Potter Cemetery
Mesquite, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
John P. (1827-1899) and Martha (Oden) (1835-1872) Potter, pioneer citizens of the Republic of Texas, bought a farm near the Haught's Store community in 1860. When their son William L. Potter died in July 1861 he was the first to be buried on this site; John Potter enlisted in the Confederate Army in the same month. After the war he served as justice of the peace; his landholdings included almost 1,000 acres. Most of the Potters' nine children are interred here. The last recorded burial was in 1947. A 1997 count revealed 16 possible graves. The Potter Cemetery remains a record of the settlers who shaped eastern Dallas County. (1998)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
John and Martha Potter, citizens of the Republic of Texas, bought a farm near the Haught's Store community in 1860, and when their young son died the following year he became the first burial on this ground. John enlisted in the Confederate Army that same month and, after the war, served as justice of the peace over a landholding approaching a thousand acres. Most of the family's nine children lie here, in a cemetery whose last recorded burial came in 1947.
Why it matters
The Potter Cemetery marks the settlement of eastern Dallas County by Republic-era pioneers whose lives spanned Texas independence, the Civil War, and the frontier's slow transformation into farmland.
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Related people
- · John P. Potter
- · Martha Oden Potter
- · William L. Potter
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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