DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll give it to you straight. Out in Montgomery County, there's a cemetery that carries more Texas history in its soil than most places carry in their whole county courthouse. It's called the New Cemetery of Montgomery, and it has a story worth hearing before you drive past it.
The ground there holds the remains of some honored Texans — people whose names you might recognize if you've spent any time with the story of this state. Dr. Charles B.
Stewart is buried here. He was a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and the first secretary of state. That's not a small thing.
Also laid to rest here is the wife of General Memucan Hunt — Texas soldier and statesman. And beyond those names, the cemetery holds soldiers of the Texas army, veterans of the Civil War, veterans of other wars engaged in by the United States. Layer after layer of people who gave something to this place.
Now, this cemetery was founded on December 1, 1868 — and it was founded for a specific reason: to relieve what folks were calling the Old Methodist plot. The land itself was donated by P. J. and R.
S. Willis, merchants. A genuine act of civic generosity.
But here's where the story takes a turn that demands you slow down and sit with it. The first persons buried on that donated land were three men killed by vigilantes. Not soldiers fallen in battle.
Not pioneers worn down by the frontier. Three men killed by vigilantes. And a fourth — a fourth was buried nearby.
That's how this ground was consecrated. That's what the first chapter of this cemetery looks like. So when you stand there among the headstones of signers and soldiers and statesmen, remember that the very first graves were dug under a shadow that no marker can fully lift.
What the marker says
Burial place of many honored Texans, including Dr. Charles B. Stewart, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and first secretary of state; also wife of Gen. Memucan Hunt, Texas soldier and statesman. Other noted individuals here include soldiers of the Texas army and veterans of the Civil War and other wars engaged in by the United States. This cemetery was founded December 1, 1868, to relieve "Old" Methodist plot. First persons buried on land (donated by P. J. and R. S. Willis, merchants) were 3 men killed by vigilantes. A fourth was buried nearby.