The Pleasant Valley Cemetery is located on Merritt Road in northeast Dallas County, one-quarter mile north of Pleasant Valley Road. A concrete driveway divides the new part from the old part. The old portion consist of all property on the left-hand side (north) of the concrete drive and the new portion consist of all property on the right-hand side.
Merritt Road, which is now situated in front of the cemetery, was originally located at the back of the cemetery. This road served as the dividing line between Mercers Colony and the District of Nacogdoches during the Republic of Texas era.
This pioneer cemetery is positioned on approximately three acres of land which is part of the original W. D. Penny (sometimes spelled Perry) 320 acre survey.
Soledy J. Newman, the daughter of Harmon and Emeline McDaniel Newman, was the first person buried at Pleasant Valley Cemetery. She was born in a log cabin at Pleasant Valley on August 26, 1864, and died January 26. 1874. Her grave is located at the back of the cemetery near the concrete drive.
There is no known deed for the old section of this cemetery. However, the obituary for David M. Compton, which was printed in the Garland News in 1950, reads as follows: "Burial was in the Pleasant Valley Cemetery on the land which was donated for the cemetery by his father-in-law, the late Harmon Newman."
The newer portion, containing 1.4 acres, is located on the south side of the driveway and was purchased by the Pleasant Valley Cemetery Association for $233 from Dr. George W. Newman on November 6, 1919. Edith Beaver signed for the organization.
A total of three different groups have organized to provide the cemetery's care and upkeep. The first group, known a the Ladies Cemetery Association of Pleasant Valley, was officially organized September 7, 1916. Bula Finley served as Secretary with Belle Moorman serving as president.
Members of this same group reorganized and received Official Charter from the state of Texas on October 10, 1919 as the Pleasant Valley Cemetery Association.
The third group was formed in 1975 with Judge Dee Brown Walker advising the organization. This organization was officially chartered as the Pleasant Valley Cemetery Foundation. Ray Boyd was elected president with Hubert Raney elected vice-president and Nora Poovey Sperling elected as secretary-treasurer.
Current officers of the Pleasant Valley Cemetery Foundation are Jim Foster, president; Delbert Todd, vice-president, and Wanda Pelton Smith serving as secretary-treasurer.
The cemetery currently contains about 535 marked graves. Many of these graves contain the remains of the first pioneers and early settlers of the Pleasant Valley era. The total number of unmarked graves in this cemetery is not known.
Soldiers from the Civil War, and every major war since the Civil War, are also buried in this cemetery. Other burials include numerous descendants of members from the 1854 wagon train which traveled from Monroe County Kentucky to the Pleasant Valley area.
There were three burials at the Pleasant Valley Cemetery on the same day in early January of 1919. All three victims died as a result of the dreaded 1918 Spanish Flu Epidemic.
A bronze memorial marker honoring all Pleasant Valley area pioneers, early settlers and our loved ones who are laid to rest there was dedicated in 1997. This memorial marker was planned, paid for, and erected members of the cemetery foundation.
This memorial marker also honors Winnie Compton Pelton Mooney for dedicating her life to the care and upkeep of the Pleasant Valley Cemetery.