Old Fairview Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Out here in Hall County, Memphis sits on ground that folks started burying their own before the town even had a proper title to itself. That's right.

Old Fairview Cemetery, the oldest burial ground in Memphis, got its start a few months before Memphis was even chosen as the Hall County seat. Think about that for a second. The land was still being sorted out, the ink on the town plat was barely dry, and yet somebody took a corner, the northeast corner, specifically, and said, this is where we mark the ones we've lost.

That's how certain these pioneers were they were staying. The cemetery was carved right out of that northeast corner of the town plat, as if to say the dead had a claim here first. The earliest marked grave belongs to Ben F.

Taylor, who died in March of 1890. Whatever else was uncertain in those early days, Ben F. Taylor's stone has been standing there longer than any other marked one we know of.

Resting nearby is J. C. Montgomery, known to history as the Father of Memphis, laid to rest in the oldest section of the grounds.

Now, the cemetery also holds a man named W. A. Johnson, and his story stretches well beyond Hall County.

Johnson served as editor of the Hall County Herald, then went on to become a state senator, and ultimately Lieutenant Governor of Texas. A life that moved from a local press room to the upper reaches of state government, and in the end he came back here, to this ground carved from a corner of the plat. The Fairview Cemetery Association formed in 1993, and they've taken on the work of caring not just for Old Fairview but for the adjoining burial grounds as well.

Somebody has to tend to the stories the stones hold, and these folks stepped up to do it. Designated a Historic Texas Cemetery in 2012. Memphis' oldest burial ground, started before the town even knew what it was going to be, and still standing watch.

What the marker says

Memphis’ oldest burial ground is the final resting place for many pioneer families and prominent community members. J.C. Montgomery, “Father of Memphis,” is buried in the oldest section. The cemetery started a few months before Memphis was selected as hall county seat, and was carved from the northeast corner of the town plat. The earliest marked grave is that of Ben F. Taylor, who died in March 1890. Among several notable graves is that of W. A. Johnson, who was editor of the Hall County Herald, state senator and Lt. Governor of Texas. The Fairview Cemetery Association, formed in 1993, cares for Old Fairview Cemetery as well as adjoining burial grounds. Designated Historic Texas Cemetery in 2012.