Historical Marker  

According to an account by Dr. J.E. Fuller (1862-1940) as reported by local historian Ed H. McCuistion (1867-1946) in a 1921 column in the Paris News, the first person buried here was a youth with the surname Young, Who became ill and died while in the company of a Captain Beauchamp on the Tollet’s Prairie in 1844.He knew of his impending death and asked to be laid to rest here in the “beautiful grove near the crossing” at Brushy Creek. This shaded area was used for camp meetings by traveling preachers, and according to  McCuistion was deeded  for the purpose by Turner B. (1800-1863) and Ann Eliza (1813-1894) Edmunson in 1847. Although Young’s grave is unmarked today, other earlier burials include those of  Mary Fincher (1852), there year old Matthew A.R. Hoover (1855), Aaron Fincher (1857) and Sallie Jennings (1857), the Edmunson’s 1847 donation included the tract on which the cemetery is situated as well as the grounds of the Shady Grove Methodist Church, which grew from the early camp meetings along the creek, south of and adjacent to Shady Grove Cemetery is and African American Cemetery also known as Shady Grove, its earliest inscription dates to 1875.Historical Texas Cemetery –2002-