Teen creating memorial so pioneers won’t be forgotten
HUTTO — Eagle Scout candidate Elijah Carlyle is hoping to bring a forgotten piece of local history back to life by creating a memorial at a cemetery for 130 pioneering Black families.
The 15-year-old has chosen Shiloh Cemetery (sometimes spelled Shilo), 1043 CR 139, as his Eagle Scout service project, a requirement for Boy Scouts to attain the Eagle Scout rank.
“This cemetery holds deep significance for the community, and I want to ensure that the stories and lives of those resting there are honored and remembered,” Carlyle said.
The Hutto native has been involved in scouting for four years and is a member of Pflugerville Troop 685. He is a ninth grader at Hutto early College High School.
“I believe scouting is an opportunity for people to grow and be put into positions of leadership that will push them to become better formed people,” the teen said. “And I believe that the Eagle Scout project is a perfect opportunity for you to give back to your community in a way that a lot of youth don’t get the chance to.”
The cemetery dates to the 1800s and is maintained by the group Black Families of Hutto. Until they stepped in during 2020, the site was hidden by overgrown brush and illegally dumped trash and building supplies.
Now volunteers clean and maintain the grounds to show respect to the early settlers, enslaved people and World War I and II veterans resting there.
Carlyle heard of the community effort to preserve the burial ground and share its history during a Juneteenth celebration, which inspired him to design a memorial.
Black Families of Hutto applied to the Texas Historical Commission to be part of its “under-told” historical marker program in 2023, which would have provided a marker. The commission did not choose Shiloh for the program, so Carlyle decided to create a marker himself.
Melody Southall said the organization is excited to work with the Scout.
“I think (this effort) will live for a long time in Hutto, and hopefully children coming behind him and families coming behind him will be able to see this monument and the legacy that he’s building,” Southall said.
Carlyle’s project involves installing a memorial headstone that tells the cemetery’s history, creating a stone platform engraved with the names of those recorded as buried there, and placing a memorial bench for visitors to reflect and pay their respects. A sonar reading will ensure the installation is not placed on top of graves, since many of the original headstones were lost over time.
The project is expected to finish in three months at a cost of $3,000.
Carlyle said his parents Keith and Keizhia Carlyle have shown great support for the project.
“These places don’t get remembered a whole lot. A lot of it isn’t put in history books,” Keith Carlyle said. “And I think it’s very important to be told, so we don’t ever repeat it in the future. We’re really proud of (Elijah) for this.”
A GoFundMe page is under “Honoring Black Hutto Shiloh Cemetery.”
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“I think (this effort) will live for a long time in Hutto.”
— Melody Southall
