Witten Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Witten Cemetery, out there in Tarrant County. Now settle in, because this ground holds more story than you might expect from a quiet patch of Texas earth. Samuel Cecil Holiday Witten, and that is a name worth saying twice, was born in 1819 and made his way to Texas in 1854.

He put down roots and did well for himself. Successful landowner. Justice of the Peace.

Deputy County Surveyor. A man who carried real weight in his community. But long before any of those titles meant much, before the years had a chance to soften anything, this land became a burial ground.

The first interment here was in 1857; Samuel's son, William. That's the kind of thing that marks a place forever, no matter what else follows. And more would follow.

Another son, George, born in 1841, lived only to 1868. He drowned while on a cattle drive. Out there on the open range, on the kind of work that was supposed to be ordinary, George Witten didn't come home.

Then there's the son-in-law, Ryan Harrington, born in 1829, died in 1884, a man who had once chased gold all the way to California in 1849 and made it back, only to end up resting here in Tarrant County soil decades later. Life has a way of humbling even the boldest journeys. Samuel and his wife eventually left, moving to Corpus Christi in 1890.

But the cemetery didn't close with their departure. Family descendants kept coming, kept burying their own, kept returning to this place that Samuel first consecrated with grief back in 1857. Some ground, once claimed by loss, just holds a family together across time.

This is that ground.

What the marker says

This cemetery was established for the family of Samuel Cecil Holiday Witten (1819-91), who came to Texas in 1854. A successful landowner, he also served as a Justice of the Peace and Deputy County Surveyor. Witten first used this burial site in 1857 for the interment of his son, William. Also buried here is another son, George (1841-68), who drowned while on a cattle drive, and a son-in-law, Ryan Harrington (1829-84), a participant in the 1849 California Gold Rush. Samuel Witten and his wife moved to Corpus Christi in 1890 and the cemetery was later used by family descendants.