Center Grove Cemetery is one of the larger public cemeteries located in Southeast Titus County. It was originally known as the Yancey Cemetery after David Yancey who donated the first land for the use of the cemetery and church. A Texas historical marker has been awarded to the cemetery and it stands at the main entrance. The marker reads “ Center Grove Cemetery”

This cemetery was originally called the Yancey Cemetery because the first parcel of land was donated by David Yancey, Sr., in the mid 1860s. An orphaned infant, who was a member of the group that traveled with Yancey from Tennessee to Texas, was the first to be buried here. Many of the graves, including the first, are marked with only a rough stone. Veterans of the Civil War and both World Wars have been buried here. The name of the Cemetery was changed in 1900 because the graveyard was located in the same area as the Center Grove Church of Christ

The cemetery is fenced and kept in very good condition. A new section has recently been added on the south side of the County road. This has necessitated partitioning the Cemetery for this study between what will be called Center Grove North and Center Grove South. The land for Center Grove South was donated by the family of Dick Justiss in 1972. It has a decorative fence around it and only flat monuments are being used.

Various and sundry markers have been used throughout the cemetery. A list of those found follows. A concrete monument with no inscription is found in the Rosewell plot. A top portion of a monument with no inscription has been reset in concrete. There are eight unreadable funeral home markers (FHM). One FHM was partially readable with Daphne ----Sept----Jun 24----visible. One hundred fifty (150) concrete slabs have been used to mark known grave sites. One concrete slab had unreadable inscriptions. A native stone was used and was once inscribed but now it is unreadable. Three concrete blocks marked other locations. A dark gray concrete slab appears to have once been inscribed. Five concrete portions of pillar like construction marked other sites and five concrete rounds marked others. There was one significant native stone. A small marker with “W. A. L. S. ‘Leg’” is said to mark the location where W. A. Lunsford had his amputated leg buried. (This brings up the questions, “Was it buried 6 feet down; and does it take up a whole grave space?) There are two other small monuments that show “Ophilla died 1864" and “Ophilla’s Baby”

To reach the Center Grove Cemetery from the Titus County court house, take Madison Street south for 0.3 mile to the intersection with Ferguson Road (US 271). Turn left onto Ferguson Road and continue Southeast (the road becomes Texas Highway 49). Proceed 5.5 miles to the intersection from the left of FM 1000. Turn left onto FM 1000 and continue for 2.0 miles to the intersection (from the right) with County Road (CR) 4340 (CR SE 30). Turn right onto CR 4340 and proceed for 0.4 miles. The main cemetery entrance will be on the left beside the road. Coordinates: 33^o07.774'N 094^o50.723'W

Due to the size of this file I have broken it into several smaller files for faster loading time. Please click on the letter of the alphabet of the name you wish to research.