LAST Burial in Kellum Family Cemetery - Waco, TX
N 31° 35.007 W 097° 08.094
14R E 676974 N 3495774
A 1989 Texas Historical Marker at the Kellum Family Cemetery indicates that the cemetery's last burial was that of Mary Elizabeth Jurney Kellum in 1895. The cemetery is in front of the Carver Park Baptist Church at 1020 Herring Ave, Waco, TX.
Waymark Code: WM15NXX
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/30/2022
Views: 11
The historical marker provides some background:
A native of Virginia, Edward Kellum (1787-1863) was a soldier in the Tennessee militia during the War of 1812. He married Karen H. Tabor in November 1812, and they moved to Alabama and Mississippi before eventually settling in McLennan County, Texas, in 1854. The parents of ten children, the Kellums bought land along the Brazos River and established a farm.
This location was chosen as the site of a family graveyard sometime before 1863. When Edward Kellum died on February 23, 1863, he became the first family member interred here. Karen Kellum was buried next to her husband in 1869.
Other family members buried here include Edward and Karen's sons, William Riley Kellum (1817-1890) and Thomas Smith Kellum (1823-1873). Of the twenty-five know burials, fourteen are marked with illegible sandstone markers. All twenty-five graves are believed to be those of Kellum family members.
The last person buried here was Mary Elizabeth Jurney Kellum, widow of William R. Kellum. Following her death in 1895, her will provided for the maintenance of the cemetery. Originally encompassing a one-acre rural site, the graveyard has been surrounded by the growing city of Waco and now contains one-half acre of land.
Mrs. Kellum is buried with her husband in front of the 50' obelisk that overlooks the cemetery. The family name, "Kellum", is on the reverse plinth, while their respective inscriptions read:
In Memory of
William R. Kellum
Born Dec. 27, 1817
Died Oct. 23, 1890
Servant of God well done
rest from thy loved employ,
the battle faught, [sic] the victory won.
Rest in thy saviour's joy.
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In Memory of
Mary E.
Wife of
William R. Kellum
Born Mar. 8, 1826
Died Mar. 26, 1895
Sleep mother dear, and take thy rest
God called you home, he thought it best
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Her Findagrave page has her signature and a likeness of Mrs. Kellum in later life, taken from "A Memorial & Biographical History of McLennan, Falls, Bell & Coryell Counties, Texas," published in 1893.