Chandler Cemetery
Heath, Rockwall County, Texas
Marker Inscription
KENTUCKY NATIVES HENRY MARTIN AND MARTHA (WADE) CHANDLER WERE SETTLED HERE BY 1860 AS SOME OF THE EARLIEST ANGLO PIONEERS IN THE AREA. OF THE SEVEN MARKED GRAVES IN CHANDLER CEMETERY, SIX ARE CHANDLER FAMILY MEMBERS. THE EARLIEST BURIAL AT THIS SITE OCCURRED IN 1869, UPON THE DEATH OF THE CHANDLERS’ NINE-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER, MARY. THE ONLY NON-FAMILY GRAVE BELONGS TO HATTIE HARVEY, WHO WAS THE DAUGHTER OF WILLIAM C. AND LAURA F. HARVEY, NEIGHBORS FROM AN ADJACENT FARM. HENRY CHANDLER WAS BURIED AT THE SITE IN 1904 AND MARTHA WAS INTERRED IN 1908; MARTHA’S IS THE LAST KNOWN BURIAL AT THE SITE. CHANDLER CEMETERY SERVES TODAY AS A REMINDER OF THE MANY PIONEERING FAMILIES OF ROCKWALL COUNTY.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Kentucky natives Henry and Martha Chandler were among the earliest Anglo settlers of the Rockwall County area, established here by 1860. Their small family burial ground opened in sorrow in 1869 with the death of their nine-year-old daughter Mary, and grew to seven marked graves — six of them Chandlers, plus a neighbor's daughter, Hattie Harvey. Henry was laid to rest in 1904 and Martha in 1908, the last known burial.
Why it matters
This modest family cemetery preserves the human cost and quiet endurance of the pioneer families who first broke ground in North Texas.
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Related people
- · Henry Martin Chandler
- · Martha Wade Chandler
Themes & tags
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