This is a large African-American cemetery located at the Shady Grove Church about 1 mile southwest of Cason.  It is surrounded by a chain link fence and is well maintained.  There is ample room for expansion.  Just when the cemetery was established and by whom is unknown but it was preceded, no doubt, by the Pitt cemetery which lies a little further south on the same county road.

Several anomalous grave markers were encountered during the survey and they are listed as follows: there were at least 32 Funeral Home Markers (FHM) that were unreadable, there were 3 concrete encased graves marked only with unreadable FHMs, 3 concrete encased graves with unreadable inscriptions in the concrete, and 2 concrete encased graves with no identification.  There were 6 concrete blocks, 6 concrete slabs, 5 round tiles, 2 concrete urns, 1 broken granite marker, 1 rock, 2 piles of rocks, 1 brick column, 1 piece of marble, a broken plastic bible, an iron strap, and 2 metal posts.  Additionally, 2 fresh graves had no identification, 1 grave had been in existence (grass covered) but no identification, a military monument was buried but the name Otis C. Traylor was uncovered, a monument had fallen face down and could not be read, 13 graves were marked by flowers only, a broken piece of concrete that had “we love you Carla, Kate, Shy” inscribed, a granite slab with St--- LaFayette inscribed, and finally 3 marble slabs with no inscription marked other gravesites.  Numerous depressions in the ground indicate other gravesites as there are numerous marked graves that have severely settled and are not being filled in.

To reach the Shady Grove Cemetery from the Titus County court house take Madison Avenue (Business US 271) south for 0.3 mile to the intersection with Ferguson road (US 271).  Turn left onto Ferguson road and proceed East for 3.8 miles (Ferguson Road becomes Texas 49).  At the intersection with Farm Road 1735 (Chapel Hill Road) turn right and proceed 8.2 miles to the intersection with Texas Highway 11.  Turn left onto Highway 11 and proceed for 2.1 miles to the intersection from the right with Farm Road 144.  Turn right onto FM 144 and proceed approximately 0.1 mile to the intersection with County Road (CR) 4950.  Turn right onto CR4950 and proceed 0.7 mile.  The cemetery and church will lie alongside the road on the right. Coordinates: 33^o 01.697'N 094^o 49.286'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.