Holly Cemetery
Lovelady vicinity, Trinity County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Located on the Houston-Trinity county line, this cemetery once was associated with a Primitive Baptist church at the same site. According to oral tradition, William and Harriet Brent Brannen set aside part of their land for the church and the graveyard. There are a number of unmarked burials in the cemetery, including five members of the Speer family, which may date as early as 1863. The earliest marked grave, that of the infant daughter of H. L. and N. J. Brannen, dates to 1880. Markers bear such family names as Brent, Driskell, Baker, Dishough, Clancy, Goodwin, Lane, Cupp, Hammond, Morrow and Sanders. Veterans of various military conflicts also rest in the Holly Cemetery. (2001)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
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.
Why it matters
A country churchyard like Holly Cemetery preserves the intertwined story of faith, family, and military service that shaped the pine-woods communities of East Texas.
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Related people
- · William Brannen
- · Harriet Brent Brannen
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Alfred M. Hallmark
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Alfred M. Hallmark (1817-1880), born in Madison County, Alabama, came to Texas with his parents in 1834 and settled in present-day Houston County. He enlisted in the Texas Army on March 6, 1836, and fought in the decisive Battle of San Jacinto that April, later farming and helping run the post office in the Mustang Prairie community. In 1842 he married his cousin Sarah, with whom he raised twelve children.
Capt. Benjamin I. Harper
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