Taylor Family Cemetery

Duane's take

The marker tells it one way — here's how Duane carries that story down the road with you. Now, there are cemeteries, and then there are cemeteries. The Taylor Family Cemetery, also known as the Taylor-Bennett Cemetery, out in DeWitt County — that one carries a weight you can feel the moment you step through the gate.

Let's start at the very beginning, because this family's beginning goes back further than most people reckon. Josiah and Hephzibeth Taylor were among the early Anglo settlers who came to Texas, migrating here in 1824. They settled near this very spot in 1829, as part of the DeWitt Colony.

But here's the thing about Josiah Taylor — he didn't wait until 1829 to get tangled up in Texas history. He first came to Texas in 1812. Eighteen twelve.

He joined the Gutiérrez-Magee Expedition, a filibustering excursion during the Mexican War for Independence. He participated in the siege at La Bahía. He fought at the battles of Rosillo and Alazan Creek.

This man had seen the ground shake before he ever put down roots in it. And when Josiah finally did lay down for good, he became the oldest resident of the very cemetery he helped give his name to. His grave dates to 1830 — the oldest in the ground.

The family he left behind? They were not the sitting-still kind. The Taylors' immediate family included Texas Rangers.

Veterans of the Texas War for Independence. People who lived through the Runaway Scrape. Veterans of the Battle of Salado Creek in 1842.

Generation after generation, they kept showing up wherever Texas history was being made — sometimes violently, sometimes heroically, sometimes both at once. And then there is the Sutton-Taylor Feud. The marker does not mince words: the lengthiest and deadliest feud in Texas history.

Some of those killed during that feud rest here in this ground. You walk among those stones and the silence gets a little heavier. Now the cemetery didn't stay a Taylor-only affair.

The Bennett family entered the picture through a marriage — the 1857 union of Elizabeth J. Day, step-daughter of Pitkin Taylor, to a British-born man named Joseph W. Bennett.

That joining of families eventually joined the burial grounds too, and the place came to be known as the Taylor-Bennett Cemetery as well. Look around the grounds and you'll find vertical stones, grave slabs, curbing, and Masonic inscriptions. Veterans of U.S. military conflicts rest here alongside those earliest settlers.

It is, as the marker says, a record and a monument to two pioneering families with vital connections to the history of Texas. In 1974, the Taylor Family Association formed to maintain the graveyard. Taylor family members were no longer buried here after 1933, though the Bennett family continues to use and care for the burial ground to this day.

Some places just hold history the way good clay holds water. The Taylor Family Cemetery is one of them. Josiah Taylor rode into Texas in 1812 chasing something — independence, maybe, or just the horizon.

What he left behind was a family, a legacy, and a piece of ground in DeWitt County that has been keeping the story ever since.

What the marker says

THIS BURIAL GROUND, ALSO KNOWN AS TAYLOR-BENNETT CEMETERY, ORIGINALLY SERVED THE TAYLOR FAMILY. IT LATER ALSO BECAME THE FINAL RESTING PLACE FOR MEMBERS OF THE BENNETT FAMILY, WHO WERE JOINED WITH THE TAYLORS THROUGH THE 1857 MARRIAGE OF ELIZABETH J. DAY (STEP-DAUGHTER OF PITKIN TAYLOR) TO BRITISH-BORN JOSEPH W. BENNETT. JOSIAH AND HEPHZIBETH TAYLOR WERE EARLY ANGLO SETTLERS, MIGRATING TO TEXAS IN 1824. THEY SETTLED NEAR HERE WITH THEIR FAMILY IN 1829 AS PART OF THE De WITT COLONY. HOWEVER, JOSIAH TAYLOR FIRST CAME TO TEXAS IN 1812, WHEN HE JOINED THE GUTIÉRREZ-MAGEE EXPEDITION, A FILIBUSTERING EXCURSION DURING THE MEXICAN WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. HE PARTICIPATED IN THE SEIGE AT LA BAHÍA AND IN THE BATTLES OF ROSILLO AND ALAZAN CREEK. THE TAYLORS’ IMMEDIATE FAMILY INCLUDED TEXAS RANGERS, VETERANS OF THE TEXAS WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE, PARTICIPANTS IN THE RUNAWAY SCRAPE AND VETERANS OF THE BATTLE OF SALADO CREEK IN 1842. JOSIAH TAYLOR’S GRAVE IS THE OLDEST IN THE CEMETERY, DATING TO 1830. OTHERS BURIED HERE INCLUDE VETERANS OF U.S. MILITARY CONFLICTS AND THOSE KILLED DURING THE SUTTON-TAYLOR FEUD, THE LENGTHIEST AND DEADLIEST IN TEXAS HISTORY. THE CEMETERY FEATURES VERTICAL STONES, GRAVE SLABS, CURBING AND MASONIC INSCRIPTIONS. IN 1974, THE TAYLOR FAMILY ASSOCIATION FORMED TO MAINTAIN THE GRAVEYARD. TAYLOR FAMILY MEMBERS WERE NO LONGER BURIED HERE AFTER 1933, THOUGH THE BENNETT FAMILY CONTINUES TO USE AND CARE FOR THE BURIAL GROUND. TODAY, THE TAYLOR FAMILY CEMETERY REMAINS A RECORD OF AND MONUMENT TO TWO PIONEERING FAMILIES WITH VITAL CONNECTIONS TO THE HISTORY OF TEXAS. HISTORIC TEXAS CEMETERY – 2009