FIRST -- Burial in Smith Cemetery, Lewisville TX
N 33° 03.216 W 096° 59.367
14S E 687719 N 3659025
The grave of James J. Smith, son of Lewisville pioneers Thomas M. and Elizabeth A. Smith, the first burial in Smith Cemetery
Waymark Code: WMXYHR
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 03/17/2018
Views: 3
Peaceful Smith Cemetery was established in 1862 on the Smith family farm when their son James passed away. It was later deeded to the Masonic Temple for use as a cemetery. In 2018 it is still active. Descendants of Lewisville pioneer families are allowed to be buried here.
The day Blasterz visited, we saw about 300 headstones, but we suspect there are many more unmarked graves here.
The state historic marker at the cemetery reads as follows:
"SMITH CEMETERY
This area of Denton County was known as Holford's Prairie in the mid-19th century, named for brothers John and James Halford (Holford), pioneer settlers who obtained 640 acres of land as members of the Peters Colony. Basdeal W. Lewis platted the town of Lewisville in 1853.
Thomas Morgan (1814-1887) and Elizabeth A. (1815-1883) Smith purchased 318 acres of land here in 1859. They sold two and one-half acres of their farmland to the Lewisville Masonic Lodge in 1881 for the establishment of a community cemetery. The site had been used as a burial ground since 1862, when the Smiths' 20-year-old son, James J. Smith, died and was buried on the family farm. His is the earliest marked grave in the Smith Cemetery.
Among the pioneer Denton County family names that can be seen on gravestones here are Herod, Sherrill, Clayton, Skillern, Cobb, Jenkins, Temple, Bourland, Hamilton, Fenlaw, Oliver and Fox. John Moore (1834-1922) and Ann Eliza (1849-1923) Fox had the sad task of burying six children here between 1863 and 1882, a testament to the often harsh conditions of pioneer life. Local oral history records suggest that some of the unmarked graves in the Smith Cemetery are those of former slaves of the Julius Kane Fox family.
The Smith Cemetery Association, organized in 1950 to maintain the historic graveyard, purchased the site from the Masonic Lodge in 1972. Currently containing more than 400 marked graves and an unknown number of unmarked ones, the cemetery remains in use by the community and by descendants of the pioneer families interred here. (2001)"
The tombstone of James J. Smith reads as follows:
"JAMES J.
son of
R. M and E. A. Smith
Born
Jan. 20, 1842
Died
June 10, 1862"
FIRST - Classification Variable: Item or Event
Date of FIRST: 06/14/1862
More Information - Web URL: [Web Link]
|
Visit Instructions:As a suggestion for your visit log, please make every effort to supply a brief-to-detailed note about your experience at the Waymark. If possible also include an image that was taken when you visited the Waymark. Images can be of yourself, a personal Waymarking signature item or just one of general interest that would be of value to others. Sharing your experience helps promote Waymarking and provides a dynamic history of your adventures.