By Larry Briscoe
Correspondent
An old television series said there were a thousand stories in the naked city, and the lead-in line stated that that week’s installment was just one.
That could also apply to cemeteries. Williams Chapel Cemetery, located off FM 36 northwest of Quinlan, had many to tell this week as years of broken tree limbs, brush and weeds were uncovered.
Deana Hunt who lives nearby had passed many times by the location at County Road 2538 and CR 2540. Her husband Andy has relatives buried there. In fact, his great grandfather, Marshall Moses Smith, was one of the early residents and bought two area farms in 1905. Although he and his wife moved later and are buried elsewhere, Moses’ son Carl is one of the graves in the cemetery.
The apparent abandoned and overgrown condition prompted Deana to take action.
She contacted the Rev. Dave Arndt. Arndt and members of his Beacons of Grace ministry met the Hunts at the location last week for a workday.
The cemetery began to emerge from years of undergrowth as chainsaws whirred, limbs were stacked and smoke rose from a brush pile.
Arndt expected two days work would be sufficient and planned to bring in a brush-hog to complete the cleanup.
Ministry members helping included Chris Jackson, Preston Miller, Matthew Vining, Eddie Aguilar, Johnny Beckham, Phillip Feemster, Chris Carrientos, David Phillips and Rigo Calola.
Local resident and Hunt County cemetery authority John Byrd was on hand at the cleanup. Byrd is compiling an accurate map of all cemetery locations in Hunt County and gathering historical information about the burial sites.
Byrd said Williams Chapel Cemetery was located adjacent to the Methodist Episcopal Church. The one-acre site is situated in the James McAdam Abstract that was patented as early as 1847. James F. Ryan and M.L. Ryan deeded the plot to the church on Feb. 27, 1909, when it had 23 members and was chartered the same year. The Ryan couple’s graves are located in the Quinlan West Cemetery.
Trustees of the church in 1909, according to the deed, were J.F. Ryan, J.A. Davis and G.W. Williams.
Byrd said the property was sold Oct. 25, 1967, by the First United Methodist Church of Quinlan, and the Williams Chapel building burned later after the sale. Concrete steps of the building remain at the location.
Byrd said the earliest burial with a marker still existing was that of Evelyn Mangrum on Jan. 23, 1911. The latest burial was Aug. 30, 1928, for Sarah Anna Carpenter Aston.
Other family names represented on the list of burials included Cottrell, Crabtree, Knox, McDonald, Rhudy, Morris and Smith.
Deana said the Rev. Eric Rothe, pastor of First United Methodist Church of Quinlan, had agreed to organize help twice a year from a church group, and Hunt County agreed to provide similar help from community service workers.