as a cemetery." Brown noted.

To be an official cemetery it must be designated as such in the county records.

Brown said that should a protest be made about moving the graves, he believes the county commissioners will authorize such a move.

The tombstones will be moved along with the remains.

The property fronts along U.S.75 and is bounded on the north by property owned by W. C. Pickens and on the east by land owned by Roy Trail.

Brown said the cemetery is a part of the land the foundation bought from Jeff Mercer. The 450-acre Johnson and Johnson site comprised a big part of the Mercer farm.

The cemetery site would be suitable either for a small industry or commercial business., Brown said. The graves will not be disturbed until the land is sold or leased, he added.

No Care Given
There has been no effort in recent years in care for the cemetery. Stones have fallen over. Others are half buried, face down. Some are shattered.

Headstones are hidden by grass . . . names on the mark-
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(See OLD, Page Three)