Estes Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Estes Cemetery, out in Tarrant County. Now, every piece of ground has a starting point, and this one begins with two people from Kentucky, Sarah and James Estes, who made their way to Missouri long enough to get married, then kept on movin' until, somewhere in the middle of the 1850s, they put down roots in Tarrant County. The earliest marked grave in that cemetery belongs to Sarah herself.

She passed away in 1857. Think about that for a moment. The ground that began as a place for her family to gather and build a life; it became, first and foremost, the place where she was laid to rest.

Over the next several years, additional members of the Estes family were interred there alongside her, one by one, the way time has a habit of doing. Then something shifts. By 1867, the family opened the cemetery to residents of the area who weren't part of the Estes family at all.

A private grief became a shared one. And the timing wasn't accidental; the Civil War had only just ended, and there were veterans of military conflicts dating all the way back to that war who would eventually find their rest in this very ground. The 1880s brought communities sprouting up nearby, Webb, Gertie, and Britton, and their residents started using the burial ground as well.

Three communities, one shared resting place. Walk through that arched entryway today and you'll find vertical stones standing sentinel in the older sections of the cemetery, interior fencing marking off its quieter corners, and a sloping landscape that rolls gently beneath your feet. A cemetery association still cares for it all.

And here's the thing: Estes Cemetery is still active. Still serving descendants of those buried within it. Still standing as a memorial to the early settlers of southeast Tarrant County.

Sarah and James came a long way from Kentucky. Turns out, they came exactly far enough.

What the marker says

Estes Cemetery began as the burial ground for the family of Sarah and James Estes. By the middle of the 1850s, the Estes family had moved to Tarrant County. The two were Kentucky natives who married in Missouri. The earliest marked grave is for Sarah Estes, who passed away in 1857. During the next several years, additional members of the Estes family were interred in the burial ground. By 1867, the Estes family opened the cemetery to residents of the area who were not part of the family. During the 1880s, communities developed nearby and residents started to use the burial ground as well. These communities included Webb, Gertie and Britton. Veterans of military conflicts dating to the Civil War are also interred here. A cemetery association cares for the burial ground, which features an arched entryway, vertical stones in its older area, interior fencing and a sloping landscape. The cemetery is still active, continuing to serve descendants of those buried in the cemetery, and it remains a memorial to early settlers of southeast Tarrant County. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2003