Harmony Cemetery
Nacogdoches, Nacogdoches County, Texas
Marker Inscription
James Norvel Pitts, a native of Perry County, Mississippi, arrived in Texas in the 1870s. In 1877, his wife Laney (Odom), their son James, and families of five Pitts brothers and other friends from Mississippi traveled by wagon to join him in this area. They established the community of Harmony, and J.N. Pitts donated land for a combination church and school building, and a public cemetery. The oldest marked grave is for Ruby Eddings (d. 1886). Families of those buried here traditionally had an annual cemetery cleaning day. Later, Harmony Cemetery Association formed to maintain the burial ground. Among those interred here are veterans of military conflicts dating to the Civil War. Historic Texas Cemetery – 2004
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When James Norvel Pitts came to Texas in the 1870s, his wife, son, and a caravan of Pitts brothers and Mississippi friends followed by wagon to join him, founding the community they aptly named Harmony. Pitts donated land for a combined church-and-school building and this public cemetery, whose oldest marked grave dates to 1886. Families long gathered for an annual cemetery cleaning day, a tradition later carried on by a formal association, and among those buried here are veterans reaching back to the Civil War.
Why it matters
Harmony Cemetery preserves the memory of a chain-migration settlement, the kind of kin-and-neighbor community-building that populated rural Texas after the Civil War.
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Related people
- · James Norvel Pitts
Themes & tags
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