Laws Chapel Cemetery

Laws Chapel Cemetery Located on FM 2328 (next to the Laws Chapel Methodist Church in Atlanta Texas) is a beautiful site

All her stone says is Mrs. J.W. Winkle and her death date. There was a picture, but it has been knocked loose and then i...
09/02/2026

All her stone says is Mrs. J.W. Winkle and her death date. There was a picture, but it has been knocked loose and then it disappeared. Her stone does not tell her story. Her first name is Marjell. She was born May 29, 1946, to Shelby and Rada Belle O’Rear Perser. She was married to Jerry W. Winkle, lived in Shreveport and attended Southside Baptist Church. She had a son and a daughter. Marjell also had three brothers and a sister. All this is in a newspaper clipping on her Find-A-Grave page. She is buried on the back row of the cemetery by her sister and parents.

Col. Morris Dugger’s military career covered three wars. He served during World War II, The Korean Conflict and Vietnam ...
08/18/2026

Col. Morris Dugger’s military career covered three wars. He served during World War II, The Korean Conflict and Vietnam and was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star for his service. He retired from the US Army having served 24 years. After retiring from the service, he was a mail carrier for a number of years in the Atlanta area. He volunteered for the American Cancer Society, was a member of the Laws Chapel United Methodist Church and was a Past Commander and member of the J.E. Manning Lodge Post #258 in Atlanta, TX. He married Eula Frazier in 1947 and they had two children; a daughter and a son. That marriage lasted 61 years.

Emig is an unusual name for East Texas. Russell L. Emig was born in Illinois but his father was from Pennsylvania. Proba...
07/30/2026

Emig is an unusual name for East Texas. Russell L. Emig was born in Illinois but his father was from Pennsylvania. Probably German descent. Russell came to Texas with family at one year old. He stayed after his family moved to Kansas. After serving in the Army,(his draft registration card said he was 6’1”, 185 lbs dark skin and black hair with no sight in one eye) he married Maggie Aldora Waters in 1922. On the 1930 census, his name appeared as Robert Emig. Maggie was supposedly the informant. Maybe someone else gave that info as well as birthplace of Iowa. This could be where he got the nickname Bob. It may have been a family joke. For awhile, they lived in Turnertown, where he worked as a roustabout in the booming oilfield. By 1950, he owned a service station in Rusk, Tx. Maggie died in 1966 and she was buried in the Waters family plot. Russell moved to Tarrant County and married Reba in 1967. Reba had 3 children and they are mentioned in Russel’s obit. Russell and Reba divorced in 1978 after 11 years of marriage. Russell died in Tarrant Co. in 1993 and was buried beside Maggie Aldora in our cemetery.

If you needed a wrecker in this area, everyone knew that Marlin Thomas was the person to call. He was the owner of Thoma...
07/13/2026

If you needed a wrecker in this area, everyone knew that Marlin Thomas was the person to call. He was the owner of Thomas Wrecker Service and operated out of the old O.D. Wood wrecking yard. Although his stone says James Marlin, there are probably not many of us who called him James. Marlin passed away in 2022 at age 90 with his wife Dot preceding him in 1998. He was an Air Force veteran who served during the Korean war. Many members of his family are interred close by. These photos are courtesy of his son, Mark Thomas. Mark quotes his dad as saying that he will be forgotten in 5 days after his death." Mark replied, "You've treated folks fairly all your life & you're already a local legend. No one is going to forget you." Marlin Thomas will be remembered by many for a long time.

Valdo and Marion Elliott Cobb had a rural grocery store and gas station on Douglassville Hwy (TX 77) in the 50’s & 60’s....
07/03/2026

Valdo and Marion Elliott Cobb had a rural grocery store and gas station on Douglassville Hwy (TX 77) in the 50’s & 60’s. I’m not sure of the exact dates. It was at the corner of FM2328 and 77. The Piney Grove Church used to be across the road until they built farther down the highway. Mr. Cobb walked with a limp. His WWII draft registration said that he had a leg amputated. He worked for Safeway stores in Atlanta in 1939. The store was on the corner of William and Hiram (think Jana’s Mercantile) On June 15, 1939, the store was demolished by an explosion presumably caused by a gas leak. Among the many injured employees was Valdo Cobb listed as having a broken leg. For complete story of the explosion, see The Citizens Journal dated 6-15-1939 on The Portal to Texas History. Valdo passed in 1982 and Marion in 2009 although there is no date on her stone. They share a space in Law’s Chapel Cemetery with Valdo’s parents and sister.

Jesse Loper and Bob Bonner were good friends at Law’s Chapel Methodist Church. Bob was from Linden and Jesse lived in Oa...
06/30/2026

Jesse Loper and Bob Bonner were good friends at Law’s Chapel Methodist Church. Bob was from Linden and Jesse lived in Oak Grove Community in Atlanta. After their wives passed away, Bob would drive over and pick up Jesse and they would go to Atlanta for coffee or lunch. The Oak Grove Road (FM2328) intersects Hwy 43 at Nichols’ Pond. For whatever reason, Bob did not see a log truck coming toward him and he pulled onto Hwy 43 into its path. Both friends passed away on June 15, 1998.

Cover photo shows Chris Caver's crews clearing land beside the cemetery. The large trees were becoming so big that they ...
06/10/2026

Cover photo shows Chris Caver's crews clearing land beside the cemetery. The large trees were becoming so big that they would have caused a lot of damage if one had fallen. Also clearing at the back to make more sites for burials.

Three older grave markers stand on row 30 plot 24,25, & 26. These are William Hughey(broken, top half is missing) who di...
05/27/2026

Three older grave markers stand on row 30 plot 24,25, & 26. These are William Hughey(broken, top half is missing) who died in 1921, his daughter Arvel Pauline age 5, died in 1922, and his son, Lake Charles age 16, in 1927. Lake’s death certificate said he died of inflammatory rheumatism. These three also have newer markers placed at a later date in a row with the rest of the family. W.H. shares a larger double marker with his 2nd wife, Carra. The others are flat rectangle markers. There were 6 children in this second family and all but one daughter are buried here. The 1920 Cass Co. Census showed they lived in the area close to Law's Chapel.

05/22/2026

The rain held off and the flags were put out at the cemetery. Thanks to Cara Helfrick, Michelle Harris, Mark Stewart and Ethan Stewart for helping. We do this to honor our veterans.

Memorial Day is next Monday, May 25th. We will be placing flags on 175 veteran gravesites on Friday morning at 9:30, wea...
05/21/2026

Memorial Day is next Monday, May 25th. We will be placing flags on 175 veteran gravesites on Friday morning at 9:30, weather permitting. Any and all help is appreciated.

Address

P. O. Box 102
Atlanta, TX
75551

Telephone

9038247875

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