Cannon Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it to you straight out of Grayson County. Way back in 1852, a man named Elijah Cannon made up his mind that Texas was where his family belonged. So he gathered his eleven sons, and the slaves who traveled with them, and they pulled up from South Carolina and headed west until they found their ground somewhere nearby where this marker stands today.

That's a whole lot of people moving a whole lot of miles, and they planted themselves here and stayed. Now, families that put down roots that deep, they eventually need a place to put their dead. The Cannons had their own graveyard, kept it close, as families did.

Then came 1874, and a man named O. M. Cannon deeded that family ground into something bigger, something for the whole community to use.

A burial place for anyone who needed one. The oldest grave that's been documented belongs to a ten-year-old girl named Nancy J. Bowen.

The year was 1857. You sit with that a moment. Ten years old, and the oldest known name in the ground.

The cemetery also holds an adjacent section established for former slaves. The earliest known burials there are those of Billy and Glory Boyd, laid to rest in August of 1880. More than seven hundred graves now fill this place.

Pioneer settlers. Veterans of several wars. Members of fraternal organizations.

Seven hundred souls, and the land keeps receiving them, because this cemetery continues to serve the area to this day. Elijah Cannon brought eleven sons and a whole future to Texas in 1852. Turns out, part of that future was a piece of ground that would outlast every one of them.

What the marker says

Elijah Cannon, his eleven sons, and slaves moved from South Carolina to Texas in 1852 and settled nearby. In 1874 the family graveyard was included in land deeded by O. M. Cannon as a community burial place. The oldest documented grave is that of ten-year-old Nancy J. Bowen in 1857. An adjacent section was established for former slaves, and the earliest known burials are those of Billy and Glory Boyd in August 1880. Among the more than 700 graves are those of pioneer settlers, veterans of several wars, and members of fraternal organizations. The cemetery continues to serve the area.