Hart Mill Cemetery

Duane's take

Now, this one comes straight from the official marker, and I'm gonna do right by it. Out in Tyler County, tucked near a place called Sutton Lake, along the waters of Magnus Branch, there sits a cemetery with a name tied to a mill. Hart Mill Cemetery.

And like most things in deep East Texas, the story behind it runs deeper than the name lets on. The mill itself came first. It operated on nearby Sutton Lake, along Magnus Branch, and it was run first by a man named L.G.

McGaughey, the original patentee. Later, the mill passed to Richard Jefferson Hart. Hart worked that place, and when his time came, he was laid to rest in the very cemetery that carries his name.

Several of his children rest there with him. Now the Barclay family, they were among the earliest Anglo families to plant roots in what is now Tyler County, arrivin' in 1836. James Walter Barclay owned land nearby and lived a life that would make most men tired just hearin' about it.

He served in the Texas House of Representatives. He served as Tyler County Tax Assessor, as Sheriff, as Chief Justice. And on top of all that, he was appointed as an agent for the Alabama, Coushatta, and Pakana Muskogee Indians.

One man, a whole county's worth of responsibility. But here's what the ground itself records. James Walter's father, Walter Barclay, holds the distinction of being the first known burial at Hart Mill Cemetery, in 1857.

James Walter followed him there in time, alongside his wife Virginia, and their descendants carry on that presence still. Then there's John Bevil, an early settler whose roots in this part of Texas reach back to the 1820s, when he first settled in Jasper County. He founded the riverside communities of Bevil Settlement and Bevilport.

And in 1835, he traveled to San Felipe to serve as a delegate to the Consultation. That's a man who shaped the land and helped shape what Texas was becoming. Several of his descendants are buried at Hart Mill Cemetery as well.

The families gathered in this ground read like a roll call of East Texas pioneer life. Bullock, Beaty, Kincaid, George, Boyd, Risinger, Anderson, Liddon, Bowdon, Graves, Williamson. Names that meant something once, names the land still holds.

In 1929, John Randolph Bevil and Martha Hart Bevil made it official. They deeded two and ninety-five hundredths acres to formally establish the cemetery at the site. And they didn't just hand over the land and walk away.

The deed provided for a board of trustees to care for the burial ground, and it gave directives for an annual business meeting. They were thinkin' forward. And that thinking took root.

Today, Hart Mill Cemetery is still cared for by descendants of those early pioneers buried within it. The people tending the place are connected to the people resting in it. That's not just maintenance.

That's memory, kept alive by the hands of the very families who made this ground matter in the first place.

What the marker says

THIS CEMETERY IS NAMED FOR A MILL THAT OPERATED ON NEARBY SUTTON LAKE, ALONG MAGNUS BRANCH. THE MILL WAS RUN FIRST BY ORIGINAL PATENTEE L.G. McGAUGHEY AND LATER BY RICHARD JEFFERSON HART; HART IS BURIED AT THE CEMETERY ALONG WITH SEVERAL OF HIS CHILDREN. THE BARCLAY FAMILY WAS ONE OF THE EARLIEST ANGLO FAMILIES TO SETTLE IN WHAT IS NOW TYLER COUNTY, ARRIVING IN 1836. JAMES WALTER BARCLAY OWNED LAND NEARBY AND SERVED IN THE TEXAS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AS TYLER COUNTY TAX ASSESSOR, SHERIFF AND CHIEF JUSTICE, AND WAS ALSO APPOINTED AS AN AGENT FOR THE ALABAMA, COUSHATTA AND PAKANA MUSKOGEE INDIANS. JAMES’ FATHER, WALTER BARCLAY, IS THE FIRST KNOWN BURIAL IN HART MILL CEMETERY (ALSO KNOWN AS HART-MILL CEMETERY) IN 1857; JAMES WALTER, HIS WIFE VIRGINIA AND THEIR DESCENDANTS ARE ALSO BURIED HERE. EARLY SETTLER JOHN BEVIL AND SEVERAL OF HIS DESCENDANTS ARE BURIED AT THE SITE. BEVIL FIRST SETTLED IN JASPER COUNTY IN THE 1820s, WHERE HE FOUNDED THE RIVERSIDE COMMUNITIES OF BEVIL SETTLEMENT AND BEVILPORT AND SERVED AS A DELEGATE TO THE CONSULATION OF 1835 IN SAN FELIPE. ALSO INTERRED HERE ARE MEMBERS OF THE BULLOCK, BEATY, KINCAID, GEORGE, BOYD, RISINGER, ANDERSON, LIDDON, BOWDON, GRAVES AND WILLIAMSON FAMILIES. IN 1929, JOHN RANDOLPH BEVIL AND MARTHA (HART) BEVIL DEEDED 2.95 ACRES TO OFFICIALLY ESTABLISH A CEMETERY AT THE SITE. THE DEED ALSO PROVIDED FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF A BOARD OF TRUSTEES TO CARE FOR THE BURIAL GROUND AND GAVE DIRECTIVES FOR AN ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING. TODAY, HART MILL CEMETERY CONTINUES TO BE CARED FOR BY DESCENDANTS OF THOSE EARLY PIONEERS INTERRED HERE.