Jacob Shannon Evergreen Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way out in Montgomery County, there's a patch of ground that holds more history than most folks will ever know. It's called the Jacob Shannon Evergreen Cemetery, and to understand it, you have to start with the man himself.

Jacob Montgomery Shannon was born in Georgia in 1804. He came to Texas at the age of 17, when this whole region was still under Mexican rule. Think about that for a moment.

A young man, stepping off into territory that didn't even belong to his own country yet. In 1823 he married Catherine, known to everyone as Kittie, Yoakum. And then in 1831, Shannon received a league of land right in this vicinity.

He built a home, settled his family, and planted roots deep enough that the community growing up near his plantation took on his name. Shannon's Prairie. The land spoke his name back to him.

Now, a plantation and a family and a growing community, that's one kind of legacy. But the ground we're talking about tells a quieter, longer story. The cemetery at this site was established about 1840, with the burial of a man named Dock Providence.

His grave was left unmarked. That's where it begins. No fanfare, no headstone.

Just the earth receiving someone. The two earliest marked graves in the whole cemetery bear the date 1854. One is for a child, Catherine Hemphill.

The other is for Jacob Shannon's own mother, Margaret Montgomery Shannon, born in 1772. Two lives separated by everything except the year their stones were cut. Jacob Shannon himself, born 1804, died 1878, is part of this ground too.

But before his death, in 1863, he did something that sealed the cemetery's purpose for good. He formally deeded two acres of his land for a public burial ground, a school, and a church. He put it in writing.

He made it official. And from that point on, the cemetery came to belong to the whole area, not just one family. Many members of Shannon's family are buried here.

So are some of his slaves and their descendants, their lives woven into the same soil, the same story, even when the wider world kept them apart. The graveyard also holds the burials of several war veterans. Names on tombstones going back generations, each one a thread in the fabric of Montgomery County history.

The Jacob Shannon Evergreen Cemetery, a league of land, a deeded two acres, and names carved in stone still doing the work of memory all these years on.

What the marker says

Born in Georgia, Jacob Montgomery Shannon (1804-1878) came to Texas at the age of 17, while the region was under Mexican rule. He married Catherine "Kittie" Yoakum in 1823, and in 1831 Shannon received a league of land in this vicinity, where he built a home and settled with his family. The community that grew up near his plantation became known as Shannon's Prairie. The cemetery at this site was established about 1840 with the burial of Dock Providence in an unmarked grave. The two earliest marked graves bear the date 1854. They are for a child, Catherine Hemphill, and for Jacob Shannon's mother, Margaret Montgomery Shannon (b. 1772). The cemetery came to be used by other residents of the area, and in 1863, Jacob Shannon formally deeded 2 acres of his land for a public burial ground, school, and church. Many members of Shannon's family are buried here, as are some of his slaves and their descendants. The graveyard also contains the burials of several war veterans. The names on the tombstones in the Jacob Shannon Evergreen Cemetery help record some of the history of this area of Montgomery County. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2004