| Located on Merritt Road in Sachse (Dallas County), this small 3 acre plot of land contains early pioneers who traveled to this area from Monroe County in Kentucky around 1854, including their descendants. Veterans and those killed in action from the Civil War and other wars afterwards are also interred here. Four victims of the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic rest here as well. The Pleasant Valley Road area was once known as the Pleasant Valley Community. At the corner of Pleasant Valley and Merrit Roads, sits a now - dilapidated structure that was once a general store in the 1800s. It was also interesting for us to find out that Merritt Road had once been at the back of the cemetery, formerly a "dividing line" between Mercers Colony and the District of Nacogdoches when Texas was a Republic. |
| We visited this cemetery on October 29, 2007. This cemetery is still active and being used for burials, but we were saddened to see that most parts of it looked like it had not been mowed...or even taken care of, for quite some time. Stone rows outlining family plots were broken and crushed in some places, while ancien, broken gravestones sat ignored. |
| Pleasant Valley Store in 1962 |
| I was amused and touched by the different ways some of the cemetery plots had been decorated by surviving loved ones. From small statuary, little plaques with whimsical sayings on them, miniature toy cars and even a coffee cup sat, lovingly placed on several markers. |
| Typical of the era of the 1800s, we found dozens of burial plots of children, some not even having any first names. It is understandable that Infant mortality rate was high back then, but it was still a sad sight to see, while walking through this cemetery. |
| copyright 2000 - Infinity, Texas Hauntings Society/Massachusetts Hauntings Society all rights reserved |
| Pleasant Valley Cemetery has approximately 535 marked graves, yet there are many unmarked plots dotting the acreage as well. Many sunken areas all over the grounds signified just where these lonely and forgotten graves might be. Email Us: mina@texashauntsociety.com |
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| Pleasant Valley Cemetery Sachse, TX historical pioneer cemetery |
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| Site of Pleasant Valley Store, 2007 |
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| A homemade stone marks the final resting place of A.J. Whiteley. Perhaps the family could not afford an elaborate gravestone, but one could tell that alot of love went into making this little memorial. |
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| The first burial in this cemetery was that of 13 year old Soledy J. Newman, whose father had donated land to the community after she died. There was no cemetery in that area back then. Community members had to travel a distance by horse-drawn wagon to bury their dead. |
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| While I realized that infant mortality was high, I still wondered what this young girl had died of. A few other infants in the Newman family are also interred here. |
| No town could be without a "drama" of sorts....such as the story of the shootout at the Pleasant Valley Church (which we believe was very close to the Pleasant Valley Store), on June 27, 1897. |
| Augustus "Gus" Garrison (named spelled as "Garison" on his monument), and Frank Jones grew up together in the same Pleasant Valley community, had grown up together, attending the same school and Sunday school since they were infants. Jones had seduced (or was charged with having seduced) Garrison's younger sister, resulting in the pregnancy and birth of a child. Garrison had told Jones that if he did not marry the girl, he would kill him. Jones ran off for awhile, but on June 26 had returned to the community. He attended church with his brothers and other family members. It was outside the church when Garrison approached Jones, shooting him three times. Jones' brother retaliated by shooting Garrison, killing him instantly. |
| Both young men were buried at this cemetery, not too far from one another. It makes one wonder if they had finally resolved their issues in the afterlife...or still carried a grudge! |
| "What hopes have perished with you, my son. How desolate our home, bereft of thee" ~inscription on Garrison's stone |
| "Gone from our home, but not from our hearts" ~inscription on Jones' stone |