Myrtle Springs Cemetery
New Summerfield, Cherokee County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Begun during the 1860s, this cemetery served as a burial ground for citizens of the town of Lone Star as well as other scattered settlements in the area. Many homesteads were located nearby, and a union church was attended by many families until the 1920s. The cemetery is located on land deeded to the Myrtle Springs Church by area pioneer Thomas Garrison. Though several hand-cut sandstone markers are illegible or contain only initials, the earlier marked grave is that of Martha C. Wallace, born in 1852, and buried here in 1866. At least fifteen veterans of the Civil War are interred here, and more are believed to rest in unmarked graves. In October 1950, an additional tract for land was added to the original cemetery plot. In 1963 a group of area citizens formed a cemetery association for the care of the burial ground. The state of Texas granted a perpetual care charter ot the association in 1967. Although the settlement of Lone Star became a ghost town, the cemetery has served a widespread rural community, including the town of Ponta and area farms and homesteads. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Begun in the 1860s on land deeded by pioneer Thomas Garrison, this burial ground served the vanished town of Lone Star and scattered East Texas homesteads, its earliest marked grave that of young Martha Wallace in 1866. At least fifteen Civil War veterans rest here, some beneath hand-cut sandstone markers now worn to bare initials. Though Lone Star became a ghost town, the cemetery endured, tended by a community association chartered for perpetual care in the 1960s.
Why it matters
The cemetery is a quiet archive of frontier settlement and Civil War-era life, preserving the memory of a rural community whose town has otherwise disappeared from the map.
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Related people
- · Thomas Garrison
- · Martha C. Wallace
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Walker's Chapel Cemetery
Reklaw, TX
This cemetery grew from Walker's Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church, South, founded by John Walker, who reached this Cherokee County vicinity by 1839. Harvey N. Cooper deeded the church its site in 1879, and the congregation became the heart of a rural community that took the chapel's name. The oldest legible grave dates to 1879, and among the burials are veterans of conflicts reaching back to the Civil War. A memorial service still gathers here each July.
Grimes Cemetery
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David Greene Templeton
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