A History of Concord Community, Church and Cemetery

2000 The Holly Tree-State Champion

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1871 - Concord Baptist Church organized
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Early History
1971= 100 Golden Years
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1997 Historical Facts & Markers
1997 The descendants gathered
1997 Lunch time
1997 Dedication of Historical Marker
Our Book "A HISTORY OF CONCORD COMMUNITY, CHURCH AND CEMETERY"
1998 -Gospel Singing
1999 - Gospel Singing & Sharing of Memories
2000 The Holly Tree-State Champion
2001- When the families came
2002- The Lightfoot Family
The Cemetery
Cemetery Listings -updated Oct. 2005
2003- Concord Baptist Church
2004- The Kelley Family
2005- The Ward Family
2006- The Clyde Warren "Jack" Fitzgerald Family
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Saturday Oct. 7, 2000 was a special day in the history of the cemetery.  "The Holly Tree" was offically awarded a certificate showing that this is the largest holly tree in Texas, being planted about 1874. (that was a cold night for outside activities)
 
The ladies of the church served refreshments
 
Elda Parrish on  behalf of the Cemetery Board presented the certificate to Anita Kelley on behalf of the Church.
 
On Sunday Kevin Willmott brought the morning message.
 
Basket lunches were spread just as ancestors have done for years, no longer outside on benches turned together to make tables but in the fellowship hall.

Terry Nied and Elda Parrish
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Terry Nied presents Champion Tree Certificate

Elda Parrish "This certification became possible
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because of dedication of husband Marcellus to get the tree measured."

Anita Kelley & Elda Parrish
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The certificate was presented to the church for safe keeping.

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Palestine Herald Press, Monday, October 9, 2000

"This championship tree was chosen as an enduring memorial to an unknown man planted by a loving fiancee, and the tree still endures," Nied said.  "The old holly tree, through some bizarre twists and turns, has united my wife with relatives that she did not even know existed.  The chances of this hapening are so phenomenal.  I was just going about my business."  Terrance B. Nied
District Forester, Texas Forest Service

The Story of the Holly Tree
 
"Oral tradition, heard many times but repeated to Melba Schochler in 1986 by Hensley Gaines and used in her presentation "Concord Homecoming - 1986" provides the following interesting story about the holly tree planted in the middle of the cemetery.  "Some people came through the area on their way further west.  Among these were a young couple who planned to be married.  While camped here, the young girl became ill and died.  The heartbroken young man buried his sweetheart in her wedding dress and, for a tombstone, planted a holly tree at her head."
 
Marcellus Parrish, in 1997, requested the Texas Forestry Service to verify if the holly tree might qualify as Texas largest holly tree.  They measured the tree and although it did not qualify as Texas largest, it does measure 60' tall with a crown spread of 57' and a stem of 110" in circumference.  ------Vera Ward Green remembers, when as a student at school on the hill, they would go down to the cemetery to gather holly to decorate the school at Christmas time." Taken from the book "Blest Be The Tie That Binds" A History of Concord Community, Church and Cemetery p. 13-14 
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"Marcellus Parrish of the Concord Cemetery Association first had the tree measured by the TFS in 1997
 
"It wasn't the largest at the time,"he said, noting that a tree down south was the champion.  "We went to see it later on and lightening had struck it and it was no longer there.
 
In 1998 Parrish contacted the Texas Forest Service and it was never checked on.  Finally, he contacted TFS District Forester Terrance B. Nied in August of this year asking him to come measure the tree again.
 
"As I began taking measurements, I noticed that a large number of tombstones were inscribed with the Funderburk name," Nied said, noting that he even set a piece of his equipment down on one of these tombstones.
 
His wife, Dolores "Lorie" Ramsey Nied has ancestors that were named Funderburk.  Her mother was Mildred Funderburk Ramsey.
 
After measuring the tree, Nied visited with Parrish's wife, Elda Parrish, granddaughter of William Fitzgerald, donor of the Concord Church and Cemetery site. This is an error by the newspaper.
 
