Evergreen Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Evergreen Cemetery in Comanche County. Now settle in, because this is one of those stories where the town moves but the dead stay put. In the late 1860s, the community of Evergreen began to take shape out here on the Texas frontier.

Folks were putting down roots, building lives, and, as communities do, they eventually needed a place to lay their people to rest. A small strip of land was donated for a community cemetery in 1885, and Mrs. W.

F. Hampton became the first recorded person to be interred on that site. One name, one grave, and the ground became sacred.

Then in 1888, a post office was established with Samuel Gustine as postmaster, and just like that, the town's name was officially changed to Gustine. The community kept growing, and the cemetery kept filling with the stories of the people who built this corner of Texas. The Boyd family, landowners, farmers, and schoolteachers who ran a cotton gin and a blacksmith shop.

The Bolton family, who farmed and hauled freight and mail and kept a barber shop going for generations. The Couch and Johnston families, who came all the way from Georgia and Mississippi and put their roots down as farmers and landowners. The Pettit family out of Alabama, who were bankers, farmers, and cattlemen.

These weren't just names on headstones. These were the people who made a place out of nothing. Now here's where the story takes a turn.

In 1895, a road opened up between the Comanche and Gentry Mill communities, and Gustine's businesses did what businesses do: they followed the traffic. They packed up and moved to be closer to that main path. But the cemetery, well, the cemetery did not move.

It stayed right where it had always been, three quarters of a mile to the north of the new road. You can almost picture it sitting there, patient, a little proud, not the least bit interested in chasing commerce. A land donation came through in 1897, and then an additional purchase of acreage in 1918, and over time the cemetery was able to expand until it finally reached that road on its own terms.

By 1999, Evergreen Cemetery held about 630 burials spread across 3.284 acres. Among those resting here were two Confederate army veterans, and veterans of World War I and World War II. Generations of people who lived hard lives in this country, laid to rest in ground that was set aside for them more than a century before.

By 1999, all that remained of old Evergreen itself was a hand-dug well, sitting on private property south of the cemetery. The town that gave this burial ground its name had gone quiet. But the cemetery, it kept right on serving the nearby communities of Pettit, Gustine, and Energy.

Some things outlast the world that made them. Evergreen Cemetery is one of those things.

What the marker says

The community of Evergreen began to take shape in the late 1860s. A small strip of land was donated for a community cemetery in 1885 when Mrs. W. F. Hampton was the first recorded person to be interred on this site. A post office was established in 1888 with Samuel Gustine as postmaster, and the town name was officially changed to Gustine. The community grew steadily. Those interred here include prominent members of early Evergreen and surrounding communities such as the Boyd family, landowners, farmers and schoolteachers who operated a cotton gin and blacksmith shop. The Bolton family farmed, hauled freight and mail and operated a barber shop for generations. The Couch and Johnston families hailed from Georgia and Mississippi and were farmers and landowners. The Pettit family of Alabama were bankers, farmers and cattlemen. A road between the Comanche and Gentry Mill communities opened in 1895; Gustine businesses moved to be closer to the main path, but the cemetery remained 3/4 mile to the north. A land donation in 1897 and a purchase of additional acreage in 1918 allowed the cemetery to expand to meet the road. In 1999 there were about 630 burials on 3.284 acres in Evergreen Cemetery. These burials included two Confederate army veterans as well as veterans of World War I and World War II. Though all that remained of the old Evergreen community was a hand-dug well on private property south of the cemetery, the burial ground continued to serve the nearby communities of Pettit, Gustine and Energy. (1999)