DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker at Fellowship Cemetery is what I'm drawing from here, straight from the record — let me tell you what it says. Out in Tyler County, in the Warren area of East Texas, a preacher named John Dryden planted something that would outlast him by a long measure. Born in 1802, Dryden founded the Fellowship Primitive Baptist Church in 1869, and in the years that followed, a whole community took root around it — farming families, livestock raisers, timber workers carving a life out of that dense East Texas backcountry.
Now, Dryden himself would be the first to mark what became the cemetery. In 1878, he was thrown from his horse near his home. He died from it.
And right there, near where he fell, he was buried. The location where Preacher John Dryden died became Fellowship Cemetery. He founded the church, and in a way, he founded the burial ground too — though not by any plan he'd have chosen.
Out in a place that remote, the earliest graves tell you exactly what that life cost. Disease came for people. The timber work was brutal and unforgiving.
And the wild animals — well, the woods weren't just scenery. The marker names settler John Reisinger, born 1890, died 1974, as a man buried in that cemetery. And then it tells you something that stops you cold: his leg, lost in a bear attack, is buried in a separate location in the same cemetery.
The man and part of him, resting in different spots on that same ground. You don't need to dress that up. It says what it says.
As the decades rolled on, Fellowship Cemetery became a richer record of the community around it. Veterans going back to World War One are buried there. Pastors of area churches.
Businessmen who helped the community grow. Teachers the marker calls noteworthy. Members of fraternal organizations — the Masons, the Order of the Eastern Star, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Sons of the American Revolution.
Members of prominent historic families and their descendants, layer upon layer of the Warren area's history pressed into that ground. The cemetery started on two and a half acres and has grown and expanded over the years. The graves are oriented east to west in a standard fashion, and the oldest tombstones are made of sandstone — rough-cut markers for rough-cut times.
Fellowship Cemetery is still in use today. A testament, the marker calls it, to the pioneering men and women of the Warren area. From a preacher thrown from his horse in 1878, to a settler whose bear-mauled leg has its own resting place, to soldiers and teachers and lodge members and farmers — it's all there in that ground, waiting for anyone willing to walk it slow enough to read what's written.
What the marker says
Preacher John Dryden (1802-1878) founded the fellowship primitive Baptist Church in 1869 and in the years following, a rural farming, livestock'raising and timbering community developed. When he was thrown off his horse near his home in 1878, the location where he died and was buried became the Fellowship Cemetery. Because of the remote location of the church and cemetery, many of the earliest burials were due to disease, timber accidents and resident encounters with wild animals. Settler, John Reisinger (1890-1974) and his leg, which was lost in a bear attack, are buried in separate locations in the cemetery. Other notable graves include veterans dating back to WWI, pastors of area churches, businessmen who contributed to community growth, noteworthy teachers and members of fraternal organizations such as the Masons, the Order of the Eastern Star and the Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution. Members of prominent historic families and their descendants are buried here. Initially set on a 2.5"acre plot of land, the Fellowship Cemetery has grown and expanded over the years. Graves in the cemetery are oriented in a standard fashion, from east to west with the oldest tombstones made of sandstone. Still in use, the Fellowship Cemetery remains a testament to the pioneering men and women of the Warren area. HISTORIC TEXAS CEMETERY - 2017