Payne Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Payne Cemetery, out in Henderson County. Pull over if you can, because this one's worth a slow look. Surrounded by a forest of oaks, pines, and crepe myrtles, Payne Cemetery sits quiet and deep-shaded, the way a place gets when it's been holding stories for a long, long time.

The marker tells us that in the eighteen seventies, early pioneers moved into this part of Henderson County hoping to improve their lives. That's the whole dream right there, isn't it. Just a few words, and you can feel the wagons.

One of those early pioneers was William K. Payne, born in eighteen twenty-one. Now William K.

Payne was not a man who stayed on the sidelines of history. He served as a delegate from Henderson County to the Texas Secession Convention, and in eighteen sixty-one, he signed the Texas Ordinance of Secession from the Union. The town of Payne Springs carries his name.

He served during the Civil War, and he was later elected justice of the peace in Henderson County. He is buried here, alongside his wife, Martha, born Martha Woodward, who lived from eighteen thirty-five to eighteen seventy-six. William himself passed in eighteen seventy-seven.

Side by side in the shade of those old trees. Now the first burial recorded at Payne Cemetery belongs to the smallest soul in this story. Benjamin R.

Cook, child of Francis Marion Cook and his wife Susan, born Susan Starr. Benjamin was born in eighteen sixty-nine and died in eighteen seventy-four. A young child.

The marker doesn't linger on that, and neither should we, except to say that his parents, Francis Marion Cook and Susan Starr Cook, kept on. Francis lived from eighteen thirty-two to nineteen ten. Susan from eighteen thirty-eight to nineteen twenty-five.

They are part of this ground too. One of Francis and Susan's children, George J. Cook, born eighteen sixty-seven, became a man who left his mark on the living town of Eustace.

In nineteen oh seven, he built one of the first brick buildings in Eustace, and he served as vice president of the Eustace Bank for twenty-eight years. George passed in nineteen thirty-eight, and his wife, Lillie, born Lillie Melton, who lived from eighteen eighty-six to nineteen fifty-four, rests here beside him. Among the hundreds of burials at Payne Cemetery, a large number are attributed to the Ballard, Dixon, Hughes, Jones, and Keeton families.

And scattered through those rows of stone are veterans. Veterans of the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Generation after generation, answering the call, and coming home to this ground.

The headstones themselves tell the story of time passing: granite, marble, sandstone, wood, fieldstone, concrete. Each material a mark of its era, each one somebody's way of saying, this person was here, this person mattered. Payne Cemetery is a reminder, the marker says, of the area's nineteenth century settlers who developed this portion of Henderson County.

And standing there among the oaks and the pines and the crepe myrtles, with all those names and all those years pressing up through the soil, you believe it. Every single word of it.

What the marker says

Surrounded by a forest of trees, Payne Cemetery is the final resting place for many of the area’s pioneer settlers and their descendants. In the 1870s, early pioneers moved to this area of Henderson County hoping to improve their lives. One early pioneer to the area, William K. Payne (1821-1877), served as a delegate from Henderson County to the Texas Secession Convention, signed the Texas Ordinance of Secession from the Union in 1861 and is the namesake of the town of Payne Springs. He served during the Civil War and was later elected justice of the peace in Henderson County. He and his wife, Martha (Woodward) Payne (1835-1876), are buried here. The first burial is that of Benjamin R. Cook (1869-1874), the young child of Francis Marion Cook (1832-1910) and his wife, Susan (Starr) Cook (1838-1925). One of the couple’s children, George J. Cook (1867-1938), built one of the first brick buildings in Eustace in 1907 and was the vice president of the Eustace Bank for twenty-eight years. He and his wife, Lillie (Melton) Cook (1886-1954), are buried here. Among the hundreds of burials at Payne Cemetery, a large number are attributed to the Ballard, Dixon, Hughes, Jones and Keeton families. Veterans of the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War are also buried here. This cemetery features a variety of headstones including granite, marble, sandstone, wood, fieldstone and concrete. Situated among oaks, pines and crepe myrtles, this historic cemetery is a reminder of the area’s nineteenth century settlers who developed this portion of Henderson County. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2012