DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Antioch Cemetery in Houston County. Now, every graveyard has a story — and sometimes that story starts with a name that no longer exists. This one began as Neville's Prairie Cemetery, out on what folks called Neville's Prairie.
But in 1890, when a post office was established and the village took on a new name — Antioch — the cemetery followed suit. Just like that, Neville's Prairie Cemetery became Antioch Cemetery. The community itself, though, didn't fare quite as well.
By the 1930s, it had disappeared altogether. The post office came, the name changed, and then — quiet. That's how it goes sometimes out here in Texas.
A place blooms, takes root, and then the years just swallow it back up. But the cemetery remained. The earliest documented burial there is that of David Houston, born in 1801, laid to rest in 1870.
And David Houston was far from alone. There are more than a thousand graves in that graveyard — more than a thousand. Among them, the burials of slaves and pioneer settlers, resting side by side in Houston County soil.
The Antioch Cemetery Association has kept the place maintained, kept it from being swallowed up the way the village was. And that graveyard still stands today as a reminder of Houston County's early history — a name that changed, a community that vanished, and more than a thousand souls who never left.
What the marker says
Originally called Neville's Prairie Cemetery, this graveyard was renamed Antioch Cemetery in 1890 when the Village of Neville's Prairie became known as Antioch after a post office was established. The community had disappeared by the 1930s. The earliest documented burial in the cemetery is that of David Houston (1801-1870). Included among the more than 1,000 graves are internments of slaves and pioneer settlers. Maintained by the Antioch Cemetery Association, this graveyard stands as a reminder of Houston County's early history. (1988)