This cemetery dates from the 1853 burial of Maranda Gilbreath. Four years later, the land was officially set aside by early settler Josiah Johnson for use as a public burial ground. Many of the unidentified graves are thought to be those of slaves. . . . — — Map (db m268435) HM
A Methodist circuit rider, the Rev. William Craig was born in South Carolina and entered the ministry at age 18. He married Rebecca Hortense Horton (1785-1866) and had six children. About 1841, he moved from Mississippi to San Augustine, Texas. In . . . — — Map (db m266767) HM
John S. Buckner (1806-1870), his wife, Mariah T. (d. 1874), and their two sons, Arthur Washington (1828-1894) and Mumford Jackson (1831-1872), traveled from Georgia and settled in this area before 1850. As the family and community grew, this site . . . — — Map (db m268558) HM
Peace Circle, comprised of eleven monumental statues created by artist Linda Lewis at the Grapevine Foundry and completed in 2021, commemorates a moment in time that occurred on the Grape Vine Prairie in August 1843. That day, General Sam Houston, . . . — — Map (db m235682) HM
Born in Mississippi, "Bill" McDonald moved with his family to Rusk County, Texas, about 1866. During Reconstruction, McDonald was tried for treason after a conflict with Union authorities but was acquitted. He established W. J. McDonald and Co., one . . . — — Map (db m139048) HM
This burial ground, named for the community that organized near Bethel Springs was associated with a school and Methodist church. The earliest marked grave dates to 1879, though it is believed there are earlier interments. Features include Woodmen . . . — — Map (db m268848) HM
The fire of August 5, 1860 in Henderson, Texas, marked the beginning of the end of the Union in Texas. As a successful agricultural and commercial center, Henderson was one of the most important cities in Texas. Fires erupted all over Texas . . . — — Map (db m221474) HM
Named for Harvey Hawkins (1804-1869), a pioneer settler who came to Texas from Tennessee and first settled in Rusk County, the Hawkins Cemetery is the final resting place for families of the Tate Springs community. In 1848, Hawkins married Mary Ann . . . — — Map (db m104842) HM
Before the establishment of public schools, education was provided by small private academies such as the Alexander Institute. a successor to the New Danville Masonic Female Academy, founded in nearby Danville in 1854. The institute was named for . . . — — Map (db m138971) HM
For years major oil companies had contended there is "No oil in East Texas." They were proven wrong when Columbus Dad Joiner's third oil well hit the Woodbine Sand on October 3, 1930. Joiner's Daisy Bradford #3 roared in at a depth of 3,592 feet and . . . — — Map (db m268987) HM
Hansel Wright (1773-1856) came to East Texas in 1836 and was granted land for service in the Republic of Texas Army. In 1846 he moved his family to this area and used a portion of his land to establish the cemetery at this site. The oldest marked . . . — — Map (db m268603) HM
First brick home in county. Built 1855 by brothers, David P. and Jas. Logan Howard, settler's from Richmond, Va. The Howards made bricks with mud mill and later with a patented machine and kiln on the premises.
(Howard Bricks and carpentry went . . . — — Map (db m268609) HM
In January 1873, Upshur County Representative B.W. Brown (a Methodist lay preacher) introduced a bill in the Texas Legislature to make Longview the seat of a new county to be composed of portions of existing Upshur, Rusk and Harrison counties. The . . . — — Map (db m89156) HM
The Mt. Enterprise Cotton Gin was donated by the Barts family of Mt. Enterprise, Texas: Mark, Sandi, Brian, April, Timmy, Jacob and Bailey, to the Rusk County Historical Commission for the preservation and enjoyment of all generations.
In 1792 . . . — — Map (db m268929) HM
A native of South Carolina and a Confederate veteran, George W. Burton migrated to Rusk County, Texas, about 1880. He served in the Texas House of Representatives from 1915 to 1921. During his three legislative terms, he participated in the . . . — — Map (db m268844) HM
In the early years of Texas Statehood Rusk County was home to a number of large plantations. By the end of the Civil War many of the plantations were gone, and small farms replaced larger operations. Crops included cotton, sugar cane, grains, and . . . — — Map (db m268984) HM
Although plans for a rail line were made as early as 1852, railroad tracks were not laid in this area until after the end of the Civil War. Overton (14 mi. NW) became the center of Rusk County railroading after the International & Great Northern . . . — — Map (db m268932) HM
This congregation was organized by the Rev. Preston W. Hobbs in 1842. One year before Rusk County was created, as part of the Shawnee Mission. That appointment was renamed Henderson in 1843, when the Rev. Orin Hatch was appointed pastor. Other . . . — — Map (db m268607) HM
Following the creation of Rusk County and the establishment of Henderson as county seat in 1843, Old City Cemetery and the Graham-Hall or "New" City Cemetery served families as the primary public graveyards for nearly a century. With the death of . . . — — Map (db m268747) HM
The East Texas farming community of Pleasant Grove, also known as "Shake Rag," was established during the 1850s by southern planters. Among the first settlers were Judge Stephen Decatur Morris (1819-1898) and his wife, Mary (Bradford) (1823-1906), . . . — — Map (db m268991) HM
David Sutton Meredith was born on February 2, 1869 in Brunswick County, Virginia. Meredith came to Rusk County, Texas in 1891 and married Minnie Burr Fisher, a native of Berlin, Tennessee. They moved to Longview in 1895. In November 1916, Meredith . . . — — Map (db m290331) HM
Ancestral home of Texas Caddo Indians, this region gained a distinctive character in the 19th century. From 1806 to 1845 it lay in an area disputed by various countries and designated, from 1819, as the “neutral ground.” Settlers living here were . . . — — Map (db m110850) HM
During the 4 years, 4 months after secession, Texas sent 18 lawmakers to the Confederate capitols. Her delegates to the Provisional Congress, Feb. 1861 to Feb. 1862, were John R. Gregg, Freestone County; John Hemphill, Travis County; Wm. B. . . . — — Map (db m96899) HM
Georgia natives John and Mary Strong migrated to Texas about 1849 and were pioneer settlers of eastern Rusk County. They helped set aside land for the local Methodist congregation, the Church Hill Male and Female Academy, which operated in the . . . — — Map (db m268592) HM
William C. Davis came to Texas from North Carolina in 1835 and settled in this area, in what was then part of Nacogdoches County. He received a land grant in Lamar County for his service in the Indian Wars of the late 1830s, but retained his . . . — — Map (db m268847) HM
Originally serving the Lyles and Sanders families, this burial ground was established in 1860, when infant Susan Lyles was interred here. By 1899, individuals from outside the family, living in communities like Iron Mountain, Gould, Sulphur Springs, . . . — — Map (db m268418) HM
An oil boom here in the early 1930s prompted the formal organization of the Gaston Independent School District in 1931 to cope with the community's rapidly expanding student population. The district chose Dallas architects Emory White and Howard . . . — — Map (db m105651) HM
From the beginning of the Rusk County Depot Museum in 1978 until her death in 2017, Susan Weaver was a driving force in recording, interpreting, and preserving Rusk County history.
She served as director of the Depot Museum from its inception . . . — — Map (db m268980) HM
Thin black lines indicate changes in relevance. Between each pair of lines entries are ordered geographically but all have the same relevance.
* Inflectional forms of words are their plurals, singulars, and possessives as well as gramatical tenses and similar variations.
