Liberty Cemetery

Duane's take

The official marker's the gospel here, and I'm just the one riding shotgun while it talks. This is the story of Liberty Cemetery, out in Harrison County, Texas. Pull over if you got a moment, because the ground here has been holding history a good while longer than most folks realize.

Records show that as early as 1854, this burial ground was already part of the life of the Baptist Church of Christ at Liberty, a congregation tied into the Soda Lake Baptist Association. That is not a young institution. That is roots.

A man named Bennett C. Ragon arrived here from Mississippi in 1853. His tombstone spells it Regan, which tells you something about the casualness of record-keeping on the frontier, but the man himself was anything but casual.

Born in 1822, Ragon deeded the first acreage here to the church in 1872 and had a hand in building the sanctuary that once stood on this very ground. He rests here himself, having died in 1891. The site has grown over time, and today it covers almost seven acres.

Now, the oldest dated marker belongs to one Hightower Davis, who died at age seventy-two in 1873. But the marker is careful to note that older, unmarked graves almost certainly exist beneath these acres. The counted dead are never quite the whole count.

Among those laid to rest here is Captain Philip Craver, born 1796, died 1886, who served as a young wagon train master in the War of 1812. Think on that a moment. A man whose life stretched from 1796 to 1886, who had already guided wagon trains through a shooting war before Texas was even a republic.

He is here. Civil War soldiers are here. Veterans of the Spanish-American War are here.

Men and women who served in World War I, World War II, Korea, and Viet Nam rest here beneath the East Texas sky. Seven acres of names and stories, stretching across more than a century and a half of American conflict and American life. And the descendants, they have not walked away from this place.

They show up. Through donations, through regular graveyard work days, through improvements as needed, they keep it. Liberty Cemetery stands, as the marker puts it, as a chronicle of the heritage of the many families that settled in this corner of Harrison County.

Every name carved in that stone is a chapter. And some of the oldest chapters, the ones without any stone at all, those are still here too, quiet under the grass, waiting for someone to remember.

What the marker says

This burial ground originally served the congregation of the Baptist Church of Christ at Liberty. Records show that as early as 1854 this group was part of the Soda Lake Baptist Association. Church member Bennett C. Ragon (1822-1891) (shown as Regan on his tombstone), who came to this area from Mississippi in 1853, deeded the first acreage here to the church in 1872 and was involved in building the sanctuary that once stood nearby. Today, the site contains almost seven acres. The oldest dated marker is that of Hightower Davis, who died at age 72 in 1873, but it is likely that older unmarked graves exist. Veterans laid to rest here include Captain Philip Craver (1796-1886), who served as a young wagon train master in the War of 1812, and several Civil War soldiers, as well as those who served in the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korea and Viet Nam. Descendants faithfully continue to care for this site by way of improvements as needed, through donations and regular graveyard work days. Liberty Cemetery stands as a chronicle of the heritage of the many families that have settled in this area of Harrison County. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2002