DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of the official marker for Tanner Cemetery, as recorded by the Texas Historical Commission. Now, every cemetery has a story, and the ones that sit on a hill — overlooking the land the buried folks actually worked — those tend to be the ones worth stoppin' for. Thomas and Charlotte Guthrie Tanner came to Mexican Texas in 1827 or 1828.
Think about that for a moment. Mexican Texas. Before the Republic, before the state, before just about anything most Texans would recognize today.
They came early, and they put down roots that clearly weren't goin' anywhere. By 1849, Thomas and Charlotte had purchased six hundred acres on McGraw Creek — six hundred acres for six hundred dollars, bought from a man named J. R.
Williams. And on that land, those two raised twelve children. Twelve.
That is not a typo. Then 1862 came, and Thomas Tanner died. He was buried on a hill overlooking the property he and Charlotte had built their lives on.
The marker notes that several unmarked graves on the site can't be dated, so we can't say with absolute certainty — but Thomas Tanner's was probably the first burial in what would become Tanner Cemetery. And once a good man gets buried on a hill like that, well, a community tends to follow. The site became a community burial ground.
In 1872, Reverend Marcus Miller was laid to rest there. Then in 1875, Charlotte Guthrie Tanner herself joined Thomas on that hill. She'd outlasted him, raised those twelve children, and kept on keepin' on for over a decade after he was gone.
The nineteenth century kept filling in those headstones. J. C.
Miller, died 1890. Bettie Tanner, her grave dated 1897. Lucinda Abbott, died 1909.
Each one a thread in the fabric of Newton County. Now, if you want to talk about service — this cemetery has got it in abundance. Thomas Tanner himself served in the army of the Republic of Texas in 1837.
His sons Nathan T. and James L. Tanner served in the Confederate Army, and they weren't alone — four of their five brothers served alongside them. The Tanner men, it seems, answered every call their era put to them.
And the tradition carried forward. Several World War I veterans are interred at Tanner Cemetery, and several World War II veterans as well. In 1944 and again in 1972, neighbors deeded adjoining acreage to the cemetery trustees — the land itself growing to hold the community it was serving.
Among the headstones you'll also find local ministers and county officials, people who shaped the daily life of Newton County in ways both spiritual and civic. More than fifty family names rest on those headstones today. Fifty families, generations deep, all threading back to the pioneers who made this corner of East Texas what it is.
The cemetery is cared for by an association of the settlers' descendants — which means the people tending the place are the very descendants of the people buried in it. A hill overlooking six hundred acres on McGraw Creek. Started with one man in 1862, and it's been telling Newton County's story ever since.
What the marker says
Thomas and Charlotte Guthrie Tanner moved to Mexican Texas in 1827 or 1828. They purchased six hundred acres on McGraw Creek from J. R. Williams for six hundred dollars in 1849. When Thomas Tanner died in 1862, he was buried on a hill overlooking the property where he and Charlotte reared twelve children. Though several unmarked graves cannot be dated, Thomas Tanner's was probably the first burial in the Tanner Cemetery. The site soon became a community burial ground. In 1872 the Reverend Marcus Miller was buried on this site; he was followed in 1875 by Charlotte Guthrie Tanner. Other 19th and early 20th century burials include those of J. C. Miller, who died in 1890, Bettie Tanner, whose grave is dated 1897, and Lucinda Abbott, who died in 1909. In 1944 and 1972, neighbors deeded adjoining acreage to cemetery trustees. Veterans buried in the cemetery include Thomas Tanner, who served in the army of the Republic of Texas in 1837, and his sons Nathan T. and James L. Tanner who, along with four of their five brothers, served in the Confederate Army. Several World War I and World War II veterans are interred here. Other burials of interest include several local ministers and county officials. More than fifty family names grace the headstones of Tanner Cemetery. Cared for by an association of settlers' descendants, the Tanner Cemetery remains a chronicle of the pioneers of Newton County. (1998)