New Mine Cemetery

Duane's take

The way I tell it, I'm drawing straight from the official marker, so here's the story as the record gives it to me. Out in Camp County, a piece of ground has been keeping its promises for well over a century now. It starts, as so many Texas stories do, with a deed.

On July 20, 1892, George O. and Julia F. Hart deeded land to the New Mine Baptist Church. Ten years after that, they sold the congregation additional land.

The Harts were making sure this little church had room to grow. But for a long time, when somebody in that community passed away, there was no burying ground right there at New Mine. Folks made do.

Some were carried to Reeves Chapel Cemetery, approximately one mile west. Others were laid to rest in Pittsburg cemeteries. That was just how things were done, year after year, for many years.

Then came May of 1930. The New Mine Baptist congregation began plans for establishing a burial ground of its own, right there adjacent to the church site. They had decided it was time.

And the land didn't wait long to be needed. That same year, James M. Quillin died, and he was the first person buried in New Mine Cemetery.

The ground had barely been designated and already it was doing its solemn work. Now, here's a detail that'll stay with you. George Hart, the man whose family had deeded that original land back in 1892, had died in 1929, just before the cemetery was even established.

He'd been buried somewhere else. But in 1937, at the request of his widow and children, George Hart was reinterred in New Mine Cemetery. The man who helped give the church its land was finally brought home to rest beside it.

The marker doesn't editorialize on that. It doesn't need to. The congregation kept tending to the place.

In 1939 they installed the first fence. Later they replaced it, and added brick pillars at the arched entryway, the kind of entrance that tells you something inside is worth protecting. And they never stopped.

The congregation has continued to use and maintain that historic burial ground right on through to today. Every year, descendants of those buried here gather for an annual memorial church service and business meeting, followed by dinner and fellowship under the pavilion. A reunion of the living, held in honor of those who aren't.

That's the whole shape of it: a deed, a community making do, a decision in 1930, a first burial, a homecoming in 1937, and a fence with brick pillars framing the way in. Some cemeteries just hold the quiet. This one holds a reunion.

What the marker says

George O. and Julia F. Hart deeded land to the New Mine Baptist Church on July 20, 1892, and ten years later sold additional land to the congregation. For many years, area residents used nearby cemeteries when loved ones passed away. These burial grounds included Reeves Chapel Cemetery, approximately one mile west; others were buried in Pittsburg cemeteries. In May 1930, the New Mine Baptist congregation began plans for establishing a burial ground of its own adjacent to the church site. That year, James M. Quillin died, and he was the first buried in New Mine Cemetery. In 1937, George Hart, who had died in 1929, was reinterred here at the request of his widow and children. The congregation installed the first fence in 1939, later replacing it and adding brick pillars at the arched entryway. The congregation has continued to use and maintain the historic burial ground. An annual memorial church service and business meeting, followed by dinner and fellowship under the pavilion, serves as a reunion for descendants of those buried here. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2005