DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker at Mulberry Cemetery tells it, and I'll do my best to honor every word. About two miles south of the Red River, out in Fannin County, there's a piece of ground that's been holding this community's stories since before most folks around here were born. That's Mulberry Cemetery — and the story of how it came to be is about as Texas as it gets.
Mulberry itself started as a small farming community in the early 1880s. One of the first settlers to put down roots there was Civil War Captain Thomas Lightfoot, who came up from Alabama with his family and bought several thousand acres of land along the Red River. Now that's not a man who came to rent.
And sure enough, in 1883, Thomas Lightfoot donated land to the Mulberry Community — land set aside for a cemetery and a one-room school. One gift, two purposes. The kind of foundation a community gets built on.
The school, eventually, closed. Half its property was sold by D.B. Deupree in 1951 to the cemetery.
And here's a detail worth holding onto — a man named Joe C. Denton paid for that land as a gift to the community. Not a transaction.
A gift. Now, the oldest part of the cemetery sits on the north end, overlooking Mulberry Bottom. The first recorded burial on this property was a child — two-year-old Allis May, in 1876.
Other family burials date as far back as 1881. You walk that north end and you're walking through the earliest chapters of this community's grief and memory. In the northwest corner of that original burial ground, shaded with trees, is the Mexican section.
The first Mexican family to come to Mulberry was Ferman and Rossaria Portillo, who arrived in 1902 with their three children. Over the years, more families followed, and that shaded corner became their place in this shared ground. But this community — this little farming settlement two miles from the Red River — did not have an easy run of it.
Mulberry saw multiple natural disasters over the years, and some of them took lives. The 1905 flooding of Mulberry Bottom. The 1919 Mulberry Cyclone.
And then the 1959 tornado, which tore through the cemetery itself, destroying tombstones and the cemetery fence. When nature comes for a place where the dead are buried, it has a way of cutting especially deep. Among those resting in Mulberry Cemetery are several war veterans.
The only known Civil War veteran buried there is B.F. Moseley. All the veterans are honored at the main gate entrance, where a flag pole stands set in a concrete stand — embedded with the Veterans of Foreign Wars emblem.
Simple, solid, permanent. And at the midpoint between the original burial ground and the site of the old Mulberry School, there stands a cross and a monument. It's there in memory of those who were lost — and for the graves that were never marked.
Because Mulberry Cemetery has always known that some names slip through the cracks of history, and it chose to remember them anyway. That's Mulberry. A place that began with a captain's donation and a child's burial, weathered floods and cyclones and a tornado, and is still standing — still tending its ground — south of the Red River.
What the marker says
Located approximately two miles south of the Red River, Mulberry was established in the early 1880s as a small farming community. One of the first settlers in Mulberry was Civil War Captain Thomas Lightfoot and his family from Alabama, who bought several thousand acres of land along the Red River. In 1883, Thomas Lightfoot donated land to the Mulberry Community to be used for a cemetery and a one-room school. Eventually, Mulberry School closed and half of its property was sold by D.B. Deupree in 1951 to the cemetery. Joe C. Denton paid paid for the land as a gift to the community. The oldest part of the cemetery is located on the north end overlooking Mulberry Bottom. The first recorded burial on the property was that of two-year-old Allis May, in 1876. Other family burials date as far back as 1881. In the northwest corner of the original burial ground is the Mexican section shaded with trees. The first Mexican family to come to Mulberry was Ferman and Rossaria Portillo and their three children in 1902. Over the years the community experienced multiple natural disasters which took several lives. Some of these events include: The 1905 flooding of Mulberry Bottom, 1919 Mulberry Cyclone and the 1959 tornado which destroyed many of the tombstones and cemetery fence. There are several war veterans buried in the cemetery including the only known Civil War veteran, B.F. Moseley. All veterans are honored by the main gate entrance flag pole, which is set in a concrete stand embedded with the Veterans of Foreign Wars emblem. A cross and monument stand on the midpoint between the original burial ground and the site of the old Mulberry School in memory of those lost and unmarked graves. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2016