Martha and John Pate Carter brought their family to Van Zandt County about 1851 and were among the first settlers in this area. Although local oral tradition holds that the first person buried in the cemetery was a nine-year-old son of the Carters, the oldest documented grave is that of H. H. Meeks (d. 1859). The Carter family later donated the land for a public cemetery, and the burial ground has served residents of a number of small communities in this area. A cemetery association formed in the 1960s maintains the historic graveyard. (1991)