DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, before Texas was even a republic, a man named Nathaniel Hunt had already made up his mind about this corner of San Augustine County. By 1836, when Texas took that bold step and declared itself a republic, Hunt was already here — settled in, rooted down — with his wife, Mary Elizabeth, born a White, and their children alongside them.
Among those children was their oldest daughter, Clarissa, and she'd brought her husband John M. Neely into the family fold too. The Hunts and the Neelys weren't just passing through.
They were builders. Nathaniel Hunt, he kept himself busy in the way that frontier men of standing tended to do. He served in a variety of public offices — justice of the peace among them.
And his home? His home did double duty as a mail stop on the route running from San Augustine all the way down to Houston. The man's front door was, in a manner of speaking, a crossroads.
Now here's where the ground itself enters the story. This land became a burial ground, and it started out bearing the Hunt name — the Hunt Cemetery, plain and simple. The first soul laid to rest here was John Neely, who died in 1845.
And then, four years later, his father-in-law Nathaniel Hunt followed him into that same ground. That detail has a certain weight to it, doesn't it — a man who helped build this community, buried in the cemetery that his own family started. As the years rolled on and the community filled out, other family members came to rest here, and neighbors too.
The place was growing, the way living places do. Then comes 1888, and the community got its first post office. Now, area farmers — men active in the Southern Farmers' Alliance — had a say in what to call it.
And they decided to name it for their leader, Charles Macune. That name stuck to more than just the post office. In time, it became the name attached to the cemetery itself — the Macune Cemetery — carrying forward the mark of that agrarian movement and its most prominent figure.
Forward to 1926, and a man named John S. Henry stepped up and donated adjacent land to enlarge the old Hunt Cemetery grounds. A generous act, and a practical one — because this place was never going to stop being needed.
And it hasn't stopped. The cemetery is still in use today, by area residents and by the descendants of those original settlers. When you walk those grounds, you walk among layers of history that most people don't expect to find in a single quiet plot of San Augustine County land.
Among the graves is Edwin Oswald LeGrand — a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. And there are veterans here too, their service stretching back as far as the War of 1812. The Hunt family started this ground.
Charles Macune's name now rests upon it. And the people buried here — from a signer of Texas independence to soldiers who fought in conflicts most living people only read about in books — they make it something more than a cemetery. They make it a record of how this part of Texas came to be.
Not bad for a patch of ground that started with one family and one name.
What the marker says
By the time Texas became a republic in 1836, Nathaniel Hunt had settled in this area with his wife, Mary Elizabeth (White), and their children, including their oldest daughter Clarissa and her husband, John M. Neely. The Hunt and Neely families were active in the early settlement; Nathaniel Hunt served in a variety of public offices, including justice of the peace. His home also served as a mail stop on the San Augustine to Houston route. This burial ground began as the Hunt Cemetery. John Neely (d. 1845) was the first buried here, followed by his father-in-law four years later. As the community grew, other family members and neighbors were buried in the cemetery. The community's first post office opened in 1888. Area farmers active in the Southern Farmers' Alliance suggested it be named for leader Charles Macune. In 1926, John S. Henry donated adjacent land to the community to enlarge the Hunt Cemetery. Today, the burial ground continues to be used by area residents and descendants of settlers buried here. Graves include those of Edwin Oswald LeGrand, signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, and veterans of military conflicts dating to the War of 1812. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2004