Cottonwood Cemetery

Duane's take

The official marker for Cottonwood Cemetery in Henderson County tells it this way, and here's how I'd pass it along to you. Permanent settlement of what would become the Cottonwood community started rolling in during the 1840s and 1850s. Pioneer families, families with names like the Stirmans, Greens, Cokers, Fraziers, Benges, Grahams, Hendleys, and Wheelers, carved out a community together.

A church, a school, stores, a cotton gin. And then in 1894, they got a post office, and that post office carried the name Mance. It held that name until 1905, when the post office closed and the community went back to calling itself what it had always been at heart: Cottonwood.

Now, somewhere in all of that community building, a piece of ground started doing a different kind of work. The first known burial on this property happened in 1871. The landowner at the time was a man named Shadrach Green, and he buried his son-in-law, Joseph A.

P. Smith, right here on his land. That is how this story begins.

Ten years later, Green sold the land to another son-in-law, William Hugh Graham. Graham was no small figure. He served as a state representative in the 25th and 26th Texas legislatures.

He used most of the property for his homeplace and his farm, but he kept offering the ground near Smith's grave as a burial place for the people around him. During that stretch, folks called it the Graham Cemetery, which seems only fitting. Then Graham died in 1919.

And here is where the story quietly turns. His widow, Lydia Candace, born a Green herself, and their children made a decision. They donated three acres of Graham's land to the people of the Cottonwood community and to Henderson County, to be kept as a burial ground.

Three acres, given over to the keeping of memory. The Cottonwood Cemetery is, as the marker puts it, a reflection of the heritage of this part of Henderson County. Veterans buried here served in conflicts stretching from the Civil War all the way to Vietnam.

Early settlers and landowners rest here too, members of the Benge, Brewer, Frazier, Foster, Garrett, Morton, Roberson, Hendley, and Allison families among them. And the living have not forgotten the ones in the ground. Descendants have gathered annually since the 1930s, every year, for a reunion and a cemetery cleaning.

In 1998 they formalized that devotion and formed the Cottonwood Cemetery Association. The Texas Historical Commission has designated this graveyard a Historic Texas Cemetery. Some places hold a community's past.

This one holds the whole thing, going all the way down.

What the marker says

Permanent settlement of the area that became the Cottonwood community began in the 1840s and 1850s. Pioneer families, including the Stirmans, Greens, Cokers, Fraziers, Benges, Grahams, Hendleys and Wheelers, established a community church, school, stores, cotton gin and--in 1894--a post office known as Mance. After the post office closed in 1905,the community again was called Cottonwood. The first known use of this property as a burial ground occurred in 1871, when landowner Shadrach Green buried his son-in-law, Joseph A. P. Smith, here. Ten years later, Green sold his land to another son-in-law, William Hugh Graham. A state representative in the 25th and 26th Texas legislatures, Graham used most of the property for his homeplace and farm, but he continued to offer the area near Smith's grave as a burial place for the community, and it was referred to during this period of time as the Graham Cemetery. After Graham's death in 1919, his widow, Lydia Candace (Green), and their children donated three acres of his land to the people of the Cottonwood community and Henderson County for use as a burial ground. The Cottonwood cemetery is a reflection of the heritage of this part of Henderson County. Veterans of armed conflicts from the Civil War to Vietnam are buried here, as are early settlers and landowners, including members of the Benge, Brewer, Frazier, Foster, Garrett, Morton, Roberson, Hendley and Allison families. Descendants of those interred have gathered annually since the 1930s for a reunion and cemetery cleaning, and in 1998 they formed the Cottonwood Cemetery Association. The Texas Historical Commission has designated the graveyard a Historic Texas Cemetery. (2001)