Sugar Hill Cemetery
Beckville, Panola County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Elijah Wyatt, who came to Texas in 1838, is thought to have died and been buried here in 1849. His son-in-law, Terrell Henson, deeded land to T. A. Sullivan in 1855, reserving one acre for "the graveyard and meeting house," supporting the local belief that the site was already in use as a local burial ground. Thomas C. Jones was living on Wyatt family property when he died in 1861; his is the earliest marked grave. The site became the Sugar Hill Community Cemetery as more families were interred here. Members of the Terrell and Minerva Wyatt Henson family are believed to be buried under the rocks surrounding three graves at the entrance to the cemetery. With 78 marked graves and at least as many unmarked, the graveyard includes the final resting place of veterans of the Civil War and World War II. (1999)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Settlement here reaches back to Elijah Wyatt, who came to Texas in 1838 and is thought to lie in this ground, though the earliest marked grave belongs to a man who died in 1861. Set aside alongside a meeting house in the 1850s, the plot grew into a community cemetery holding scores of marked and unmarked graves. Its rows include veterans of both the Civil War and World War II, spanning a century of local life.
Why it matters
A single rural graveyard here holds the whole arc of a Texas community, from antebellum pioneers to the citizen-soldiers of two very different American wars.
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Related people
- · Elijah Wyatt
- · Terrell Henson
- · Thomas C. Jones
Themes & tags
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