Hightower Cemetery

John Bryan McPheres Hightower was born in December 1822 in Georgia. By 1846, he lived in Red River, Texas with his father and brother. Three years later, he wed Mary E. Morris in Cherokee County, and the couple moved to Erath County with three children by the time of the 1860 census. The family had earlier settled on a large ranch in this area. In 1870, the Hightowers formally set aside almost two acres here for a cemetery. Before that time, they had buried three children at the site, and some of the unmarked graves may date to earlier than 1870. At the cemetery that year, the community buried the first person outside the Hightower family, Reuben Phillips. A search party had found his body near the ranch after he had been attacked by Indians. John B. Hightower died in 1878, and Henry Killian bought the ranch. In 1895, he officially deeded the burial ground to a cemetery association, which has continued to maintain the historic site. Today, the site is the final resting place of military veterans, members of fraternal organizations and generations of area residents. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2003

Hightower Cemetery is a historical marker in Morgan Mill, Erath County, dedicated in 2003. It is one of 71 historical markers documented in Erath County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 144 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 32.4242, -98.1327 near Morgan Mill. The nearest cataloged historic site is Adams Family (cemetery), about 3.1 miles away. Others within a short drive include Morgan Mill Cemetery, Morton Chapel Cemetery, and Bishop Cemetery.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5507013462. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.