I mentioned that my mother-in-law was a Funderburk.  Mrs. Parrish became excited, and she gave me a history book of the Concord Community.  She mentioned that most of the Funderburks came from the Carolinas through Union Parish, La." he said. "This matched the history of Lorie's ancestors."
 
Nied remembered that in 1981 when he and his wife moved to Arkansas from the Rusk area, that his mother-in-law gave the couple a family history book and found that many of the Funderburks were buried in Ward's Chapel Cemetery near Farmerville, La.
 
We have not looked at this history book since that time.  I faintly remembered a reference to the Concord Cemetery in the old history book.  Could this be the same cemetery?'Nied recalled.
 
That night, Nied went home and he and his wife searched the house for her family history book.  As they began to read the family history, they discovered that the Funderburk family was indeed a very large part of the Concord Community.  The Concord Church ordained two pastors and one deacon in his wife's family.
 
Imagine my surprise and amazement when I came to page 36 were the oral tradition in 'A History of Concord Community, Church & Cemetery'  provided to me by Mrs. Parrish, generally verified by documentation in Lorie's family history book," Nied said.
 
The family history book tells of Fannie Funderburk being engaged to marry a young man who died the winter before she did.  She put out a holly tree at his feet, which was still growing about eight feet in circumference at the ground in the cemetery according to the book on July 4, 1949 In 'A History of Concord Community, Church & Cemetery'  the legend is reversed with the lady dying and being buried in her wedding dress.
 
If the documentation in Lorie's family history books is correct, the holly tree was planted in 1874, the year before Fannie Funderburk died.  The eight feet in circumference at the ground line that was referenced in Lorie's book certainly is plausible with the 111.7 inch circumference at breast height on Aug. 11, 2000," Nied said.
 
Mrs. Parrish, who with her sisters Melba Schochler and Estelle Mahan, great-granddaughters of William A. Fitzgerald, researched the history of the Concord Community, Church and Cemetery  to form the historical information while in the process of getting a Texas Historical Marker which was dedicated on Oct. 11, 1997.
 
In 'A History of Concord Community, Church & Cemetery'  the three women discuss how they included documented history of the community, church and cemetery as well as some oral history, which included the story of the holly tree, which was taken from a Concord homecoming presentation in 1986.
 
"It couldn't be documented; but we thought it to be interesting additions to our narration," Mrs. Parrish said.
 
She now believes, as does Nied, that the oral history had changed through the years and the historical information provided in the Funderburk family history book contains the correct version of the holly tree story.
 
"This championship tree was chosen as an enduring memorial to an unknown man planted by a loving fiancee, and the tree still endures," Nied said.  "The old holly tree, through some bizarre twists and turns, has united my wife with relatives that she did not even know existed.  The chances of this happening are so phenomenal.  I was just going about my business."
 
His wife, of course, was very surprised with the new information.
 
"I was very surprised, and I'm sure my family will be too," she said.  "I think my mother would have been happy that I went back and found some roots."
 
"It's so amazing that we moved back to this area from Arkansas, and here my ancestors are in this cemetery," she continued.
 
Mrs. Parrish calls the connection between the measuring the champion holly tree and the community's history divine providence.
 
"If this had been checked on in 1998, we might have never come upon documentation of what may be the true story of the holly tree," she said."
Taken from an article in the Palestine Herald-Press, Sunday, October 1, 2000

Marcellus & Elda Parrish
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The holly tree

Terrance B. Nied - District Forester - TFS
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Terry takes his measurements.

The Holly Tree
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This picture was taken on a 'work day' as we were cleaning the cemetery.

The holly tree and markers.
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State Champion 2000

Lorie Nied looks at marker for Fannie Funderbuk
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Fannie's marker is planted near the holly tree that she planted in 1874 in memory of her fiance.

This information was received:
 
March 19, 2003
 
"I am writing to inform you that the American Holly tree on your property, that has reigned as a state champion since 2000, has been dethroned.  A larger specimen in Houston County has recently been discovered and is the new state champion for this species." Letter from Peter D. Smith, Coordinator, Texas Big Tree Registry.