Homer Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Back in 1854, a man named W. W.

Manning came into this part of Angelina County and set up a drugstore and a sawmill. He named the community Homer, after his former home in Homer, Louisiana. A place carrying the memory of somewhere else, right from the start.

Two years later, in 1856, the Texas Legislature handed down a mandate. Every county needed a permanent seat of government located near its geographic center. Angelina County looked around, and Homer was the answer.

County surveyor William G. Lang got to work in 1857, platting out a proper town. When he was done, Homer had a central courthouse, twenty-four blocks, and a hundred and thirty-two lots.

A real town, drawn up with care and ambition. The cemetery was established southeast of that courthouse square, and it would go on to hold the stories of everyone who built this place and everyone who outlasted it. The first recorded grave belongs to Margaret Patterson McMullen, in 1861.

Two of her sons went off to fight in the Civil War. Both of them came home, in a manner of speaking. They're buried here.

They're among a broader company of veterans, from the Civil War all the way through to the Vietnam War, each one resting in this ground southeast of where the courthouse once stood. Homer wore the title of county seat all the way until 1892, and during those years it was a living, working town. Businesses, public and private schools, churches, a newspaper.

The kind of place where decisions got made and records got kept. And so, naturally, a good many county officials found their final resting place here too. Today Homer Cemetery is governed by a board of trustees.

It holds two hundred and seventy burials, and it continues to serve the community. A town can lose its courthouse, lose its newspaper, lose the title that put it on the map. But the cemetery keeps the count, and it keeps the names, and that's no small thing.

What the marker says

In 1854 W. W. Manning established a drugstore and sawmill in this area, and named the community after his former home in Homer, Louisiana. In 1856 Homer was chosen as Angelina County seat, following a mandate from the Texas Legislature to locate a permanent seat of government near the geographic center of each county. County surveyor William G. Lang platted the town of Homer in 1857. The town included a central courthouse surrounded by 24 blocks and 132 lots. Homer Cemetery was located southeast of the courthouse square. The first recorded grave in the cemetery is that of Margaret Patterson McMullen in 1861. Two of McMullen's sons served in the Civil War, and both are also buried here. Among other veterans from the Civil War to the Vietnam War Homer remained the county seat until 1892 and included several businesses, public and private schools, churches, and a newspaper. Due to its prominence in the county, many county officials are buried here. Governed by a board of trustees, Homer Cemetery contains 270 burials, and continues to serve the community. (1997)