The Murrayville cemetery was established by Cloverdale’s Independent Order of Odd Fellows in 1891 on land donated by the pioneer Murray family. The first person to be buried there was homesteader John Jackson, killed by a tree that he was falling on Christmas Day 1892.
Notice that the letter “N” in John’s name is engraved backwards; historian and author Warren Sommer suggests in his book, Frail Memorials: The Cemeteries of Langley, that an apprentice may have done this. He also points out that the “ominous text” at the bottom of the marble stone was common on markers in eastern Canada where John Jackson was born. The Odd Fellows sold the cemetery to the Township of Langley in 1904 and it remains a beautiful final resting place with mountain views to the north and surrounding forest.
The cemetery includes a cenotaph with a Celtic Cross (a duplicate to the one erected at the Fort Langley Cemetery) and in recent years Remembrance Day ceremonies have been revitalized by local community members, including Langley Heritage Society’s Rosemary Genberg and Grace Muller.
Inscription reads: Remember now as you pass by, As you are now so once was I, As I am now you soon shall be, So now prepare to follow me
