EARLIEST Dated Tombstone in Annetta Cemetery - Annetta, TX
N 32° 42.775 W 097° 40.628
14S E 623980 N 3620235
A Texas Historical Marker at the front of Annetta Cemetery indicates that, while it is likely that this site had already been used for burials for several years, the tombstone of Edgar M. King is the earliest here, dated 1882.
Waymark Code: WMNCC5
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 02/12/2015
Views: 1
The marker provides the background:
Community founder A.B. Fraser was a Confederate soldier who went into exile in Central America rather than declare allegiance to the Union. The Frasers named their daughter, who was born in Honduras, Anneta. The family returned to the U.S. in 1872, settling in Fort Worth, then moved a few miles west of the city in 1876. Fraser established a store and freight station near Weatherford and named the station for his daughter. When the Texas and Pacific Railroad built tracks through this area in 1880, it adapted the Fraser name, spelling it Annetta.
Though it is likely that the site had already been used as a burial ground for several years before Edgar M. King was interred here in September 1882, his is the earliest tombstone on this site. King was the first of many of his family to be buried in Annetta Cemetery. Thirty-five infants' graves are dated between 1882 and 1910, a testament to the harsh conditions of pioneer life.
Those interred here were civic and church leaders, educators, politicians, farmers, ranchers, merchants, and manufacturers. The Bell, Bledsoe, Chapman, Chew, Duncan, Nichols, Otto, and Winslow families are prominently represented, as are others who built the Annetta community. One burial is that of a veteran of the Civil War; other graves are those of veterans of several major United States and international wars and conflicts.
More than 935 graves were counted in 1998. Fading railroad tracks and the Annetta Cemetery are all that remain to chronicle the passing of the pioneers of Annetta community.
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Edgar's headstone has been damaged, split into two pieces, but today, it is restored with concrete reinforcement. Its inscription is:
Edgar M.
Son of
W.C. & S.C. King
Born
June 27, 1878
Died
Sept. 25, 1882
"This lovely bud, so young so fair,
Called hence by early doom,
Just come to show how sweet a flower
In paradise would bloom."
FIRST - Classification Variable: Person or Group
Date of FIRST: 09/28/1882
More Information - Web URL: [Web Link]
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