Grayson County Reminiscences: The First 150 Years, 1846-1996 Page: 258 of 265

                                
hill and the view from under its ancient cedars is breathtaking.
As the sun rises it casts its light over the green rolling hills that
first beckoned these early day pioneers. And when the sun has
completed its arc over the town and the cemetery, it sets behind
the ornate red brick buildings, church steeples and railroad tracks
that were created by the same pioneer spirit. Now at rest, these
ageless souls have come full circle.
There are many other cemeteries, a few still active and
some with no burials in nearly a century. Most of the small family
plots have almost faded into time, but each holds a legend of
its own. A free cemetery was founded in 1857 by Elijah Cannon
and the J. P. Dumas family is buried on his Sister Grove Ranch.
Reverend David Elliott donated land for a cemetery in 1855 including
earlier unknown graves marked only by red sandstones.
The Binion, Smith-Simpson, Lewis and Luper cemeteries,
situated within a small area, represent a diverse group of early
frontier families. Two brothers landing in Texas in the 1840s,
John Warden and Hezakiah Worden each have cemeteries bearing
their names, although by different spellings in different counties.
Every spring when the sky clears and the earth warms,
we are reminded that there is, indeed, life in a cemetery. The
peonies at Pilot Grove explode into giant pink and white puffs
and the red buds at Cannon are heavily laden with their sweet
clusters. Each place in its own way is awakened.
Then the living celebrate the lives of the dead through the
wondrous event of Decoration Day (otherwise known as Memorial
Day) at the end of May. On a Sunday afternoon families visit
with one another and make contributions for another year's upkeep.
Young plump hands as well as old gnarled hands, generations
removed, tend to the graves of their loved ones. It's this
connection that is important. It's tradition, it's family and it's a
little bit of home.
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