DUANE
Duane's take
Here's what the official marker has to say, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, every family that put down roots in East Texas brought something with them — a name, a trade, a stubborn streak — and the McMillans were no different. William McMillan, Sr., came into this world in South Carolina in 1788, made his way to Alabama, and in 1823 married a woman named Elizabeth Wren.
Together they raised four children: William, Jr., born in 1824; Elizabeth, born in 1828; Matthew, born in 1829; and Marshall, born in 1835. That's a full household by any measure. Sometime in the late 1830s, the whole outfit packed up and pointed west.
Texas was calling — as it had a habit of doing — and the McMillans answered. In 1846 they obtained a land patent from the Republic of Texas itself, which, if you want to talk about timing, was just about the last moment that was even possible. The authority of the Republic was formally transferred to the new state of Texas shortly after.
They slipped in right under the wire. The community that grew up around the family's new home was designated McMillan's Post in 1848, and William McMillan, Sr., was its first postmaster. That postal station served the area until 1866, when it was discontinued.
William died that same year. Before he went, though, the McMillans had done something quietly important. They set aside a place on this site for burials — family, friends, and others in the community who had no access to other burial grounds.
It is believed that William and Elizabeth McMillan and other family members were interred here in unmarked graves, their resting places known now only to the earth itself. The first headstone didn't appear until 1868, placed for a twenty-four-year-old pioneer named Sophrona A. Dobbs.
What followed over the decades was a record written in stone — and in the absence of stone. A high infant-child mortality rate bears witness to the harsh conditions of pioneer life out here. And then there are the five known graves of victims of the 1919 influenza epidemic, a reminder that the frontier's dangers didn't end when the fences went up.
For many years, families of those interred on the site maintained the cemetery themselves. In the early 1950s, a cemetery association was organized to care for the property. Then in 1976, a descendant of the Reeves family — a family prominently represented in the cemetery — gave additional acreage, with one stipulation: that the cemetery bear the Reeves name.
And so Reeves-McMillan it became. Today, more than 234 marked graves and 80 unmarked ones rest on this ground. That's more than three hundred souls, named and unnamed, each one a thread in the long chronicle of Panola County history.
Some left headstones. Some left only silence. The cemetery holds them all the same.
What the marker says
Born in South Carolina in 1788, William McMillan, Sr., moved to Alabama where he was married in 1823 to Elizabeth Wren. The couple had four children: William, Jr. (b. 1824), Elizabeth (b. 1828), Matthew (b. 1829), and Marshall (b. 1835). The family settled in Texas in the late 1830s, obtaining a land patent from the Republic of Texas in 1846, shortly before the authority of the Republic was formally transferred to the new state of Texas. The area surrounding the family's new home was designated McMillan's Post in 1848 and William McMillan, Sr., was first postmaster. The postal station was discontinued in 1866, and William died that year. The McMillans set aside a place on this site for burials of family and friends and others in the community who had no access to other burial grounds. It is believed that William and Elizabeth McMillan and other family members were interred here in unmarked graves before the first headstone was placed for 24-year-old pioneer Sophrona A. Dobbs in 1868. A high infant-child mortality rate bears witness to the harsh conditions of pioneer life, as do the five known graves of victims of the 1919 influenza epidemic. For many years the cemetery has been maintained by families of those interred on the site; in the early 1950s a cemetery association was organized to care for the property. A descendant of the Reeves family, which is prominently represented in the cemetery, gave additional acreage in 1976 with the stipulation that the cemetery bear the Reeves name. With more than 234 marked and 80 unmarked graves, the Reeves-McMillan Cemetery is a chronicle of Panola County history. (1999)