Staff Writer
A plaque noting that the Perry Cemetery is now a Texas Historical Cemetery was unveiled in a ceremony Saturday afternoon.
A crowd of about 40 people, most of whom are descendants of the founder of the cemetery, were present to hear comments by Paul Price, president of the Perry Cemetery Association and Milburn Gravley, former Carrollton mayor.
The Perry family lived just to the south of the site where A.W. Perry buried his wife and thus started the cemetery.
Following the brief speeches, the plaque was unveiled by Becky Miller, current Carrollton mayor, and Fancy Oliver Tanner, cemetery association secretary who also is a descendant of the A.W. Perry family.
Price explained to the crowd that, for a cemetery to get a Texas Historical Designation, it must be at least 50 years old and meet other strict qualifications.
“This is no easy plaque to get,” he told the crowd. The cemetery had been awarded a historical marker in 1976. The small plaque is now on a pole adjacent to the historical marker.
Gravley told the small crowd, “The year was 1896. A.W. Perry’s wife, Sarah Perry, had passed on. History tells us he truly loved the mother of their 14 children.
“From his home, which was just behind today’s Perry Museum, he could look north to the hill in his pasture and see the old Union Baptist Church. To keep Sarah near the home, he declared that part of the pasture to be a ‘burying place.’ Next to the church, it was a natural place.”
Gravley said 17 Perrys had already been buried at the Keenan Cemetery in Farmers Branch, but his great-great grandfather felt it was time for a cemetery to be started in Carrollton.
The land was platted for a cemetery in 1897 and the Perry Cemetery Association was chartered by the state of Texas in 1898.
Gravley said the Perry Cemetery has been in continuous use since its founding and that many of Carrollton’s founding fathers, pioneer families and their descendants are buried in the Perry Cemetery.
“Originally, lots were sold to the townspeople for $10,” Gravley said. “However, there are many ‘gratis’ burials here. Today, Perry Cemetery is a ‘closed’ cemetery as no lots are offered except to relatives of families already interred here.”
The Perry Cemetery is just north of the Hilltop Cemetery, operated by the Metrocrest Funeral Home, and lots are available to the public at Hilltop Cemetery.
