Antioch Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along to you straight. Way out in San Augustine County, there's a piece of ground that's been holding the memory of a community for a long, long time. We're talking about Antioch Cemetery, and the story starts earlier than you might expect.

The Antioch Church of Christ that this burial ground serves, that congregation got its start back in 1836. Let that settle in for a moment. Eighteen thirty-six.

Same year Texas declared independence. These people were putting down roots and building a church at the very beginning of things. The cemetery itself began doing its solemn work as early as the 1860s, receiving the members of that congregation as they passed.

Then in 1880, a man named Stephen Passmore deeded the property over to Elders Thomas M. Baggett and N. W.

Ware, making it official, giving the ground the kind of legal standing that says: this place matters, and it will continue to matter. Now, the earliest marked graves tell you something about who was here. S.

H. Dwire, born 1878, died 1883, a child, just a child, and that fact lands heavy no matter how many years have passed. John G.

Baggett, 1820 to 1886. Catherine Ware, 1810 to 1886. Calvin Bland, 1820 to 1891.

Pioneer names. Enduring names. And scattered among those graves, several Confederate veterans of the Civil War rest alongside many of the pioneer settlers who shaped this corner of Texas.

What strikes you, if you let it, is that the cemetery is still in use today, still serving the Antioch church, still receiving the faithful. Some places just keep their promise.

What the marker says

First used as early as the 1860s, this burial ground served the congregation of the Antioch Church of Christ, which was started in 1836. The property was deeded to Elders Thomas M. Baggett and N. W. Ware in 1880 by Stephen Passmore. The earliest marked graves here are for S. H. Dwire (1878-1883), John G. Baggett (1820-1886), Catherine Ware (1810-1886), and Calvin Bland (1820-1891). Other graves include those of several Confederate veterans of the Civil War and many pioneer settlers of the area. The cemetery is still used in association with the Antioch church.