Davis Cemetery

Duane's take

The official marker for Davis Cemetery in Henderson County tells it this way, and I'll pass it along to you straight. Out in the rural reaches of Henderson County, there is a piece of ground that has been holding the memories of this community since the mid-1800s. It is called Davis Cemetery, named for the pioneering Davis family, and if you want to understand this corner of East Texas, you could do a lot worse than to walk its rows and read what the stones have to say.

The cemetery was established in the early 1870s, on property that J.J. Deupree would deed in 1883. And the place it sits near, the Baxter community, was officially established by 1901, when it became a station on the Texas and New Orleans Railroad.

Shortly after that founding, Baxter had a post office, stores, churches, cotton gins, and a school. A full life was being lived out here. Now the Davis family themselves, they came to Texas early.

John L. Davis, who died in 1873, arrived with his wife Dorcas, born a Holland, who died in 1874, and their family by 1850. They put down roots in Henderson County before the Civil War.

One of their sons, Archibald Mallard Davis, rose to become Henderson County sheriff. The family's name is on the gate, and the family earned it. But here is a detail worth slowing down for.

The earliest marked grave in that cemetery belongs to Henderson County chief justice Samuel Tyne Owen, who died in 1856. And here is the thing about Samuel Tyne Owen. He was not originally buried here.

He was reinterred, moved from another graveyard to this one. The earliest interment, though, the first soul actually laid to rest in Davis Cemetery itself, is a small one. An infant named Ezra Davis, who died in 1872.

Among the others buried here: Willie E. Johnson, school trustee and community leader, who died in 1960. Constable Morton G.

Jepson, who died in 1941. And veterans, community leaders, ordinary people who built something out of this land. The cemetery's features speak to its age and its variety.

Vertical stones, curbing, unmarked graves, and markers from the Woodmen of the World, that fraternal order whose monuments you spot in old cemeteries across Texas like a familiar face in a crowd. The ground itself kept growing. Additional property was added in 1952, then again in 1989, and once more in 1994.

And in 1991, the Davis Cemetery Association incorporated, taking on the formal work of caring for the burial ground and establishing a trust fund to keep it going. Today, Davis Cemetery endures. That is the word the marker uses, endures, and it is the right one.

It is a record, a living record, of the pioneering families who settled and lived in this portion of Henderson County. From an infant in 1872 to a chief justice moved here from somewhere else, from a sheriff's family to a railroad town's worth of neighbors, all of them gathered in this one rural piece of ground, still being tended, still being remembered.

What the marker says

This burial ground, named for the pioneering Davis family, has served this rural section of Henderson County since the mid-1800s. It was established in the early 1870s on property deeded by J.J. Deupree in 1883. The Baxter community, officially established by 1901 when it became a station for the Texas and New Orleans Railroad, is particularly represented here. Shortly after its founding, the community had a post office, stores, churches, cotton gins and a school. John L. Davis (d. 1873) came to Texas with his wife, Dorcas (Holland) (d. 1874), and their family by 1850. They settled in Henderson County before the Civil War. One of their sons, Archibald Mallard Davis, served as Henderson County sheriff. Others buried here include school trustee and community leader Willie E. Johnson (d. 1960); constable Morton G. Jepson (d. 1941); and Henderson County chief justice Samuel Tyne Owen (d. 1856), who has the earliest marked grave in the cemetery. Owen was reinterred here from another graveyard. The earliest interment in Davis Cemetery is of an infant, Ezra Davis (d. 1872). Also buried here are community leaders and veterans of conflicts dating to the Civil War. Additional property was added to the burial ground in 1952, 1989 and 1994. Cemetery features include vertical stones, curbing, unmarked graves and Woodmen of the World markers. In 1991, the Davis Cemetery Association incorporated to care for the burial ground and establish a trust fund. Today, Davis Cemetery endures as a record of the pioneering families that settled and lived in this portion of Henderson County. Historic Texas Cemetery – 2006