Sadler Cemetery
Sadler, Grayson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This land was already in use as a burial ground known as Bethlehem Cemetery when it was officially dedicated in county records in 1884. Bethlehem Church, the source of the original name, was originally across the road before the congregation disbanded. In 1884, S. M. and Maggie Lester conveyed nearly four acres to trustees R. L. Belsher, H. C. Hall, and B. S. Hackleman. The Sadler Cemetery Association was formed and the burial ground was renamed Sadler Cemetery. The cemetery was recorded in deeds “to be used by the public as a public cemetery, and for no other purposes, whatsoever.” The cemetery expanded through land conveyed by R. G. and Gertrude Mood in 1917 and by Almedia Flannery in 1955 and 1966. J. J. Sadler (1836-1923) moved here in 1870 and donated land for his namesake town; he is the only known Civil War veteran in Sadler Cemetery. A total of thirty-seven veterans have been identified, including veterans of both World Wars, the Merchant Marines, Korean War, and Vietnam War. Three known Grayson County commissioners are also among the approximately one thousand burials. Funerary materials include granite, limestone, marble, concrete and wooden grave markers; obelisks, masonic and Woodmen of the World markers are noteworthy. The Sadler Cemetery provides an invaluable record of pioneer area families, as well as beloved teachers, preachers and business and civic leaders. Still in use, the cemetery reflects the continuum of the area’s history, with clearly discernible pioneer and modern sections which help educate about the names, events and heritage of the past. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2009
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Already serving as the Bethlehem Cemetery when it was formally recorded in 1884, this Grayson County burial ground was renamed after S.M. and Maggie Lester conveyed nearly four acres to trustees and the Sadler Cemetery Association formed. Dedicated "to be used by the public as a public cemetery, and for no other purposes," it expanded through further land gifts into the twentieth century. Among its roughly one thousand burials lie town namesake and Civil War veteran J.J. Sadler, thirty-seven veterans spanning the Civil War through Vietnam, and generations of pioneer families, teachers, and civic leaders.
Why it matters
The cemetery offers an invaluable record of the pioneer families and community leaders who built and sustained a North Texas town across more than a century.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · J. J. Sadler
- · S. M. Lester
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Oak Grove Community
Gainesville, TX
In the 1860s George Sanford Norrid brought his wife Tabitha and family from Missouri to this part of Cooke County, opening their home for church services. In 1875 Norrid and F.M. Dougherty deeded land for a Methodist Episcopal church and cemetery, and when Tabitha died in January 1876 she became the first burial in what grew into Oak Grove Cemetery. The congregation used the building for both worship and school until 1884, when they moved it to nearby Woodbine, leaving the cemetery as the community's lasting memorial.
Tioga Cemetery
Tioga, TX
Settlers founded Tioga on the edge of the East Cross Timbers in 1881, and after years of burying their dead in scattered family plots, the community got a formal cemetery in 1906 when W.R. and Sally Gillespie deeded five acres to the local Woodmen of the World camp — whose distinctive tree-stump headstones still mark many early graves. The burial ground holds Civil War veterans from both sides, Texas Senator Olin R. Van Zandt, and the Rev. H.G. Ball, who preached the funeral of U.S. Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn. An association keeps the grounds for future generations.
J. D. "Ikard" Sugg
Gainesville, TX
Joseph D. "Ikard" Sugg (1854-1925), the youngest of thirteen children born in Mississippi, headed west as a teenager and worked a cattle drive north from the Red River in 1868. He became a prominent rancher in partnership with his brother Cal, leasing land across Indian Territory and Texas and even selling horses to the Mexican government, while always considering Cooke County his home. At his death he left bequests to the county poor farm and to the upkeep of this cemetery.
Gainesville National Bank Historical Marker
Gainesville, TX
On October 21, 1882, local landowners J. M. Lindsay and C. C. Hemming founded the Gainesville National Bank, planting a permanent financial institution in what was still a North Texas frontier town near the Red River. As cattle trails gave way to railroads and settled farming in the Gilded Age, banks like this one anchored the transition, financing the merchants, ranchers, and farmers who turned Gainesville into a regional commercial hub.