DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker at Wortham Bend Cemetery has to say — and friend, it's got more layers than you might expect from a quiet piece of McLennan County ground. It starts with a man named William Green Duke Wortham, a Tennessee native who came to Texas around 1854. He brought with him a wife, Charlotte Coke, whom he had wed back in 1841.
Now Charlotte wasn't just anybody's kin — her brother was Richard Coke, who would go on to serve as Governor of Texas. The Worthams settled in this area, and the community that grew up around them took their name. That's the kind of quiet permanence a family can leave on a landscape.
The cemetery itself — this ground right here — was in use as early as 1864, when a woman named Sarah Bird was interred on the site. But here's the thing that'll make you look twice: several graves are marked only with rocks, and those stones may pre-date even 1864. Anonymous.
Patient. Waiting for someone to remember them. And then there's the grave of J.B.M.
Howard, who died in 1865. His tombstone doesn't soften the story. It says he was killed by — and I'm reading the marker's own words here — "The Quantrel Men." That's a reference to W.C.
Quantrill, the Civil War vigilante whose raiders left a trail of violence across the borderlands. Whatever happened to J.B.M. Howard, his people made sure the stone told the truth about it.
In a cemetery full of quiet, that tombstone speaks up. The land itself was formally secured in 1874, when James W. and William N. Wortham — descendants of the original settlers — donated it to the community for use as a burial ground.
A generous act, and a lasting one. Over the years, the cemetery found its caretakers. Carrie Crump Hanna oversaw the maintenance for approximately forty years.
Forty years of tending to the dead, keeping the grass back and the memory forward. When Carrie's time passed, her daughter Mary Hanna Bryant took up the work — protecting the grounds, expanding them, carrying on what her mother had built. Today, family members and the cemetery association together continue caring for this place.
More than three hundred graves rest here — some with carved stones, some with nothing but rock, some carrying inscriptions that still have something to say. There's a long story buried in that ground. William Green Duke Wortham came from Tennessee around 1854, and the roots he put down here haven't let go yet.
What the marker says
Tennessee native William Green Duke Wortham came to Texas around 1854. His wife, Charlotte Coke, whom he wed in 1841, was sister to Texas Governor Richard Coke. The couple settled in this area, and the community that developed here was named for Wortham. This site was in use as a cemetery as early as 1864, when Sarah Bird was interred here. Several graves are marked only with rocks and may pre-date 1864. Another early grave is that of J.B.M. Howard (d. 1865), whose tombstone indicates he was killed by "The Quantrel Men," referring to the Civil War vigilante W.C. Quantrill. James W. and William N. Wortham, descendants of the original settlers, formally donated the land to the community for use as a burial ground in 1874. Over the years, various individuals cared for the burial ground. Carrie Crump Hanna oversaw the mainenance for approximately 40 years, and her daughter Mary Hanna Bryant later did much to protect and expand the cemetery. Family members, as well as the cemetery association, continue to care for the burial ground and the more than 300 graves. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2004