Poynor Cemetery
Poynor, Henderson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Poynor overlooks the valley of Caddo Creek in the southeast corner of Henderson County, and was established along the Texas and New Orleans Railroad in 1901. Originally, Poynor was known as “David” in honor of David Marion Dickerson (1822-1902), a farmer, veteran, and city official who moved to this area following the civil war. David and his wife, Martha, who passed before the establishment of the cemetery, are buried in a nearby cemetery. Poynor Cemetery began in 1906 when David M. Dickerson’s third son, James L. Dickerson (1864-1928) and his wife, Ida Eugene (Taylor) Dickerson (1877-1908), donated one acre of land for a community cemetery. Through the years, the cemetery expanded through land purchases and gifts. The second acre was sold to the poynor cemetery by the children of J.L. Dickerson in 1954 and the third acre was donated in 1986. By 1906, three people had already been buried on the property: Mrs. E.G. Baskin in 1905, William H. Raley in 1906, and Carl M. Huston in 1906. Cemetery features include a wrought iron arched gateway on the northeast side and a natural landscape. This cemetery serves as the final resting place for veterans of the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The stone and zinc grave markers identify the burials of farmers, politicians, businessmen, teachers, and their families. The Poynor Cemetery association remains active in the community and continues to maintain the cemetery that serves as a historical location for many of the early pioneers in the area who worked hard to make the community what it is today.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Overlooking the valley of Caddo Creek, the town of Poynor grew up along the Texas and New Orleans Railroad in 1901, first known as "David" for pioneer farmer and veteran David Marion Dickerson. His son donated the first acre for a community cemetery in 1906, and the grounds expanded through later gifts and purchases. The wrought-iron gateway now shelters the graves of farmers, teachers, and businessmen, and of veterans of every American war from the Civil War through Vietnam.
Why it matters
A single country cemetery gathers the pioneers who built the community and the soldiers it sent to a century of the nation's wars, making it a compact record of small-town Texas history.
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Related people
- · David Marion Dickerson
- · James L. Dickerson
- · Ida Eugene Dickerson
Themes & tags
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