DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of the story behind the official marker for Heards Prairie Cemetery, out in Robertson County. Settle in, because this ground holds a long memory. It starts with a name — and names out here don't come free.
Back in 1841, somewhere in this vicinity, an Indian ambush claimed the life of Major G. W. Heard.
That event gave Heards Prairie its name. Whatever else you might say about this stretch of Texas, it earned its identity the hard way. In the years that followed, settlers came — the Bates, Brantner, Garner, Jones, Jenkins, Johnson, Manor, Oldham, Stanford, and Ware families among them.
They built something. They named their community Petteway, after a man named Mike Petteway who ran a general store in the settlement. By 1900, Petteway wasn't just surviving — it was thriving.
Three churches. Two schools. Stores, a cotton gin, a gristmill, and a Woodmen of the World Lodge.
A post office opened in 1887 and kept its doors open clear into the 1940s. That's not a hamlet. That's a town with plans.
Then came the changes. After World War II, cotton production and other crops diminished, and the area turned to ranching. Later still, much of the surrounding land was bought for coal mining.
Most of the historic resources of Petteway have since vanished. The post office, the gin, the lodge — gone. The land outlasted the enterprise.
But the cemetery remained. On October 4, 1876, a man named John R. Henry donated three acres out of the W.
J. Smith League to Heards Prairie Missionary Baptist Church — and the language of that donation is worth repeating — for the purpose of creating a house of public worship, also for graveyard and school purposes. Three acres, given over to the living and the dead alike.
Then in 1903, R. L. Gunter and his wife donated another two acres.
The cemetery now occupies three and a half acres. The church and a historic pavilion sit on one and a half more. The school, as the marker tells it, no longer exists.
This cemetery has gone by more than one name over the years — Hurd's Prairie, Post Oak, Petteway — names that track the shifting memory of a community trying to keep hold of itself. The oldest marked graves belong to Mary Isabella Dibble Ware, who died in February of 1876; Lee M. Garner, May of 1876; Hester Oldham, December of 1876; and Marcellus Sanders, May of 1877.
Four souls interred within a single fourteen-month window, right at the beginning of the record. And there, among the hundreds of marked graves — marble, granite, limestone, concrete, cast iron, and fieldstone all pressed into service — lies Mike Petteway himself, the town's namesake. Alongside him rest dozens of veterans dating from the Civil War.
There are also unmarked burials. The marker is plain about that. Not every life left a stone behind.
What you've got here, out in Robertson County, is an active cemetery that still serves the living — still accepting the names of the present alongside the names of the past. It is, as the marker puts it, a chronicle. And for all that vanished above ground, the ground itself has not forgotten a single one of them.
What the marker says
HEARDS PRAIRIE CEMETERY AN 1841 INDIAN AMBUSH IN THIS VICINITY, WHICH CLAIMED THE LIFE OF MAJOR G. W. HEARD, GAVE HEARDS PRAIRIE ITS NAME. LATER SETTLERS, INCLUDING THE BATES, BRANTNER, GARNER, JONES, JENKINS, JOHNSON, MANOR, OLDHAM, STANFORD AND WARE FAMILIES, ESTABLISHED PETTEWAY, NAMED FOR MIKE PETTEWAY, WHO OPERATED A GENERAL STORE. BY 1900 THE COMMUNITY HAD THREE CHURCHES, TWO SCHOOLS, STORES, A COTTON GIN, A GRISTMILL AND A WOODMEN OF THE WORLD LODGE. A POST OFFICE OPERATED IN THE THRIVING SETTLEMENT FROM 1887 TO THE 1940s. AFTER WORLD WAR II, PRODUCTION OF COTTON AND OTHER CROPS DIMINISHED AND THE AREA TURNED TO RANCHING. LATER, MUCH OF THE SURROUNDING LAND WAS BOUGHT FOR COAL MINING. MOST OF THE HISTORIC RESOURCES OF PETTEWAY HAVE VANISHED. ON OCT. 4, 1876, JOHN R. HENRY DONATED THREE ACRES OUT OF THE W. J. SMITH LEAGUE TO HEARDS PRAIRIE MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH “FOR THE PURPOSE OF CREATING A HOUSE OF PUBLIC WORSHIP…ALSO FOR GRAVEYARD AND SCHOOL PURPOSES.” R. L. GUNTER AND WIFE DONATED ANOTHER TWO ACRES IN 1903; THE CEMETERY NOW OCCUPIES 3.5 ACRES, WHILE THE CHURCH AND A HISTORIC PAVILION ARE SITED ON 1.5 ACRES. THE SCHOOL NO LONGER EXISTS. HEARDS PRAIRIE CEMETERY HAS ALSO BEEN KNOWN AS HURD’S PRAIRIE, POST OAK AND PETTEWAY. THE OLDEST MARKED GRAVES ARE FOR MARY ISABELLA DIBBLE WARE (d. FEB. 1876), LEE M. GARNER (d. MAY 1876), HESTER OLDHAM (d. DEC. 1876) AND MARCELLUS SANDERS (d. MAY 1877). TOWN NAMESAKE MIKE PETTEWAY IS ALSO BURIED HERE, AS ARE DOZENS OF VETERANS DATING FROM THE CIVIL WAR. MARBLE, GRANITE, LIMESTONE, CONCRETE, CAST IRON AND FIELDSTONE GRAVE MARKERS IDENTIFY HUNDREDS OF MARKED GRAVES; THERE ARE ALSO UNMARKED BURIALS. THIS ACTIVE CEMETERY SERVES AS THE FINAL RESTING PLACE FOR GENERATIONS OF RESIDENTS AND AS A CHRONICLE OF THE PAST. HISTORIC TEXAS CEMETERY – 2011