Piney Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Piney Cemetery in Harrison County. Now settle in, because this one's got roots that go deep, and I mean that in more ways than one. Five miles north of Harleton, out where the land gets quiet and the trees get old, you'll find Piney Cemetery.

And when I say old trees, I mean oak and cedar that have been standing for over a hundred years, watching over this ground like sentinels. You'll know the entrance when you see it. A large iron arched sign and a chain fence mark the way in, the kind of entrance that tells you this place matters to the people who keep it.

The burial site itself goes back to the 1800s, with the oldest known grave dated to 1861. That first burial belongs to Carolin Oney Ragon, and her grave is marked with a rock tombstone hewed from natural stone, cut right out of the earth, which feels fitting for a place this old and this grounded. Now, Piney Cemetery has gone by a few names over the years.

Bear Bottom, Harmony, Lancaster, Pineridge, Equality. Five different names for one piece of ground, which tells you something about how much history has moved through here. Up on the hill where the cemetery pavilion stands today, there was once a school and a church.

At the end of the 19th century, folks gathered up there, on top of that hill, for learning and for worship. Then in 1889, Piney School and Piney Church moved down to the bottom of the hill to be nearer to the natural water spring. A year later, in 1890, a new church named Harmony was built back up on top of that same cemetery hill.

It lasted until 1905, when it was closed. Now. 1905. That year carries some weight in this story, because it's also when something terrible came rolling through.

A wagon train was struck by a case of small pox that killed many of the travelers. Many of them are buried at Piney Cemetery, their graves unmarked, around twenty of them, silent and uncounted among the 250 marked graves that fill this ground. Their doctor, J.F.

Mattox, is buried here too, among those he could not save. You let that sit for a moment. The cemetery became a formal organization in 1967, with E.L.

Craver serving as President and Laurel Hicks serving as both Secretary and Treasurer. But the community had been tending to this place long before any official founding. Back in the 1930s and 1940s, the people of Harleton would come out to the cemetery with bag lunches in hand and spend the day cleaning the grounds together.

They called it the Piney Cemetery annual meeting, and it was, and is, a chance for the community to honor their ancestors. Bag lunches, honest work, and remembrance. That's the tradition.

That's Piney Cemetery. Five miles north of Harleton, under those old oaks and cedars, still keeping watch.

What the marker says

Located five miles north of Harleton, Piney Cemetery is a rural cemetery in Harrison County. The site has several large oak and cedar trees, some over 100 years old. The entrance to Piney Cemetery is lined with a large iron arched sign and a chain fence. The burial site originated in the 1800s with its oldest grave dated to 1861. Carolin Oney Ragon was the first burial known today in the cemetery complete with a rock tombstone hewed from natural stone. Piney Cemetery became an organization in 1967. Its founding members were President E.L. Craver and Secretary and Treasurer Laurel Hicks. At the end of the 19th century there was a school and a church on top of the hill where the cemetery pavilion is now located. In 1889, Piney School and Piney Church moved to the bottom of the hill to be nearer to the natural water spring. In 1890, a church named Harmony was built on top of the cemetery hill but was closed in 1905. Designated Historic Texas Cemetery in 2014. Piney Cemetery has been associated with several names: Bear Bottom, Harmony, Lancaster, Pineridge, and Equality. Piney Cemetery holds 250 marked graves and around 20 unmarked graves. The unmarked graves date back to 1905 when a wagon train was struck by a case of small pox that killed many of the travelers. Their doctor, J.F. Mattox, is buried at Piney Cemetery. In the 1930s and 1940s the community of Harleton would meet at the cemetery with bag lunches to clean the grounds. This tradition, called the Piney Cemetery annual meeting, is an opportunity for the community to honor their ancestors. Designated as Historic Texas Cemetery in 2014.