By Frances James (1922 – 2019)
This is one of the oldest documented cemeteries in Dallas County. The address of this site is the 4000 block of Merrell Road, one and one/half blocks east of Rosser Road and west of Midway. It is named for the Peter Colonist family who owned this land.
The Merrell Cemetery was on the land owned by Benjamin Merrell, the eldest son of David Merrell (b. 1801) who was a younger brother of Elder Eli Merrell. Benjamin and several brothers in these two large families were all eligible for land from Peters Colony.
The first known burial was that of North Carolina native Eli Merrell (1787-1849) who came to Texas with his second wife and large family in 1844 and received a grant of 640 acres. Merrell had participated in the War of 1812 and was an Elder in the Disciples of Christ Church. Eli performed his first marriage in Dallas County in 1846. When he died his heirs inherited his land.
There are many marked grave sites for relatives and of Eli and David Merrell. One particular tombstone reads, “Murdered in EI Paso. December 24, 1884.” This marker is for Thomas Merrell (1849-1884) and his twenty-two year old wife of only a few months. Thomas had ranching in West Texas for twelve years before his wife were killed on Christmas Eve. He is shown on the 1830 census as an eight month old baby, born the same year his father Eli died. His brothers spent a lot of time and effort through years trying to the who murdered this couple. Steve Blow, a columnist with the Dallas Morning News recently discovered information about this in old newspaper in EI Paso.
Never affiliated with a church, burials that had taken place in this cemetery through the next fifty years were families from the vicinity buried their loved ones here. Individual members cared for their own plots. Since the cemetery was first used in the 1840s the other portions of Benjamin Merrell’s 640 acres had been sold through the years. To protect site in in 1890 this one acre cemetery was purchased for $35.00 by the Connell, Luna, Merrell and Strait families from Mrs. Aaron Lanham, a widow who owned the land surrounding the cemetery. Mary, and Benjamin Lanham and other members of the Lanham family are buried here. To provide further protection for this sacred site and prevent vandalism, the Merrell Cemetery Association was formed in 1965 to raise funds for a fence and to provide maintenance.
Among the persons buried in this cemetery are many members of the family of William Logan Strait (1806-1886) and his wife, Mourning (1806-1877). Strait Lane was named for this family who came to the Dallas area in 1853. They lived nearby on land they purchased from Mrs. Strait’s brother, Peters Colonist Millard (Melford) Fortner, when he moved back to Arkansas in 1868. A granite shaft marking the Strait lot has not only the husband and wife’s name on it but one of their James (1832-1853). Another son Enoch (1834•1917) and his wife Hattie Holcomb Strait (1849-1924) with two of their children buried nearby. Enoch was a County Commissioner when the Dallas County Courthouse, “Old Red,” was built and his name is on the cornerstone. Enoch, William and Bennett Strait are all listed as members of Nat Buford’s Regiment of Company K, 19th Texas Cavalry in the Civil War. Another brother Jesse died of smallpox while a prisoner. Robert, George, John M. Merrell were with this same regiment.
When Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Humphrey Coppedge (1842-1931) came to Dallas in 1872 it was on the train. They had been urged to come to Texas by an uncle of Mrs. Coppedge, Tom Mathis. They at the Crutchfield House, a hotel in Dallas, while hunting for a place to settle and chose a farm near Richardson. They watched the Houston and Texas Central construct the railroad the winter of 1872. It was so cold that winter that the hog and beef they killed stayed frozen for twenty-one days and they had to cut it with an ax. In 1873 they purchased land on Walnut Hill Lane and planted cotton and became friends with the Merrells, Straits, Floyds and Taylors. They and others in their family are buried in the Merrell Cemetery and Coppedge Lane is named this family. Welch Road, Luna Road and Marsh Lane, were all streets named for respected pioneers of this area Mea who are buried at the Merrell Cemetery.
There are veterans of all wars since the War of 1812 buried here. Two memorials have been placed for two descendants of these pioneer families missing in action from World War II. As this cemetery is still being used there will be other new names of descendants of these families buried in this sacred, well kept spot.
Frances James, “Dallas County History – From the Ground Up, Book II,” 2009.
