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The grounds of the Elm Branch Cemetery are open to visitors. 

Daily during daylight hours

The Cemetery is located on FM 984 just west of the intersection of Krajca Rd. and N. Anthony Rd., south of Bardwell, Texas.  

Our next annual meeting will be held on the third Saturday in April 2025 (19th)

Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/elmbranchcemetery 

Elm Branch Cemetery

(also known as Matlock Cemetery, Bethany Cemetery, and Bardwell Cemetery)

By 1874, a few miles south of present day Bardwell and near the cemetery, a small community called Bethany was beginning to form.  A school was established and six people met there to form the Bethany Baptist Church, one of them a sister Matlock, most likely a relative of John Milton Matlock.  Most of the Matlocks were only in the area for about 20 years before moving on to San Saba County, but Mrs. Georgia Turner Caudle remembered the Matlock family burying two children before her father William Turner was buried in what was first called Matlock Cemetery, then Bethany Cemetery, later Bardwell Cemetery, and now Elm Branch Cemetery.  Mr. Turner died at age 60 on 24 August 1877, making his the oldest known marked grave in the cemetery.  Mrs. Caudle recalled in later life that she distinctly remembered her father being the third person buried in the cemetery…but the first with a tombstone.  The Methodist Episcopal Church South organized in 1886 and built a church in Bethany near the cemetery.  In addition, members of the Bethany Baptist Church, meeting in the Bethany school house, had organized the Harmony Baptist Church in 1893 and built their church building in Old Bardwell.  Deacon John Overall, a member of Bethany Baptist Church, became an active member in the Ellis County Baptist Association, and his tombstone at Elm Branch Cemetery bears his title.

Lots  are available for purchase

Pricing is as follows:

Single Lot: $1500

Double Lot: $3000

Please use the CONTACT FORM to inquire on availability and to purchase lots; or if you need immediate assistance contact the local funeral home handling arrangements.

Primary Contact:

Gary R. Farmer at 

972-351-1067

CONTRIBUTIONS MAY BE MAILED TO:

Elm Branch Cemetery Association

P. O. Box 258

Bardwell, Texas 75101

(Please be sure to include name(s) of ancestor in cemetery when sending a contribution)

All persons are reminded that the grounds are sacredly devoted to the internment of the dead, and that the provisions  and penalties of the law will be strictly enforced in all cases of any actions unbecoming to such a place.