Hemphill Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, at least the way I read it out on the road. The Hemphill Cemetery, Sabine County. Now, a cemetery might not sound like the place to start a story, but don't let that fool you.

The ground here has been holding secrets, and names, and a good piece of Texas history since before most folks had even heard of this corner of East Texas. The burials in this cemetery, the marker tells us, reflect the early history of Hemphill itself, a town that was growing into both a commercial center and a seat of government, all at the same time. The oldest marked grave dates from 1867, nine years after the town was founded.

And that earliest gravestone marks the burial site of a young pioneer settler named Marier C. Morris, born in 1845, gone by 1867, and recorded on the marker as the daughter of Jubal H. Ragan, an early physician in the area.

That is where the written record begins. But it doesn't begin cleanly. Early cemetery records were lost in an 1875 Courthouse fire, which has a way of making history go quiet right when you need it most.

What is believed, though, is that the original tract of land for this burial ground was donated by two men: Simon Newsome Beckcom and William T. Morris. The site was later enlarged by additional donations of property, because communities grow, and so do the places they set aside for remembrance.

Right next door to this cemetery, on adjacent land, stood the first school in the area, the Sabine Valley Institute, housed in a Masonic Lodge building that also served early religious services. School, church, lodge, and cemetery, all neighbors. That tells you something about how a town builds itself from nothing.

Among those buried here, the marker lists pioneer settlers, prominent merchants and businessmen, veterans of several wars, early community leaders, and elected officials who served at the city, county, and district levels. One name stands out by name on the marker: Simeon R. Williams, who served this area as a state legislator, and who now rests in the same ground as the people he once represented.

The Hemphill Cemetery is still in use today. Still receiving. Still remembering.

That 1875 fire may have taken the early records, but it couldn't take the ground itself, and the ground, as they say, does not forget.

What the marker says

The burials in this cemetery reflect the early history of Hemphill as a developing commercial center and seat of government. The oldest marked grave dates from 1867, nine years after the town was founded. The earliest gravestone marks the burial site of pioneer settler Marier C. Morris (1845-1867), the daughter of Jubal H. Ragan, an early area physician. Early records of the cemetery were lost in an 1875 Courthouse fire, but it is believed the original tract of land for the burial ground was donated by Simon Newsome Beckcom and William T. Morris. The site was later enlarged by additional donations of property. The first school in the area, the Sabine Valley Institute, was located in a Masonic Lodge building on adjacent land which was also used for early religious services. Burials here include those of pioneer area settlers, prominent local merchants and businessmen, veterans of several wars, early leaders of the community, and elected officials of the city, county, and district levels of government. Also interred here is Simeon R. Williams, who served this area as a state legislator. Still in use, the historic Hemphill Cemetery serves as a reminder of the area's rich heritage.