Ener Cemetery

Duane's take

The official marker for Ener Cemetery in Sabine County tells it like this, and I'm going to pass it along to you straight. Out here in southeastern Sabine County, the land along Housen Bayou has been holdin' secrets since before Texas was Texas. Early settlers were already pushing into this area by the 1830s, clearing ground and putting down roots in that fertile soil north of where this cemetery sits.

And among those who followed was a man whose name this burial ground carries to this day. James Trehane Ener — also recorded as Ennor — was born in 1810 in Cornwall County, England. Now Cornwall is about as far from the Texas Piney Woods as a man can get, but the old country wasn't offering much by way of a future, and James Ener wasn't the kind to sit still and suffer for it.

He and his brother William pulled up stakes and immigrated to the United States in 1835, and it wasn't long before Texas came callin'. James arrived here by the 1840s. In 1847, he married Mary Ann Gomer — daughter of James Frederick and Anna Bateman Gomer, who were themselves early pioneers of the area.

James and Mary Ann would go on to have twelve children. Twelve. That's not a family, that's practically a settlement.

James Ener built something real out here. A large farm in southeastern Sabine County. He rented land to sharecroppers.

He worked as a blacksmith. And somewhere in there, he also served under Captain O.M. Wheeler in Company K, 2nd Regiment, Texas Mounted Volunteers during the U.S.-Mexico War — that's 1846 to 1848.

The man was busy. But here's where the story takes a hard turn, and there's no soft way to say it. In 1859, James Ener was murdered near the Sabine County Courthouse.

A man who had crossed an ocean, survived a war, built a farm, raised a family — gone, just like that, and violently. Whatever shaped the life of this county, whatever grit the settlers around Housen Bayou carried, James Ener had carried it too, and it ended in 1859 on the wrong side of violence. The cemetery that bears his name holds a particular kind of sorrow right at its roots.

The earliest known burial here is an infant daughter of James and Mary Ann. And James Ener himself became the second person interred in this ground he had helped shape. Most of the folks laid to rest here over the years are Ener family relatives and descendants, though others are buried here as well.

The Ener Cemetery Association maintains the grounds today, keeping watch over a place that has served southeastern Sabine County since the mid-19th century. Some cemeteries are just places where time stops. This one is a little different.

It's a record — of a family that came from Cornwall, crossed to Texas, put down twelve children and a blacksmith's forge and a soldier's record, and then lost it all too soon. That story doesn't just sit in the ground. It stands right here, marked and remembered.

What the marker says

This burial ground has served southeastern Sabine County since the mid-19th century. Early settlers came to this area by the 1830s, establishing farms along the fertile soil of the Housen Bayou north of here. One pioneer was James Trehane Ener (Ennor), for whom this cemetery is named. Ener was born in 1810 in Cornwall County in England. Escaping poor economic conditions, he immigrated to the United States with his brother, William, in 1835 and came to Texas shortly thereafter. He arrived here by the 1840s, and in 1847 married Marry Ann Gomer (d. 1897), daughter of James Frederick and Anna (Bateman) Gomer, early area pioneers. James and Mary Ann had twelve children. James Ener established a large farm in southeastern Sabine County. He also rented land to sharecroppers and worked as a blacksmith. Additionally, Ener served under Capt. O.M. Wheeler in Company K, 2nd Regiment, Texas Mounted Volunteers during the U.S.-Mexico War (1846-48). In 1859, Ener was murdered near the Sabine County Courthouse. The earliest known burial here is of an infant daughter of James and Mary Ann. James Ener was the second person interred here. Although most of the interments in this burial ground are of Ener family relative and descendants, there are others buried here as well. The rural family burial ground is maintained by the Ener Cemetery Association and today, it remains as a record of a pioneer family's history and a vital link to this area's historic past. Historic Texas Cemetery – 2006