Cemetery Operations & Maintenance

If you would like to make a donation, please mail it to:
David Underhill, 125 CR 127, Tuscola, Texas 79562

Next meeting will again be held on the first Saturday of June, as it has for these many years past.

Maintenance of the cemetery is paid with donations and interest earned.

Cemetery History

Jim Newman, one of Fisher County’s earliest settlers, established a ranch in this area about 1879. The community that developed near his ranch was named Newman when the county’s first post office opened here in 1881. The town consisted of the Old Newman and Union Hall Schools, a post office/grocery store, and the Newman Baptist Church by 1901.

The Newman Cemetery was established in 1900 on land donated by Mr. C.Y. Powell, and legally set aside in a deed conveying property at this site for cemetery purposes in 1906. The first person to be buried was a little boy whose family lived on the old Tessie Walling place. The grave is located in the northeast corner of the graveyard complex. Among the first persons buried here were Miller Phigpen and J. E. W. Scott in 1906. Among the many veterans of various wars buried here is American Civil War veteran R. L. Creswell.

The Methodist Episcopal Church built a sanctuary here about 1908. Union Hall and Old Newman schools consolidated in 1913, and in 1924 a new brick schoolhouse was constructed. In 1929 the Methodist Episcopal and Baptist churches erected new sanctuaries. A steady decline in the area’s population resulted in the dissolution of the Methodist Church in 1940, the school in the early 1940s and the Baptist Church about 1950. Vestiges of the town’s church and school structures and the still active Newman Cemetery are all that remain of the former town of Newman. (1993) 

Mrs. Lea Dickerson, longtime custodian of the official records of the cemetery, stated with pride that the location of each grave in the cemetery is recorded. This is an accomplishment of which everyone is extremely proud. Records show that there is one grave the name of which is unknown – in 1923 a woman was shipped back to be buried who had previously lived in the Golan community. She remains unidentified to this day.

The first trees were planted in 1932. Those closest to the county road were bought with money contributed by the Union Sunday School when it disbanded. Additional trees were bought in 1935 with $22 of private donations. Many of the original tress have died because of dry years, especially during the drought of the 1950’s.

The enclosure of the cemetery perimeter can be traced back to a barbed wire fence erected in 1904. A good fence was bought in 1935 with donations from interested citizens. A wagon and team was used during construction of these early fences.

In 1968 the archway to the cemetery was added. This was made possible by money from the cemetery fund and the generous assistance of Jim Briscoe of Sweetwater, Truett Dickerson, Andrew and Lucille Ford, and Lorene Mauldin, to name a few.

Newman Cemetery Working and Old Settlers Reunion

These highly successful gatherings began around 1920 with the purpose of clearing and working the entire cemetery and not just individual graves. As a result, Newman enjoys the honor of being the best kept cemetery in the region. In recent years the first Saturday in June has been selected and widely accepted as the best meeting date. The 1969 reunion registered a total of 135 individuals, but attendance has been down considerably in recent years.

A business meeting is held at each session and officers are elected and the financial statement is made public to the members.

Newman Tabernacle

Fisher County’s only remaining tabernacle has survived seven decades of time and change. The original structure was erected in 1900 on land donated by Mr. John W. Dickerson. This pioneer settler also provided land for the establishment of the Newman Missionary Baptist Church and also for the teacher’s home across the road and adjacent to the old Newman Public School. The original tabernacle was cut down in size to its present 40′ x 60′ when it was rebuilt for the first time in 1930. The present remodeling, begun in early 1960, should result in this old landmark lasting another 40 years. This old place of worship has witnessed many sermons to overflowing crowds through the years. It is difficult even today to find someone who did not attend some type of service at Newman in years past.