Graham-Mason Cemetery
Irene, Hill County, Texas
Marker Inscription
William A. and Sarah (Hall) Graham of North Carolina migrated to Texas with their family, settling in this area in 1856. The Grahams attended Old Salem Methodist church in Zollicoffer's mill (later Irene). According to family history, slaves and former slaves were buried in and around this site, but the earliest marked grave is that of William and Sarah's granddaughter, six-year-old Mary Graham, buried in 1866. Abe Mason of Tennessee, a Confederate veteran wounded at the Battle of Shiloh, moved to Hill County in 1869. He married the Grahams' daughter Margaret Elizabeth in 1870. When he died in 1906, Mason owned 1100 acres including this site and was among the largest landowners in Hill County. Containing 22 graves at the dawn of the 21st century, the cemetery remains the property of Graham-Mason descendants. (2000)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When William and Sarah Graham came from North Carolina to settle here in 1856, they brought a household that included enslaved people, some of whom are believed to be buried in and around this ground. The oldest marked grave belongs to their six-year-old granddaughter, buried in 1866. The site is bound up with Abe Mason, a Tennessee-born Confederate veteran wounded at Shiloh who married into the family and became one of Hill County's largest landowners.
Why it matters
This small family cemetery holds together the intertwined and unequal histories of a slaveholding pioneer family, the people they enslaved, and the Confederate generation that reshaped Texas after the war.
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Related people
- · William A. Graham
- · Sarah Hall Graham
- · Abe Mason
Related events
- · Battle of Shiloh
Themes & tags
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