DUANE
Duane's take
The way this old marker tells it, here's the story of Stanton Cemetery as I have it. Now, some places come into being slow — a little at a time, a name added here, a fence post there. But Stanton Cemetery didn't ease into existence.
It was called into being all at once, by grief, in the year 1861. William and Nancy Stanton had themselves a family out there on their land in Houston County. And in 1861, that family was hit hard.
Their young daughter, Sarah A., and their infant son, William H., died just days apart — victims of a diphtheria epidemic that was moving through the area. Days apart. You let that sit for a moment.
Two children, one family, days apart. William and Nancy buried both of them right there on the family land, and in doing so, without ever intending to name it or dedicate it or make any formal declaration about it — they started a cemetery. Now, time moves on.
It always does, even when you wish it wouldn't. The Stantons had another son — Joseph Brown — and Joseph Brown grew up knowing what that little patch of ground meant to his family. And in 1917, he sat down and wrote out, by hand, instructions for preserving and protecting that family cemetery.
Handwritten instructions. Not a legal document drawn up by some courthouse lawyer — just a man putting pen to paper because he wanted to make sure nobody forgot what was buried there, and why it mattered. The last person laid to rest in Stanton Cemetery was David Beavers, in 1966.
And after that, the question became the one that always hovers over a place like this: who's going to look after it? Well, in 1975, that question got answered. The Stanton Cemetery Association was founded, and they took ownership and maintenance of the grounds.
To this day, members of the Hill family, the Beavers family, and the Stanton family are interred there. It started with two children, days apart, in 1861. And more than a century later, people are still making sure the gate stays hinged and the grass gets tended.
Joseph Brown would've approved.
What the marker says
Stanton Cemetery began with the burials, just days apart, of the young daughter (Sarah A.) and infant son (William H.) of William and Nancy Stanton in 1861. The children, victims of a diphtheria epidemic, were buried on family land. The Stanton's other son, Joseph Brown, left handwritten instructions for preserving and protecting the family cemetery in 1917. The last person buried there was David Beavers in 1966. The Stanton Cemetery Association, founded in 1975, owns and maintains the cemetery. Members of the Hill, Beavers, and Stanton families are interred there.