DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to give it the telling it deserves. The K.M. Jones Family Cemetery, Bell County, Texas.
Now, every family cemetery has a story buried in it, and this one starts with a man who was there at the very birth of a republic. Keeton McLemore Jones — farmer, stage stop operator, and veteran of the Texas War for Independence. When they buried him in 1890, this ground became a family cemetery, and that's where we begin.
But let's back up a little, because Keeton Jones had lived a life worth backing up for. He participated in the Battle of San Jacinto — one of the most consequential fights in Texas history — guarding baggage at the camp opposite Harrisburg. Not every soldier charges the line, and not every soldier needs to.
Somebody has to hold what the army carries with it, and Keeton Jones was that somebody. He did his part. Then life went on, the way it does after wars.
Jones was a farmer and a stage stop operator — a man who kept things moving and growing, both on the land and along the road. In 1865, he and his family pulled up from Grimes County and settled in Bell County, near the old Howard Community. He and his wife, Laura Ann Carter, had twelve children between them.
Twelve. That's not a family, that's a small town waiting to happen. Laura Ann Carter is interred here alongside her husband.
So is E.L. Segur, one of their granddaughters. Three generations resting in the same earth they helped put down roots in.
The K.M. Jones Family Cemetery, the marker tells us, is a testimony to a pioneering Texas family — and a reminder of those who served during the Texas War for Independence. Sometimes the reminder is a bronze plaque on a post.
And sometimes it's a quiet piece of Bell County ground where a man who guarded the camp at San Jacinto finally came to rest in 1890, surrounded by the family he spent the rest of his life building.
What the marker says
K.M. JONES FAMILY CEMETERY THIS FAMILY BURIAL GROUND WAS ESTABLISHED WHEN KEETON McLEMORE JONES WAS BURIED HERE IN 1890. JONES WAS A FARMER, STAGE STOP OPERATOR, AND VETERAN OF THE TEXAS WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. HE PARTICIPATED IN THE BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO, GUARDING BAGGAGE AT THE CAMP OPPOSITE HARRISBURG. JONES AND HIS FAMILY MOVED TO BELL COUNTY FROM GRIMES COUNTY IN 1865, SETTLING NEAR THE OLD HOWARD COMMUNITY; HE AND HIS WIFE, LAURA ANN (CARTER), HAD 12 CHILDREN. LAURA CARTER IS INTERRED HERE WITH HER HUSBAND, ALONG WITH E.L. SEGUR, ONE OF THEIR GRANDDAUGHTERS. TODAY, THE K.M. JONES FAMILY CEMETERY IS A TESTIMONY TO A PIONEERING TEXAS FAMILY AND PROVIDES A REMINDER OF THOSE WHO SERVED DURING THE TEXAS WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. HISTORIC TEXAS CEMETERY – 2010