Nettles Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way back in 1844, a man named Malachi Theophilus Nettles, and you have to admit that is a name built for a courthouse, packed up his wife Harriett and their family and left Alabama behind. They came to Texas and settled near what would become Livingston.

Now, Polk County was created in 1845, and somebody had to be trusted with the money. Somebody had to be the first county treasurer. The folks in charge looked around and landed on Malachi T.

Nettles. That was just the beginning. He went on to hold other elected offices too.

The man put down roots, and not just the political kind. Then Malachi passed, and the family needed a new center of gravity. That fell to his son, Stephen Joseph Nettles, who stepped into the role of family patriarch.

Stephen Joseph had a particular piece of family land, and he had a particular wish. He wanted a cemetery established right there on that ground. And in 1900, under a beloved blackhaw tree, he became the first soul laid to rest in it.

Think about that. He asked for the place, and then he was the first one to need it. The family took over from there.

Cemetery workings began in 1936, and the cemetery was incorporated in 1995. Today it holds 38 graves. Nearly every single one of them belongs to a Nettles descendant.

Nearly. There are two quiet exceptions, two souls who aren't Nettles by blood but found their way in all the same. A newborn baby, and a sixteen-year-old girl whose brother married into the family.

The burial ground is still serving the Nettles family today. Started by a man with a grand name, anchored by a blackhaw tree, and still carrying the family forward.

What the marker says

Malachi Theophilus Nettles and his wife Harriett brought their family from Alabama to Texas in 1844 and settled near what became Livingston. Malachi T. Nettles was appointed first county treasurer when Polk County was created in 1845, and later held other elected offices. The Nettles’ son, Stephen Joseph, became the family patriarch upon Malachi’s death. This cemetery was established on family land at Stephen Joseph’s request; he was the first to be interred here under a beloved blackhaw tree in 1900. The family began cemetery workings in 1936 and incorporated the cemetery in 1995. Of the 38 graves it contains, all are those of Nettles descendants except a newborn baby and a 16-year-old girl whose brother married into the family. The burial ground continues to serve the Nettles family. (2000)