Shamburger Cemetery
Tyler, Smith County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Members of the Peter Shamburger family came to this area of Texas from Mississippi in 1847. Peter and his family lived near Starrville. His son, Mathew, married Julia Ann Shockley in 1849 and settled in the Fruit community (later renamed Pine Springs). Mathew and Julia's son, T. J., along with other family members and neighbors, pioneered the growing of fruit trees and roses in Smith County. Mathew and T. J. were among the first to raise roses on a commercial basis in East Texas. Land surrounding this site was purchased by T. J. Shamburger and his wife, Settie, in 1874. The next year, this family graveyard was created upon the death of their two-month-old daughter, Nettie. In later years other Shamburger family members were interred here, including Mathew and Julia; T. J. and Settie; and a number of children, grandchildren, and in-laws. The last of T. J. and Settie's children to be buried in the family plot was a son, William Martin, in 1967. Among the graves here are three unmarked burials. The Shamburger Cemetery serves as a reminder of a pioneer East Texas family and their contributions to Smith County's agricultural development.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Shamburger family arrived from Mississippi in 1847 and put down deep roots in Smith County, where son Mathew and grandson T. J. helped pioneer the commercial growing of fruit trees and roses that would define East Texas agriculture. This family graveyard began in 1874–75 with the burial of T. J. and Settie's infant daughter, Nettie, and grew over generations to hold parents, children, and in-laws, with the last interment in 1967.
Why it matters
The cemetery quietly records a pioneer family whose orchards and rose fields helped make Smith County a center of American horticulture.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
In the late 1840s, East Texas was filling up fast. Texas had just joined the United States, land was cheap, and families from the older Southern states were moving west in large numbers, bringing their farming habits, churches, and kin networks with them. Smith County, with its pine forests, rolling hills, and sandy soil, drew many of these settlers.
Most early farmers here grew cotton and food crops, but over time some discovered that the soil and climate suited fruit trees and flowers too. By the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, orchards and nurseries were becoming an important part of the local economy, and Smith County, especially the Tyler area, would eventually become famous for roses.
Family cemeteries like this one were common in rural Texas. Churches and town graveyards could be far away, so families often set aside a plot on their own land. These small burial grounds now hold some of the best records of how pioneer families lived and died.
People & events
The Shamburger family came from Mississippi in 1847, led by Peter Shamburger, who settled near Starrville. His son Mathew married Julia Ann Shockley in 1849, and the couple made their home in a community called Fruit, a fitting name that was later changed to Pine Springs.
Mathew and Julia's son, T. J. Shamburger, grew up in this farming world and helped push it in a new direction. With relatives and neighbors, he helped pioneer fruit-tree growing and rose growing in Smith County. Mathew and T. J. were among the first in East Texas to raise roses as a commercial business, not just as garden flowers.
In 1874, T. J. and his wife, Settie, bought the land around this spot. A year later, grief made it a cemetery: their daughter Nettie died at just two months old and was buried here. Over the following decades the family laid more loved ones beside her, including Mathew and Julia, T. J. and Settie, and many children, grandchildren, and in-laws. The last of T. J. and Settie's children to be buried here was their son William Martin, in 1967. Three graves here are unmarked, and those people are remembered only by the ground itself.
Its place in the American story
Small family plots like the Shamburger Cemetery tell the national story of migration and settlement one family at a time. The move from Mississippi to Texas in the 1840s was part of the great westward shift of Southern farm families, and their graves mark where that journey ended and a new home began.
The family's work also connects to a bigger shift in American agriculture. As farmers tried new crops suited to local soil and climate, regions developed specialties that fed national markets. East Texas's orchards and rose fields are a good example, and families like the Shamburgers helped prove that roses could be a business here.
The cemetery also shows how a single place can hold more than a century of family history, from a baby's burial in 1875 to a son's in 1967. It is a quiet record of how rural American families stayed tied to their land across generations.
If you visit
This small family cemetery lies in the Tyler area of Smith County, among the pines and rolling countryside of East Texas. It is a quiet place, so visit respectfully: walk carefully, don't disturb graves or markers, and remember that some of the burials here are unmarked.
As you look over the stones, notice the dates. Tiny graves, long lives, and in-law names all tell the story of a family across generations. The first burial, of baby Nettie in 1875, is a reminder of how common infant loss was on the frontier.
This stop fits easily into a trip around Tyler, a city well known for its roses. If you are visiting when roses are in bloom, pair this cemetery with a garden visit and you will see the tradition the Shamburgers helped start still flowering today.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Peter Shamburger
- · Mathew Shamburger
- · Julia Ann Shockley
- · T. J. Shamburger
- · Settie Shamburger
Themes & tags
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