Sterling-White Cemetery, Highlands, Texas

History

Reuben White was born about 1795 to parents William and Amy (Comstock) White in La Louisiane française, New France (today what is known as Vermilion Parish, Louisiana).¹

White married Christina Faulk on June 15, 1818², and together had at least eight children. White and his family moved to Texas in 1824 from St Martin, Louisiana³, as a member of Stephen F. Austin’s Old Three Hundred, along with his widowed mother. White received a grant of one league on the east bank of the San Jacinto River on 19 Aug 1824, across from his mother’s existing league on the west bank of the river, which was granted 16 Aug 1824.⁴

White was part of a large extended family which settled this area, which later became known as the White Settlement.

Formerly set aside as the White Family Cemetery circa the 1840’s, the grounds eventually became a community graveyard. Although Reuben’s burial is the earliest recorded (1848) in the cemetery, it is believed that older gravesites may exist.

As the cemetery expanded, new sections were developed and dedicated, now including lawn crypts, mausoleum crypts, cremation gardens and cremation niches. In 1987, the Sterling-White Chapel Funeral Home was erected on the property, and in 2005 the two entities were formally combined to become a single corporate entity called Sterling-White Funeral Home and Cemetery. Sterling-White Cemetery is recognized by the State of Texas Historical Society as a Texas Historical Cemetery, and in 1994, a marker (#10804) was erected on the property.⁵

Monuments

One of the most prominent features of Sterling-White Cemetery is the presence of a non-traditional 4 story 3-bell Carillon Tower that is equipped with 4 megaphones.

More details on this tower and its origins are currently being researched.