Woodville Magnolia Cemetery
Woodville, Tyler County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1855 M. Priest deeded one acre of land, containing several graves, for use as a public burial ground. Another acre was donated by Jane Bean in 1859, and additional land was acquired later. Woodville Magnolia Cemetery contains the graves of numerous pioneer settlers and early community leaders. Handmade bricks outline some of the older graves not marked with headstones, such as the graves of five wives of George Van Vleck and several of his children. Van Vleck, who is buried in Houston's Glenwood Cemetery, served as the first district clerk of Tyler County for 16 years and as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Texas, A. F. & A. M., in 1862. Among the other pioneers buried here are Captain Charles Bullock (1825-1902), who raised a company of soldiers for the Confederate army, and the Rev. Acton Young (1823-1873), early Methodist minister in this region. Also located here is the gravesite of Nancy Shivers (d. 1890), a widow who brought her family to Texas before the Civil War. Allan Shivers, Governor of Texas from 1949 to 1957, is one of her descendants. Veterans of the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, and the Vietnam Conflict are interred here.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Established from land deeded in 1855 and expanded over the following years, this cemetery gathers the pioneer settlers and leaders of early Tyler County. Handmade bricks still outline unmarked graves, including those of George Van Vleck's family, and among those buried here are a Confederate captain, an early Methodist minister, and an ancestor of Governor Allan Shivers. Veterans from the Civil War through Vietnam lie here.
Why it matters
The cemetery is a layered record of East Texas life, linking frontier founders, wartime service across generations, and the roots of a future governor in one enduring ground.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · George Van Vleck
- · Charles Bullock
- · Acton Young
- · Allan Shivers
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
John Wheat
Woodville, TX
An Alabama native, John Wheat migrated to Texas in 1835 and claimed his headright and bounty lands here, naming many Tyler County creeks while hunting bear and other game. He served as a soldier in the Texas War for Independence, guarding a captured Mexican officer after the Battle of San Jacinto. Later a county commissioner, he donated the land for this cemetery and left descendants a wealth of frontier legends.
Midway Cemetery
Livingston, TX
Andrew and Mary McKee came to Texas in 1845 and bought this land in 1854; when Mary died in childbirth in 1857 she became the first person laid to rest here, at a spot she is said to have marked herself. By the close of the Civil War the burial ground served the whole Midway community. Its graves hold pioneer settlers and their descendants, former slaves, and veterans of American wars from the Civil War to Vietnam.
Valentine Burch
Chester, TX
This marker honors Valentine Burch, a Kentucky-born settler who stood among the men of the fledgling Texas army on April 21, 1836 — the day of the Battle of San Jacinto, where Sam Houston's forces won Texas its independence from Mexico. Detailed to guard the camp near Harrisburg rather than charge the field, Burch was part of the supporting cast whose vigilance made the decisive victory possible. He lived on into the 1890s, and the State of Texas set this stone during the 1936 Centennial to remember him.
Fort Teran, Site of
Chester, TX
In 1830 the Mexican government planted Fort Terán on the Neches to halt the tide of Anglo-American colonists pouring into Texas—the first white settlement in what became Tyler County. Named for General Manuel Mier y Terán, commander of Mexican forces in Texas, it was led in 1831 by the colorful Peter Ellis Bean. The garrison's mission reflected Mexico City's growing alarm at Anglo immigration, but the effort proved futile, and troops abandoned the post in 1835 on the eve of the Texas Revolution. Only the marked site remains.