Chita Cemetery
Groveton vicinity, Trinity County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The earliest known burial in this cemetery is that of Virgil Foster, who died in 1861. According to local tradition, Peter Parker, who died the same year and is interred here, chose the site for the burial ground. Used primarily by residents of Chita, Sebastapol and other communities, the cemetery is a reflection of the area's pioneer heritage and burial customs. Tombstones bear inscriptions disclosing the military service of Civil War, World War I and World War II veterans, and mark the graves of many who died of typhoid fever, an indication of the harshness of pioneer life in the area. (2001)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Chita Cemetery's earliest known grave dates to 1861, and tradition holds that Peter Parker chose the site the same year he was buried here. It served the vanished communities of Chita and Sebastapol, and its stones record veterans of the Civil War and both World Wars alongside many who died of typhoid fever. Those fever graves are a quiet measure of how precarious daily life could be on the Texas frontier.
Why it matters
Small pioneer cemeteries like Chita preserve both the community bonds and the harsh mortality of frontier East Texas, ground the settlements themselves have long since disappeared from the map.
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Related people
- · Virgil Foster
- · Peter Parker
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Holly Cemetery
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Straddling the Houston-Trinity county line, Holly Cemetery grew up around a Primitive Baptist church on land oral tradition credits to William and Harriet Brannen. Its unmarked graves may reach back to 1863, while the earliest dated marker belongs to a Brannen infant who died in 1880. Headstones carry a roll of pioneer family names, and veterans of several wars rest among them.
Capt. Benjamin I. Harper
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Bennett Cemetery
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