Handley Cemetery

Duane's take

The way I tell it, I'm drawing straight from the words on the official marker for Handley Cemetery out in Mitchell County. Now settle in, because this one's got a long life wrapped up in it. John J.

Handley was born in 1842, and if you do nothing else today, remember that man's name. He came a long way to end up here. Georgia first, then Smith County, Texas, then Comanche County, Texas, and finally, in 1892, he put down roots right here in Mitchell County.

A Confederate veteran, a farmer, a man who watched the land change around him season by season. He lived all the way to 1935. Long enough to see something the old cattle barons never quite expected.

Agriculture coming up alongside ranching, maybe even giving it a run for its money. John Handley saw that with his own eyes. Now the ground this story turns on, Handley gave that site himself.

The cemetery bears his name for a reason. Out here in what folks called Teville, a name that came from a T junction in the road, a post office opened in 1906. It ran until 1910, and then it was gone, the way a lot of small post offices went.

But the cemetery, that was different. In 1914, W.B. Berry and W.H.

Badgett surveyed four acres of ground for the cemetery. And here's the detail that'll stay with you. Graves were moved from across the road into this ground.

Moved. Gathered in. Then in 1945, Mr. and Mrs.

E.T. Strain gave one more acre to enlarge the place, because more room was needed. Four generations of Handley's family and neighbors rest here now.

A man born in 1842, a piece of ground he gave, and four generations gone into it. That's not a small thing. That's the whole shape of a life landing softly in the Texas soil.

What the marker says

Site given by John J. Handley (1842-1935), Confederate veteran who settled here in 1892, after living earlier in Georgia and in Smith and Comanche Counties, Texas. A farmer, he lived to see agriculture rival ranching. Teville (named for "T" Junction in road) post office was opened here in 1906; closed 1910. W.B. Berry, with W.H. Badgett, surveyed 4-acre cemetery, 1914. Graves were moved from across road into this ground. In 1945 Mr. and Mrs. E.T. Strain gave one acre to enlarge the cemetery. Four generations of Handley's family and neighbors rest here. (1970)