Millville Cemetery Homecoming, Rusk Co. Cemeteries of Tx Gloria B. Mayfield

SUNDAY DRIVE: Millville Cemetery dedicates marker

By JUNE THOMPSON
The Daily News

Our driving tours this East Texas Wildflower Trails season (April 15-May 31) will take visitors along some of the most beautiful roads in Rusk County.

As we go, there are many opportunities to view the colorful wildflowers of Rusk County. Coreopsis, the Wildflower Trails' signature wildflower, now in full bloom, is being joined by her Sunflower Family sister, Black-eyed Susan. There also seems to be an unusual abundance of pink buttercups.

The drive is well worth it for scenic beauty alone.

Our destination today features historical Millville, located in northeastern Rusk County. Millville was the site of a booming town during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Today, only a church and cemetery remain.

Millville Cemetery is holding its annual homecoming 11 a.m. Saturday, May 6, at Millville Church and Cemetery, off Farm-to-Market Road 782 on County Road 252. Pack a picnic lunch and join in a day of fellowship, sharing memories and renewing acquaintances.

A special patriotic service to dedicate the Texas Historical Marker and Plaque, in recognition of the historic Texas Cemetery designation by the Texas Historical Commission, will feature state Rep. Chuck Hopson, D-Jacksonville, as speaker, with Rusk County Historical Commission Chairman William Ashby unveiling the marker at the close of the program.

For more than 100 years, the Millville Picnic has been held on the first Saturday of May. In the old days, it was a day for cleaning the grounds. Today, it serves as a day to celebrate the lives of some of Rusk County's earliest residents.

At Millville Cemetery, a marker on the front gate reads: “Millville Cemetery founded in early eighteen hundreds. Entrance erected in memory of Allen Gibson 1885-1959 - Clate Todd 1881-1960.”

There are a number of graves that are either unmarked or marked by carved rocks.

An obelisk, said to be the grave site from which the body of Jesse Walling was moved to Bosque County, Texas, stands in the cemetery. Jesse Walling moved his family from Nacogdoches area when he received a land grant for his service to the Republic of Texas in 1841, two years before an increased population resulted in Rusk County being created out of a portion of Nacogdoches County.

The 1941 log cabin home of the Jesse Walling family is now reconstructed and takes a place of pride with a historical marker on the Depot Museum grounds in Henderson.

The Wildflowers Trail extends from April 15-May 31. Visitors can pick up a brochure detailing routes through Rusk County that take visitors along three scenic and historic routes, offering photographic opportunities as well as unique places to shop and eat.

- For the rest of this story, please see the Sunday, April 30, 2006 edition of the Henderson Daily News -