Ener Cemetery
Hemphill, Sabine County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This burial ground has served southeastern Sabine County since the mid-19th century. Early settlers came to this area by the 1830s, establishing farms along the fertile soil of the Housen Bayou north of here. One pioneer was James Trehane Ener (Ennor), for whom this cemetery is named. Ener was born in 1810 in Cornwall County in England. Escaping poor economic conditions, he immigrated to the United States with his brother, William, in 1835 and came to Texas shortly thereafter. He arrived here by the 1840s, and in 1847 married Marry Ann Gomer (d. 1897), daughter of James Frederick and Anna (Bateman) Gomer, early area pioneers. James and Mary Ann had twelve children. James Ener established a large farm in southeastern Sabine County. He also rented land to sharecroppers and worked as a blacksmith. Additionally, Ener served under Capt. O.M. Wheeler in Company K, 2nd Regiment, Texas Mounted Volunteers during the U.S.-Mexico War (1846-48). In 1859, Ener was murdered near the Sabine County Courthouse. The earliest known burial here is of an infant daughter of James and Mary Ann. James Ener was the second person interred here. Although most of the interments in this burial ground are of Ener family relative and descendants, there are others buried here as well. The rural family burial ground is maintained by the Ener Cemetery Association and today, it remains as a record of a pioneer family's history and a vital link to this area's historic past. Historic Texas Cemetery – 2006
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
James Trehane Ener left Cornwall in 1835, fleeing hard times, and by the 1840s had settled along Housen Bayou in southeastern Sabine County, where he farmed, worked as a blacksmith, and rented land to sharecroppers. He served in a Texas mounted volunteer company during the U.S.–Mexico War before being murdered near the county courthouse in 1859. The cemetery that bears his name began with the burial of one of his infant daughters and holds mostly his kin and descendants.
Why it matters
Ener's story — an English immigrant turned frontier farmer, soldier, and murder victim — folds together immigration, war, and settlement into the biography of a single Texas pioneer.
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Related people
- · James Trehane Ener
- · Mary Ann Gomer Ener
- · Capt. O.M. Wheeler
Related events
- · U.S.-Mexico War (1846-1848)
Themes & tags
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