Hart Mill Cemetery

THIS CEMETERY IS NAMED FOR A MILL THAT OPERATED ON NEARBY SUTTON LAKE, ALONG MAGNUS BRANCH. THE MILL WAS RUN FIRST BY ORIGINAL PATENTEE L.G. McGAUGHEY AND LATER BY RICHARD JEFFERSON HART; HART IS BURIED AT THE CEMETERY ALONG WITH SEVERAL OF HIS CHILDREN.

THE BARCLAY FAMILY WAS ONE OF THE EARLIEST ANGLO FAMILIES TO SETTLE IN WHAT IS NOW TYLER COUNTY, ARRIVING IN 1836. JAMES WALTER BARCLAY OWNED LAND NEARBY AND SERVED IN THE TEXAS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AS TYLER COUNTY TAX ASSESSOR, SHERIFF AND CHIEF JUSTICE, AND WAS ALSO APPOINTED AS AN AGENT FOR THE ALABAMA, COUSHATTA AND PAKANA MUSKOGEE INDIANS. JAMES’ FATHER, WALTER BARCLAY, IS THE FIRST KNOWN BURIAL IN HART MILL CEMETERY (ALSO KNOWN AS HART-MILL CEMETERY) IN 1857; JAMES WALTER, HIS WIFE VIRGINIA AND THEIR DESCENDANTS ARE ALSO BURIED HERE. EARLY SETTLER JOHN BEVIL AND SEVERAL OF HIS DESCENDANTS ARE BURIED AT THE SITE. BEVIL FIRST SETTLED IN JASPER COUNTY IN THE 1820s, WHERE HE FOUNDED THE RIVERSIDE COMMUNITIES OF BEVIL SETTLEMENT AND BEVILPORT AND SERVED AS A DELEGATE TO THE CONSULATION OF 1835 IN SAN FELIPE. ALSO INTERRED HERE ARE MEMBERS OF THE BULLOCK, BEATY, KINCAID, GEORGE, BOYD, RISINGER, ANDERSON, LIDDON, BOWDON, GRAVES AND WILLIAMSON FAMILIES.

IN 1929, JOHN RANDOLPH BEVIL AND MARTHA (HART) BEVIL DEEDED 2.95 ACRES TO OFFICIALLY ESTABLISH A CEMETERY AT THE SITE. THE DEED ALSO PROVIDED FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF A BOARD OF TRUSTEES TO CARE FOR THE BURIAL GROUND AND GAVE DIRECTIVES FOR AN ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING. TODAY, HART MILL CEMETERY CONTINUES TO BE CARED FOR BY DESCENDANTS OF THOSE EARLY PIONEERS INTERRED HERE.