Owen Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of the official marker for Owen Cemetery, out in Henderson County, Texas. Now settle in, because this one starts before it even starts. David Allen Owen came to Texas in 1851, and he made that long journey from Randolph County, Alabama to Henderson County with five children in tow.

He traveled alongside family members and others, a whole caravan of folks putting Alabama behind them and Texas ahead. But his first wife, Mary, born Langsdon, did not make it. She died on the way.

Before they ever arrived. Before they ever saw the land they were heading for. Five children, a grief that had no place to be set down yet, and still the wagon rolled on.

That is how this story begins. With a loss that the land itself would eventually be asked to hold. Owen settled in, and he made something of himself in Henderson County.

He served as chief justice, that is to say county judge, from 1860 to 1869. He was a pioneer member of the Pilgrim's Rest Primitive Baptist Church at Baxter. He eventually found his way to the Mill Run community, and there he did something a man does when he understands that a place needs to be tended.

He set aside part of his own land for a cemetery. The earliest marked grave belongs to his son, Silas Monk Owen, who died in 1873. And from there, the ground began to receive its neighbors.

Friends. Family. The names Clayton, Davis, Hanks, Hester, Moon, Ratcliff, Regester, and Rogers all appear on tombstones dated before 1900.

Owen himself, born 1817, died 1885, is buried there. His second wife, Lucinda, born Woodard, born 1834 and living all the way to 1925, rests beside him. Sons Jefferson Davis, David Randolph, Jordan Wade, Joseph Collins, and Dewitt Judson are there.

And Mary Matilda Clayton Pace, born 1849, died 1930, a daughter by his first wife Mary, the one who never made it to Texas, she made it. She is buried there too. Many of the graves are unmarked now, or marked only with rocks.

No name, no date, just a stone saying: someone was here. But Owen Cemetery stands, as the marker puts it, as part of the recorded history of this area of Henderson County. A man carved a piece of his land out of the world and said: this is where we remember.

And so it is.

What the marker says

David Allen Owen came to Texas with his first wife, Mary (Langsdon), who died enroute, and their 5 children. They traveled with family members and others from Randolph County, Alabama to Henderson County, Texas in 1851. Owen served as chief justice (county judge) from 1860 to 1869 and was a pioneer member of the Pilgrim's Rest Primitive Baptist Church at Baxter. He later settled in the Mill Run community and set aside part of his land for this cemetery. The earliest marked grave is for Owen's son, Silas Monk Owen, who died in 1873. Friends and neighbors, as well as other Owen family members, are buried here. Tombstones dated before 1900 bear the names of Clayton, Davis, Hanks, Hester, Moon, Ratcliff, Regester, and Rogers. David Allen Owen (1817-1885); his second wife, Lucinda (Woodard) (1834-1925); sons Jefferson Davis (1861-1916), David Randolph (1864-1927), Jordan Wade (1869-1947), Joseph Collins (1875-1930), and Dewitt Judson (1872-1943); and Mary Matilda (Clayton) Pace (1849-1930), a daughter by his first wife, also are buried here. Although many of the graves are unmarked or are marked only with rocks, the Owen Cemetery stands as part of the recorded history of this area of Henderson County.