Zion Cemetery is the final resting place of early pioneers of Grimes County and their descendants whose memory is preserved here. Methodist Episcopal Church, South, now known as Zion United Methodist Church, formed in 1852 when settlers purchased three acres of land from L.E. Jones. Initially on this property, a log cabin church also served as a school, known as McCary School. When death entered the settlement, graves were placed among the trees, thus beginning the Zion Cemetery. Although the church later moved to Iola, the cemetery remained in the community and continued to grow. In August 1867, Priscilla McMahan donated 3.46 acres adjoining the original approximate 3-acre tract. Many burials at Zion Cemetery represent early pioneers and settlers of the area, including the gravesite of Katy Holland McDowell Treadwell Cobb (1815-1886), a member of Austin's Old Three-Hundred. The earliest grave in the cemetery is that of John William Diserens (1839-1857), who died on July 12, 1857. John William, the son of early pioneer, John David Diserens (1796-1867), is also buried here. The cemetery is also the final resting place of veterans of the Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korean War and Vietnam War. Also represented are those lost to the yellow fever epidemic in 1867, as well as numerous infant burials. The Iola Cemetery Association, founded before World War II, manages the historic cemetery with ownership remaining with the Zion United Methodist Church in Iola. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2017 Source: https://atlas.thc.texas.gov/Details/5507020130