Two Delta County cemeteries were recently recognized by the State of Texas.
Camp Shed and Mount Joy Cemeteries in Delta County received historical markers on March 2.
The events were led by the father-and-son organizing team of Randall and Reynold Jones. American Legion Red Henderson Post #483 Vice Commander Butch Burns performed a guitar solo and guest bugler Randall McGuire played Taps.
After recognizing the county officials, the cemetery boards including those caretakers of the grounds, Reynold Jones said, “This is a day of celebration, a day of commemoration and a day for us to reflect on the past and to pay our respects. We are here to honor the families interred here. … This wouldn’t happen without the contributions so many have made.”
Inscription on the Camp Shed Cemetery marker: Caddo Indians initially inhabited the region around Camp Shed Cemetery near the North Sulphur River. In 1836, Euro-American began colonizing the region, many early setters used the area as a campground in their migration west even before its official dedication, Camp Shed Cemetery served the communities of Enloe and Mount Joy. In 1880, Johnnie Kerbow became the first recorded burial. The cemetery was officially deeded in 1886, and referred to as the Campstead Grave Yard. This deed also referred to a “Camp Shed …which once stood.” On the property veterans from the Civil War, World War I and World War II are interred here. Camp Shed Cemetery remains a record of change in rural East Texas.
Inscription on the Mount Joy Cemetery marker: Settlers first came to Mount Joy in the 1836 and the town developed into a thriving farming settlement. Presbyterian and Baptist Community members established Mount Joy Baptist Church in 1873. A Methodist Episcopal Church organized the following year. At its peak in the 1880s, the community had three steam-powered cotton gins, a gristmill, shingle factory and stores, and stagecoaches linked it to nearby settlements. A post office closed in 1907. The first recorded burial in Mount Joy Cemetery (also referred to as Staten Cemetery) was of Mary Garrett in 1873. In 1891 W.B. Chambers officially deeded the land for use as a cemetery.
