FIRST to be Buried in Antioch Cemetery - Turlington, TX - First of its Kind on Waymarking.com

Rev. John M. Webb

Born in Ala.
Mar. 29, 1824

Died
Aug. 4, 1877

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The historical marker provides some background:

The beginning of Antioch Cemetery is very closely associated with the Turlington community, the Antioch and Mt. Zion churches, and the surrounding rural area. The area has ample springs and creeks which increased the number of people who settled here. Most came to this region via steamboats on the Trinity River from Galveston. The Antioch Baptist Church was established in 1870, and the cemetery was established in 1877. Rev. John M. Webb (1824-1877), of Ouachita County, Arkansas, was elected as the pastor of the church in 1870 and was the first to be buried in its cemetery in 1877. The people of this region mostly made a living by farming or ranching.

Samuel G. Wells was one of the community's more memorable men. He came to Texas in 1833, fought in the Texas Revolution and the Kickapoo War. He was also one of the founders of Anderson County. Wells is buried here with his second wife, Lettie, and her brother, Benjamin Garner, a Civil War veteran. Rev. James King Lane also lies in this cemetery. He was also a Civil War veteran, founder and postmaster of the Lanely community and a member of the Texas House of Representatives. Conrad Henry, born in Germany, is the only known first generation immigrant buried in Antioch. His headstone is taller than any other marker in the cemetery. The cemetery is situated so that the older graves are in the center with the newer burials on the outer edges in all directions. The pioneer style flower called "deer tongue" is growing throughout the plots. It is said that this unique flower was brought to the area by the pioneers who settled here. Still used today, Antioch Cemetery reflects a continuum of local history with both historical and modern burials coexisting together.

While Reverend Webb's own Findagrave page provides no details, the cemetery's own page (see below) elaborates:

The Antioch Baptist Church was organized in November of 1873. The Rev. John Webb was the first pastor and the first to be buried in the Antioch cemetery. Bro. Webb passed away in 1877. The story goes, that Mr. John Dunbar was not expected to live, and the family asked Bro. Webb to pick a place for him to be buried. He did, and built an arbor like structure over the plot. Mr. Dunbar got well, but in the meantime, Bro. Webb died and was buried in the place he had picked for Mr. Dunbar. This was the beginning of the Antioch Cemetery.

There is a "John Dunbar" buried here at Antioch. If John Dilworth Dunbar is the same John Dunbar referenced here, he survived Reverend Webb by nearly fourteen years.

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