Hightower Cemetery

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of Hightower Cemetery in Erath County. John Bryan McPheres Hightower came into this world in December of 1822, born in Georgia. By 1846, he'd made his way to Red River, Texas, livin' alongside his father and his brother.

Three years on from that, he married Mary E. Morris in Cherokee County, and the two of them pointed themselves west toward Erath County. By the time the 1860 census came around, they had three children and a large ranch already settled in this very area.

You get the sense of a family putting down roots the way only people who mean to stay ever do. Now, in 1870, John Hightower did something deliberate and lasting. He and his family formally set aside almost two acres of this land for a cemetery.

Formally — as in, they made it official. But here's the thing: they hadn't exactly waited on the paperwork. Before that formal setting-aside, they had already buried three of their own children at that site.

Some of the unmarked graves, the marker notes, may date to even earlier than 1870. The ground had been holding grief long before the deed said so. That same year — 1870 — the community gathered here to bury the first person outside the Hightower family: a man named Reuben Phillips.

A search party had found his body near the ranch. He had been attacked by Indians. There's no softening that.

A man was found, and a community carried him to the only consecrated ground they had, and they laid him down among strangers who were neighbors. John B. Hightower himself died in 1878.

After that, a man named Henry Killian bought the ranch. And in 1895, Killian did right by the dead — he officially deeded the burial ground to a cemetery association. That association has continued to maintain the site ever since.

Today, Hightower Cemetery is the final resting place of military veterans, members of fraternal organizations, and generations of area residents. What began as a family's private sorrow on a large Erath County ranch grew into something the whole community claimed as its own. That's not nothing.

That's exactly what cemeteries are supposed to become.

What the marker says

John Bryan McPheres Hightower was born in December 1822 in Georgia. By 1846, he lived in Red River, Texas with his father and brother. Three years later, he wed Mary E. Morris in Cherokee County, and the couple moved to Erath County with three children by the time of the 1860 census. The family had earlier settled on a large ranch in this area. In 1870, the Hightowers formally set aside almost two acres here for a cemetery. Before that time, they had buried three children at the site, and some of the unmarked graves may date to earlier than 1870. At the cemetery that year, the community buried the first person outside the Hightower family, Reuben Phillips. A search party had found his body near the ranch after he had been attacked by Indians. John B. Hightower died in 1878, and Henry Killian bought the ranch. In 1895, he officially deeded the burial ground to a cemetery association, which has continued to maintain the historic site. Today, the site is the final resting place of military veterans, members of fraternal organizations and generations of area residents. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2003