Miami Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, as best as Duane can carry it to you. Out on the Texas Panhandle, where the sky goes on forever and the wind doesn't ask permission, there's a piece of ground in Roberts County that's been holdin' the stories of Miami, Texas, since the town was barely a notion. It started shortly after 1887, when the Southern Kansas branch of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad came pushin' through Miami.

Towns follow railroads, and so do the things towns need. One of those things is a place to lay the dead to rest. The earliest known burial in that cemetery belongs to a man named William T.

Lard, an early pioneer who died on December 6, 1888. He wasn't originally buried there, but he was reinterred at the site prior to 1900, along with other burials that were relocated to what became known as the Old Cemetery section. Miami was gathering its history, one soul at a time.

The first marked burial, though, belongs to someone whose time on this earth was heartbreakingly brief. Sarah A. Black, daughter of G.M. and M.E.

Black, died on August 6, 1896, at the age of three months. That's a weight a marker carries quietly, and a weight the people of Miami have honored ever since. Now here's where the story takes a turn that only Texas can serve up with a straight face.

In 1900, the outfit that sold Roberts County the land for that cemetery was the Cresswell Ranche and Cattle Company, Ltd., of Edinburgh, Scotland. That's right. A Scottish land company, running a large ranch out in the eastern Texas Panhandle, deeded several acres over to Judge S.G.

Carter of Roberts County and his successors. The price? One dollar.

Five acres, for a single dollar, so the people of Miami would have a proper place for their final rest. The cemetery kept growin'. In 1919, Cleve and Mattie Coffee added more land.

In 1948, Walter and Irene Coffee added still more. The place spread out the way Panhandle land tends to do, open and vast, bordered by cedar, Italian cypress, Chinese Elm, and rose bushes, wrapped in chain-link and wire fencing. Traditional for this part of Texas, the marker says, and you can picture it if you've ever stood out there in that wide, quiet country.

Twenty-six veterans of the Civil War are buried in the Miami Cemetery. So are veterans of World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. The ground holds a long accounting of American sacrifice.

And among those buried there, two men who wore the badge of the Texas Rangers. Francis Lawton Hoffer, born in 1862 and died in 1933, and Newton S. Locke, born in 1882 and died in 1965.

Now, the marker is careful here, and so should we be. There's also a Newton F. Locke, born in 1853 and died in 1939, who served as Roberts County judge.

Newton S. Locke was his son. Two Newtons, two different men, and the marker makes sure you don't mix them up.

That's the kind of detail that matters when you're talking about real people in real ground. The Miami Cemetery is still active today, still cared for by Roberts County commissioners and the citizens of Miami. The railroad came through, the town took root, and the people have been keeping faith with that piece of ground ever since.

One dollar, a few acres, and more than a century of tending. That's Miami, Texas, and that's the story the marker tells.

What the marker says

The earliest cemetery in the town of Miami was established shortly after 1887 when the Southern Kansas branch of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad was extended through Miami. The earliest known burial is that of early pioneer William T. Lard who died on December 6, 1888 and was reinterred here prior to 1900, along with other burials that were relocated to the Old Cemetery section of the Miami Cemetery. The first marked burial in the Miami Cemetery is that of Sarah A. Black, daughter of G.M. & M.E. Black, who died on August 6, 1896 at the age of three months. In 1900, the Cresswell Ranche & Cattle Company, Ltd. of Edinburgh, Scotland, the operator of a large ranch in the eastern Texas Panhandle, sold Roberts County several acres of land to be used as a cemetery. Five acres were deeded to Judge S.G. Carter of Roberts County and his successors for a payment of $1.00. Subsequent parcels were added in 1919 by Cleve and Mattie Coffee and in 1948 by Walter and Irene Coffee. The landscape of the Miami Cemetery is traditional for the Texas Panhandle with vast, open areas bordered by a variety of vegetation, including cedar, Italian cypress, Chinese Elm, and rose bushes, surrounded by chain-link and wire fencing. The cemetery is the final resting place for twenty-six veterans of the Civil War, as well as veterans of World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. Two Texas Rangers, Francis Lawton Hoffer (1862-1933) and Newton F. Locke (1882-1965), are also buried here. The cemetery continues to be active and is cared for by Roberts County commissioners and the citizens of Miami. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2009 SUPPLEMENTAL PLATE: Newton F. Locke (1853-1939) also served as Roberts County judge. Newton S. Locke (1882-1965) was his son.