Cemetery Preservation
While surveying and photographing Titus County cemeteries, we were frankly appalled at the deteriorated condition of some. They are mostly small family cemeteries with no perpetual care fund and whose family members apparently have all passed on or are not aware of the shoddy condition of their ancestors' burial places. Some are overgrown with brush and vegetation. Livestock is damaging others by knocking over and breaking the monuments due to lack of a fence.
We feel the cemeteries' run-down condition and the damage to them reflects very poorly on descendents of those buried there, if any still live in the area, the land owners who allow livestock to destroy monuments by not repairing the cemetery fences, and Titus County residents in general for not providing some level of care for cemeteries who do not have others to care for them.
The Titus County Historical Commission needs people who are willing to donate some spare time, services, materials, and funds to help preserve some of the smaller cemeteries that do not have a board or perpetual care fund and are being damaged by livestock or are in danger of being lost by being overtaken by undergrowth.
They cannot maintain the cemeteries in a pristine state like well-funded cemeteries with perpetual care funds, but hopefully enough people are interested to at least preserve them in a state where they will be better cared for than they are now and will not be lost due to lack of interest.
The following cemeteries need your help - now!
Photographs of each of these cemeteries may be viewed on their respective pages on this website, accessed from the "Titus County Cemeteries" page.
Evergreen Cemetery - is a fair-sized Afro-American cemetery in far northeast Titus County adjoining Broseco Ranch. The cemetery is well fenced, but there is considerable undergrowth and a number of limbs, brush, and trees that need to be cleaned. There are several sunken spots indicating unmarked burials that should be marked in some way.
Greathouse Cemetery - this is another very small cemetery measuring approximately 50' x 50' located in the Mt. Pleasant city limits. It contains only one marker. Work needed is minimal and would only take a couple of days at most, but is very important. The cemetery is surrounded by a concrete wall that is approximately 4' tall. Two trees have grown inside the wall and will eventually break it if not removed. The trees are not so large that they couldn't be taken down easily by someone with a bucket truck, but will be unmanageable if allowed to continue to grow. Small saplings are growing inside the walls and will grow into trees if not removed, and a small amount of trash and leaves have collected inside the walls. This cemetery is not in dire danger, but was added to the list to prevent it from becoming so.
Johnson-Batte Cemetery is located in a pasture off Farm Road 1000. It contains only 2 marked graves. One is fenced with chain link fence, but the other monument is exposed to livestock in the pasture and has been knocked over and is lying on the ground. The monument needs to be preserved and the gravesite needs a small fence around it.
McCrary (West New Hope) Cemetery - This cemetery contains some of the only remaining wooden grave markers in Titus County. David Horton and a group of private individuals cleaned the cemetery a few years ago and erected small wooden crosses above natural stones marking graves so the natural stones don't get moved. He sent us photographs of the cemetery after they had cleaned it, and it was in good condition. Vines and undergrowth have again overtaken the cemetery.
Pitt Cemetery - is a very old and large cemetery is far southern Titus County located on timber company property. Access is very difficult, as it is far down in the woods. The cemetery is far too large for individuals or county officials to be able to fence, clean and save, but county officials and citizens should contact the landowners to encourage them to do what they can to help save this cemetery.
Riddle Cemetery No. 1 - this is a small cemetery that contains 5 burials and only 3 monuments. It is located in a wooded area near the intersection of the Old Paris Road and Highway 271 Bypass inside the Mt. Pleasant city limits. One of the monuments has been knocked over and broken. The cemetery needs some kind of fence and a general cleaning.
Roper/Panther Cemetery - Commissioner Mike Fields sent Joe Fejeran to remove large trees that had fallen in the cemetery and to repair the fence to keep livestock from destroying it. They did a wonderful job of cleaning and repairing the cemetery.
Roper/Panther now needs an association to provide continuing care and continue the good work that Commissioner Fields and Joe Fejeran have started. Otherwise, it will return to the sad state it was in before they started.
