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 Pleasant Grove Cemetery #1
N 33° 09.581 W 097° 35.090
14S E 631966 N 3669881
Texas Historical Marker at Pleasant Grove Cemetery #1, about four miles south of Decatur on FM 730, providing some history of this cemetery and nod to the old church, which has since evolved into something a bit more modern.
Waymark Code: WM14ZMW
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 09/18/2021
Views: 5
Marker Number: 20061
Marker Text:
Records do not indicate when a Baptist church was established in this area, but in a deed dated October 5, 1880, Thomas S. Burton conveyed four acres for one dollar to "the Baptist church on Martin's Branch." No mention of a cemetery was made in the deed; however, the earliest marked grave here 1s also dated 1880. In 1900, A.L. Bearden deeded one half-acre to S. Gentry, J.M. Burton and W.B. Crabb, trustees of Pleasant Grove Church, for the use of the church and cemetery. Additional acreage was acquired over the years, including five acres from A.J. Pinkerton in 1945.
By the 1960s, care of the cemetery was under the managemet [sic] of a board of trustees. Many notable citizens of the area are buried here, including Thomas S. Burton, who first deeded the land. James Franklin Scaff was helping build a new sanctuary in 1926 when he died from his horse kicking him. His funeral service was the first in the new church, and he is buried here. Veterans from the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam are among those identified with military service. Well-known names from the community, including Phillips, Gentry, Gregg, Collins, Oates, Walker, Rhine, Spain and Shaw, are among the families with several burials here. One grave is that of Robert N. Gregg Jr., a sergeant in the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, 36th Infantry Division, U.S. Army, part of the "Lost Battalion" during World War II.
Pleasant Grove Cemetery #1 (numbered to distinguish it from two other Pleasant Grove Cemeteries in Wise County, one near Boyd and another between Alvord and Chico) now covers more than seven acres and has more than 1,200 recorded burials. It remains active and is a precious chronicle of generations who have called this area their home.
Historic Texas Cemetery - 2015
Marker is Property of the State of Texas
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