Smith Cemetery Association sets annual meeting after Purmela Homecoming

Smith Cemetery Association will gather Saturday, May 23, after the Purmela Homecoming at Purmela Baptist Church, a date that puts the cemetery’s yearly business right beside one of Coryell County’s oldest rural traditions. The homecoming will run from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at 875 FM 932 in Purmela, with a potluck meal starting at noon, before the cemetery association turns to care and maintenance for the burial ground.

The meeting matters because Smith Cemetery does not stay tended on its own. The association meets annually to oversee upkeep, and a yearly fundraising newsletter has already been mailed to supporters. A fencing project is also under way to replace part of the front fence with big blocks of rock, a practical repair that shows how much of the cemetery’s preservation depends on local labor and donations rather than any outside agency.

Purmela itself is built around that kind of steady, volunteer-minded stewardship. The community sits near the intersection of FM 932 and FM 1241, about 13 miles northwest of Gatesville, and traces its beginnings to 1879, when Martin Dremien opened a post office and became the first postmaster. The Purmela school district later formed in 1901 from the consolidation of the Basham, Sycamore and Evergreen schools, another reminder that the area has long relied on shared institutions to hold rural life together.

The church and cemetery are tied together in that same history. The Texas Historical Commission marker for Purmela Baptist Church says the congregation began in 1886, when the Rev. W. M. Blakely and ten charter members organized Basham Baptist Church in the old Basham School Building at Smith Cemetery. After Basham Baptist Church merged with Salem Baptist Church in 1901, the combined congregation built at Cravey Crossing on Cowhouse Creek. Volunteers dismantled that building in 1927, rebuilt it at the present site and completed the name change to Purmela Baptist Church in 1928. The marker says the church still serves a large rural area and keeps many historic traditions alive.

For descendants, former residents and anyone with family buried in the cemetery, the annual meeting is more than a calendar item. Online cemetery directories list Smith Cemetery in Purmela with 379 burial records, which makes maintenance, fencing and record-keeping a matter of preserving family history that could otherwise fade. Donations for maintenance can be sent through the Gatesville mailing address listed by the association, and questions can be directed to Glenda Manning Reid at 254-247-6558 or the message line at 254-865-2884.