The historic Merriman Cemetery in the hard-to-see-now Eastland County, Texas community of Merriman has been vandalized - gravestones turned over, some chipped, some broken beyond repair.
Famous and infamous names from the Ranger oil boom, from the wild country down there before McCleskey and Gordon and others from out of town turned things upside down lie in repose down there.
The Merriman is a well-kept, much-loved cemetery.
It has been attacked.
Harmed.
Violated.
I didn't count the stones that were damaged or turned over. Monuments to people's parents, grandparents, great-grandparents. Folks who worked hard.
Folks who deserve better.
Estimates for even rudimentary repair reach $10,000.
Merriman, the community, was the first county seat of Eastland County. It was a crossroads, a way station on the road from Blair's Fort to Fort Griffin. It had the then world-famous church congregation that turned aside $100,000 during the boom to allow an oil company to drill in the cemetery.
Thunderous nonsense, back then. An affront to the dignity of their dearly departed.
An affront.
Lightning has struck twice.
Or 40 times. It would've taken lots of time, lots of physical strength to push those headstones to the ground.
In the dark.
When no one was looking.
Save these folks, looking down from heaven.
If you'd like to help, please mail a check to the Eastland County Museum, P.O. Box 1546, Eastland, TX 76448. Please notate on your check "For the Merriman Cemetery". Funds collected will be paid directly to a monument company to restore what can be restored.
A dark ripple has upset the tranquility of the place.
Many Eastland County families have ties to the place. As does America, for whom these folks helped tame a wilderness, then win a World War.
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