Heard's Prairie Cemetery
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Heard's Prairie Cemetery is a Historic Texas Cemetery located approximately 8 miles east of Bremond, Texas on FM 2293.
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15088 FM 2293
Bremond, TX
76629
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A brief history of Heard’s Prairie Cemetery
An 1841 Indian ambush in this vicinity, which claimed the life of Major G.W. Heard, gave Heard’s Prairie its name. Later settlers, including the Bates, Branter, Garner, Jones, Jenkins, Johnson, Manor, Oldham, Stanford and Ware families established Petteway, named Mike Petteway, who operated a general store. By 1900, the community had three churches, two schools, stores, a cotton gin, a gristmill and a Woodmen of the World lodge. A post office operated in the thriving settlement from 1887 to the 1940s. After World War II, production of cotton and other crops diminished and the area turned to ranching. Later, much of the surrounding land was bought for coal mining. Most of the historic resources of Petteway have vanished.
On October 4, 1876, John R. Henry donated 3 acres out of the W.J. Smith league to Heard’s Prairie Missionary Baptist Church “for the purpose of creating a house of publish worship ... also for graveyard and school purposes.” R.L. Gunter donated another 2 acres in 1903; the cemetery then occupied 3.5 acres, while the church and historic pavilion were sited on 1.5 acres. The school no longer exists. Heard’s Prairie Cemetery has also been know Hurd’s Prairie, Post Oak and Petteway. In 2018, membership at Heard’s Prairie Missionary Baptist church dwindled; members unanimously voted to convey the 1.5 acres, church building and fellowship hall to the cemetery
The oldest marked graves are for Mary Isabella Dibble Ware ( d. Feb 1876), Lee M. Garner (d. May 1876), Hester Oldham (d. Dec 1876) and Marcellus Sanders (d. May 1877). Town namesake Mike Petteway is also buried here, as are dozens of veterans dating from the Civil War. Marble, granite, limestone, concrete, cast iron and field stone grave markers identify hundreds of marked graves; there are also unmarked burials. This active cemetery serves as the final resting place for generations of residents and is a chronicle of the past.
