Stewart Cemetery

John and Ellen Stewart and their children settled in this area about 1843. According to oral history, John Stewart is credited with building the first pioneer home in eastern Hunt County. Other settlers such as Godfrey Smith, William Rippy and their families began to arrive in 1845. John and his neighbors were county appraisers, county clerks and justices of the peace.

John Stewart died about 1856. Ellen Stewart and their children remained in Hunt County. They sold 640 acres of land to William Jernigan, credited as founding father of nearby Cowhill (present Commerce). Though earlier graves are believed to exist in Stewart Cemetery, the earliest legible marker is that of three-year-old Elif Cummins, who was buried here in 1863. Two of John and Ellen Stewart's sons, R. E. and John F. Stewart, as well as other neighbors joined the Confederate Army in 1861. R. E. Stewart, aged 29, was killed in battle near Little Rock, Arkansas; he was interred there, but his brother and other Confederate veterans were buried on this site.

Farmers and cattlemen began moving into the area in large numbers around the turn of the 20th century.Several of the newcomers dug the graves of the earlier settlers as they passed away. Many young children died and were buried here during an epidemic in the early 1900s.

Julia Stewart and Martin Williams officially deeded Stewart Cemetery to the cemetery association in 1907. Graves of interest include that of State Representative Louis Lankford, who died in 1940. Lankford was a member of the Texas Legislature from Hunt and Rains counties and served in the Spanish-American War. (1999)