DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Ryan Cemetery, out in Liberty County, Texas. Pull over if you can — this one's got layers. Now, most graveyards get named for the church that keeps 'em, or the family that deeded the land, or sometimes just the road out front.
Ryan Cemetery got its name from a man named John Jacob Ryan — early settler, prosperous businessman, owner of the surrounding land. And here's where it gets complicated: Ryan himself is not buried there. Nobody knows where Ryan is buried.
Hold that thought. The place that grew up around this cemetery — the community of Tarkington, also called Tarkington Prairie — was named for an early pioneer settler by the name of Burton B. Tarkington.
That community thrived after the Civil War, farming and ranching country doing what farming and ranching country does. And long before the war was even over, people were already laying their dead to rest in what would become Ryan Cemetery. The first marked grave dates from 1863 — a ten-year-old boy named William E.
West. Ten years old. Eighteen sixty-three.
You let that sit. John Jacob Ryan himself had come to Liberty County from Ireland sometime between 1850 and 1860. He built himself up — owned land, ran a store right there on his property, made a name as a prosperous businessman.
A man of standing. A man with roots taking hold in Texas soil. Then came August of 1873.
Ryan was found shot to death on the public road near the very cemetery that now carries his name. Three men were indicted for his murder. Three men were eventually acquitted.
And Ryan's burial site — to this day — is unknown. The man gave the cemetery his name, and the cemetery could not give him a grave. There's a Texas-sized irony in that, and it ain't the funny kind.
The land itself kept on living, the way land does. In 1908, the property was conveyed to the Rural Shade Baptist Church, who maintained the cemetery for decades — all the way until 1989, when the Ryan Cemetery Association took over management. Many early members of that church are buried here, alongside pioneer settlers, community leaders, and veterans reaching all the way back to the Texas Revolution.
Notable among the Civil War veterans interred here are Charles Matthew Rice and Jessie Burton Gillen. And the Tarkington Prairie Masonic Lodge No. 798 has been historically tied to this place as well — many of its charter members have been buried here since the lodge's founding in 1878. Every year, descendants and citizens make their way out to Ryan Cemetery for an annual memorial service, coming to celebrate the heritage of this community — the pioneers, the veterans, the church members, the settlers who worked this corner of Liberty County into something lasting.
Many of them are buried here. The man who gave this place its name is not. And somehow, that absence says as much about the frontier as all the marked graves put together.
What the marker says
Also known as Ryan's Graveyard, this historic burial ground served the rural community of Tarkington since at least the 1860s. Named for early pioneer settler Burton B. Tarkington, the farming and ranching community also known as Tarkington Prairie thrived after the Civil War. Many veterans and pioneers are buried in Ryan Cemetery, with the first marked grave dating from 1863 for 10-year-old William E. West. The cemetery was named for early settler John Jacob Ryan, who owned land surrounding the cemetery. Ryan arrived in Liberty County from Ireland between 1850 and 1860 and became a prosperous businessman with a store on his property. In August 1873, Ryan was found shot to death on the public road near the cemetery. Although three men were indicted for his murder, they were eventually acquitted. Ryan's burial site is unknown. In 1908, the property was conveyed to the Rural Shade Baptist Church, who maintained the cemetery until 1989 when the Ryan Cemetery Association assumed management. Many early church members are buried here, along with other pioneer settlers, leaders of the community and veterans dating to the Texas Revolution. Notable Civil War veterans include Charles Matthew Rice and Jessie Burton Gillen. The Tarkington Prairie Masonic Lodge No. 798 has also been historically associated with the Ryan Cemetery, with many charter members buried here since its founding in 1878. An annual memorial service attracts descendants and citizens to the Ryan Cemetery to celebrate the rich heritage of the community. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2018