MELISSA CEMETERY - MELISSA
33.288N
96.585W
Cemeteries of Collin County, Texas, by Joy
Gough
This is a large,
unfenced cemetery. The stones are a distance from the road, although the
cemetery is expanding into the land next to the road. The cemetery has a
historical marker. There is a deed listed in Vol 41, p 375. The Melissa Cemetery
Corporation bought 11 1/3 acres of land from L. A. Scott.
In the northeast corner of this cemetery is the entrance for the St. Paul
Colored Cemetery. COLLIN COUNTY CEMETERY INSCRIPTIONS I calls it the North
Melissa Cemetery. The historical markers for the Melissa Cemetery and for the
St. Paul Baptist Church in Melissa clearly call it the St. Paul Cemetery.
This cemetery was started in conjunction with the Sherley family, who were early
settlers in the area. They are probably relatives of the famous Belle Starr, who
was a Sherley and lived around here. The creek behind the cemetery is the
Shirley branch.
Historical
marker, 1989.
MELISSA
CEMETERY
THIS CEMETERY
HAS BEEN THE PRIMARY BURIAL GROUND
FOR MEMBERS OF
THE MELISSA COMMUNITY FOR GENERA-
TIONS. ITS
ORIGIN CAN BE TRACED TO THE PIONEER SHERLEY/
SHIRLEY
FAMILY, ALTHOUGH THE SPECIFIC DATE OF ITS
FOUNDING IS
UNKNOWN.
THE OLDEST
GRAVES IN THE CEMETERY ARE THOSE OF
WILLIAM M.
SHERLEY (1856), LEWIS SHERLEY (1867), AND
ALBERT SHIRLEY
(1879). THEY MAY HAVE ORIGINALLY BEEN
BURIED IN A
FAMILY CEMETERY ON THE NEARBY FARM
OF LEWIS
SHERLEY AND RELOCATED TO THIS SITE WHEN
THE MELISSA
CEMETERY WAS FORMALLY ESTABLISHED
IN 1889. ALSO
BURIED IN THE SHERLEY FAMILY CEMETERY
WERE A NUMBER
OF FAMILY SLAVES, AND THAT SITE BE-
CAME THE
NEARBY ST. PAUL CEMETERY.
A NUMBER OF
MELISSA RESIDENTS WERE INTERRED HERE
PRIOR TO THE
OFFICIAL DESIGNATION OF THE CEMETERY
AS A PUBLIC
BURIAL GROUND IN 1889. ACCORDING TO LOCAL
TRADITION A
RAILROAD WORKER WHO DIED IN 1872 IS
BURIED HERE IN
AN UNMARKED GRAVE.
MANY PIONEER
RESIDENTS OF MELISSA ARE INTERRED IN
THIS CEMETERY,
INCLUDING CONFEDERATE CAPTAIN THOMAS
M. SCOTT AND
VETERANS OF THE MEXICAN WAR, CIVIL WAR,
WORLD WAR I,
AND WORLD WAR II. THE MELISSA CEMETERY
ASSOCIATION
CARES FOR THE HISTORIC GRAVEYARD.
Incised on the
reverse:
Board of
Directors
Joe D. Loftice,
Pres.
Clyde Crouch,
V. Pres.
Mary Hellen
Miller Bewley, Sect.
Willena
Milrany Moore, Treas.
J. Doyle Cave
Raymond RAttan
Powell
Sue Evelyn
Rattan
Gary Whitworth
Research and
Written By
Diane McVey
Miller
Melissa
CEMETERY INDEX
Recommended
citation:
Melissa Cemetery - Melissa,
"CEMETERIES OF COLLIN COUNTY." Collin County,
Texas History and Genealogy Webpage by Genealogy Friends of Plano Libraries,
Inc., <http://www.geocities/genfriendsghl>
[Accessed Fri February 13, 2004 ].
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