Tranquil Cemetery is a large public cemetery located in extreme eastern rural Titus County. The name Tranquil is certainly appropriate for this cemetery. Its quiet setting and magnificent vista helps to sooth those grieving visitors to the grave sites.
The cemetery was founded in the mid nineteenth century on land given by Joseph Guest. It once adjoined the New Hope Methodist Episcopalian Church, but the church was relocated. The cemetery was awarded a Texas Historical Monument dedicated on May 5, 2002. The plaque reads as follows:
“TRANQUIL CEMETERY
This cemetery lies on five acres of land in the Joseph J. Quest headright reportedly set aside in the 1850s for a church and burial ground (dated records were lost in a fire). The Tranquil Methodist Episcopal Church, South was established here until it was relocated two miles to the East in 1886 as the New Hope Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In a replacement deed drawn up in 1899 Guest officially conveyed the burial ground to the trustees at New Hope. The deed was passed on to the Tranquil Cemetery Association in 1966. The community continues to preserve and care for this site that chronicles its settlement and heritage.
Historic Texas Cemetery 2001"
The non-profit Tranquil Cemetery Association, formed by constitution and by-laws, is headed by a board created to preserve and maintain a perpetual fund used to maintain the cemetery. The large and extremely well-kept grounds are surrounded by a chain link fence.
Two mortared brick vaults without inscription dominate the cemetery. Grave sites without inscribed monuments are marked in various ways. A flat granite slab with no inscription marks one grave. Another grave is marked by a severely weathered native stone that appears to once have been inscribed and shaped. At least 179 flat concrete slabs mark other sites. Then there are three marble slabs, one unreadable funeral home marker, and four native rocks standing alone. Three small granite slabs inscribed “Baby Massey” mark grave sites.
DRIVING DIRECTIONS FROM THE TITUS COUNTY COURTHOUSE:
Travel 0.5 mile west on West First Street to the intersection of Ferguson Road (U.S. Highway 271). Veer to the right before reaching the traffic signal and enter Ferguson Road. Continue 1.3 miles to the intersection of U.S. Highway 67. Turn left onto U.S. 67 and proceed 7.1 miles until County Road (CR) 1070 intersects Highway 67 from the right. Turn right onto CR 1070 and proceed approximately 2 miles until CR 2010 intersects CR1070 from the left in a “Y” intersection. Take the right fork, which remains CR 1070. Tranquil Cemetery is located on a hilltop on the right of the road 0.8 mile from the “Y” intersection.
GPS COORDINATES: 33°12.470'N 095°07.242'W
DECORATION DAY:
MARKED BURIALS INDEXED IN TCS DATABASE: 234 (2008-04-01)
FREE BURIAL INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE FOR THIS CEMETERY.
SEE "HOW TO REQUEST BURIAL INFORMATION" PAGE FOR DETAILS.
(NOTE: This cemetery contains un-named burials marked by irregular makers like natural stones and other methods that could not be included in the Titus Cemetery Search database.)
LAST TCS PHYSICAL SURVEY: 2006-02-01
Historical information for this cemetery was provided by and used with the permission of David Horton, and was compiled from Mr. Horton's work and the earlier work of Lynch Harper. Map provided courtesy of Ark-La-Tex Council of Governments GIS department. Please forward any mapping questions to http://www.atcog.org/gis_mapping.htm.
