Joseph Benedict Beauchamp

Carthage, TX

When emancipation came, freedpeople across the South built their own communities from the ground up, and land like this—deeded by Spearman Holland to former slaves after the Civil War—became the anchor for a church, a school, a lodge hall, and a cemetery. More than 500 graves rest here, though only a fraction are marked, among them fraternal-order members and veterans of every war from World War I to Vietnam. Still serving its community today, the burial ground is a living monument to a settlement that has endured for well over a century.

Beckville, TX

Begun in 1870 in the rural community once called Scruggs, New Prospect Cemetery took shape on land donated by homesteaders for a church and graveyard, its oldest recorded burial that of Elizabeth Scruggs. More than a hundred graves lie unmarked among the pioneer settlers, many of them children, resting here. Veterans of the Civil War, both World Wars, and the Korean War are buried in its grounds, still tended by descendants.

Carthage, TX

Kentucky-born Jonathan "Old Shelby" Anderson came to this region while Texas was still Mexican territory, then took up arms in the Texas Revolution and fought at the decisive Battle of San Jacinto in 1836. In 1848 he gave 100 acres to establish Carthage as the seat of the newly organized Panola County, and later served as sheriff and tax assessor-collector. The park on the old courthouse square was named in his honor in 1956.

Carthage, TX

On a tree-shaded hill southeast of Carthage lies the burial place of many of Panola County's founding settlers, named for Jonathan Anderson (1798–1890), who donated 100 acres for the town itself. A veteran of the Texas Revolution who fought at the Siege of Bexar and the Battle of San Jacinto, Anderson went on to serve as county sheriff. His first wife, Nancy Whetmore, was the first laid to rest here, followed by veterans of the Civil War and both World Wars.