Thomas and Charlotte Guthrie Tanner moved to Mexican Texas in 1827 or 1828. They purchased six hundred acres on McGraw Creek from J. R. Williams for six hundred dollars in 1849.
When Thomas Tanner died in 1862, he was buried on a hill overlooking the property where he and Charlotte reared twelve children. Though several unmarked graves cannot be dated, Thomas Tanner's was probably the first burial in the Tanner Cemetery. The site soon became a community burial ground. In 1872 the Reverend Marcus Miller was buried on this site; he was followed in 1875 by Charlotte Guthrie Tanner. Other 19th and early 20th century burials include those of J. C. Miller, who died in 1890, Bettie Tanner, whose grave is dated 1897, and Lucinda Abbott, who died in 1909.
In 1944 and 1972, neighbors deeded adjoining acreage to cemetery trustees. Veterans buried in the cemetery include Thomas Tanner, who served in the army of the Republic of Texas in 1837, and his sons Nathan T. and James L. Tanner who, along with four of their five brothers, served in the Confederate Army. Several World War I and World War II veterans are interred here. Other burials of interest include several local ministers and county officials.
More than fifty family names grace the headstones of Tanner Cemetery. Cared for by an association of settlers' descendants, the Tanner Cemetery remains a chronicle of the pioneers of Newton County. (1998)