DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Manor Cemetery, out there in Travis County. Now, every place that endures long enough gets a piece of ground where the story is finally kept — quiet, permanent, and honest. Manor Cemetery is that kind of place.
It starts with a man named James Manor, a Tennessee native who came to Texas in the early 1830s. He helped settle this area, and during the 1840s a town took shape here that carried his name. That's the kind of mark a man makes when he shows up early enough and works hard enough — the place itself becomes his monument.
By 1854, a Methodist congregation had organized in the community. And then in 1861 — right as the wider world was about to tear itself apart — a Union church building went up at this very site. Life pressing forward even as storm clouds gathered.
Local tradition holds that E.D. Townes was among several people buried here in the 1860s. Townes is notable in his own right — he was the father of John C.
Townes, the noted University of Texas Law School Dean and Judge. The generations run deep in a place like this. Then in 1871, James Manor himself deeded this land to the community of Manor, specifically for church and cemetery purposes.
A legal act, yes — but also something more. A man setting down roots so permanent that even after he's gone, the ground remains consecrated to the people who came after him. The first recorded burial following that legal donation was Judge Williamson Jones, in 1875.
The Methodists built a new sanctuary nearby in 1881, the same year James Manor himself — town founder, Tennessee native, early arrival to a young Texas — passed away and was laid to rest in the very ground he had given away a decade before. More than a thousand people are buried here now. Among them T.B.
Wheeler, who served as Lieutenant Governor of Texas from 1887 to 1891. Members of the Masons and the Woodmen of the World. And veterans — veterans of the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts.
Each conflict its own chapter, each veteran somebody's husband, father, son, neighbor. The cemetery contains a separate Hispanic and Catholic section, and the whole of it is maintained by an association of descendants of the people buried here — families tending to families, across generations. Manor Cemetery holds many of the area's pioneer settlers and their descendants.
It is, in the truest sense, where the community keeps its memory. And James Manor, who arrived from Tennessee in the early 1830s and gave this ground to the people around him, made sure that memory had somewhere to live.
What the marker says
Tennessee native James Manor, who came to Texas in the early 1830s, helped settle this area. A town named for him developled here during the 1840s. A Methodist congregation was organized in 1854 and in 1861 a Union church building was erected at this site. According to local tradition E.D. Townes, father of noted university of Texas Law School Dean and Judge John C. Townes, was among several people buried here in the 1860s. James Manor deeded the land to the community of Manor for church and cemetery purposes in 1871. The burial of Judge Williumson Jones in 1875 is the first recorded after Manor's legal donation of the land. The Methodists built a new sanctuary nearby in 1881. Manor Cemetery contains many of the area's pioneer settlers and their descendants. Among the more than one thousand people buried here are town founder James Manor (d. 1881); T.B. Wheeler, Lt. Governor of Texas from 1887 to 1891; members of fraternal organizations such as the Masons and Woodmen of the World; and veterans of the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. The cemetery contains a separate Hispanic/Catholic section and is maintained by an association of descendands of people buried here. (1995)