FIRST Person to be Interred in Barker Cemetery - Henderson County, TX
N 32° 11.042 W 095° 46.421
15S E 238491 N 3564207
A 1997 Texas Historical Marker at Barker Cemetery, east of Athens in rural Henderson County, TX, notes that the first person to be interred in the cemetery was Hester (Stovall) Barker, back in 1893.
Waymark Code: WMZT3D
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 12/31/2018
Views: 0
Mrs. Barker is buried with her husband, Armstead Roderick Barker, and they share a modern, gray granite headstone. Roses in the upper corners are connected by a ribbon that says "Forever In Our Hearts", above the family name, "Barker". Below are boxes with their personal information, "Armstead Roderick 1837-1919" and "Hester Stovall 1840-1893". On the reverse is a list of their descendants:
Nancy Larkin Barker
Franks
1855-1935
George Barker
1859-1906
Margaret (Maggie) Barker
Dever
1862-1890
Roxie Barker
Dunnington
1865-
Julia Ann Barker
Burrell
1866-1959
William Henderson
Barker
1869-1936
Lazarus (Babe)
Barker
1870-1953
Marion Frances
Barker
1872-1937
-----
The Barkers were the benefactors for the cemetery land, and the historical marker provides some background:
Hester (Stovall) and Armstead R. Barker struggled to buy the lands they worked for their former masters, W.C. Larkin and Nat Coleman. When Mrs. Barker died in 1893, her husband set aside 4 precious acres of land to be used as a cemetery by the settlers of the Gum Creek community and their descendants.
Although Hester was the first person to be interred on this land, several earlier graves were relocated from their original sites. John Ellick, originally buried on the Barker farm in 1866, is the oldest of these.
During the Depression, Lazarus Barker was forced to offer the four acres for sale. Concerned citizens of the Gum Creek and Lease Springs communities formed the Barker Cemetery Association in August of 1933, and by December Barker deeded the land to the association. Others donated land for a driveway to the road.
Cemetery maintenance proved difficult for the farming families of the area, but in 1958 the Barker Cemetery Improvement Club sparked new development. A chain link fence, an organized list of graves, and a brick entrance were all completed by 1985.
In 1997, over 300 graves had been counted in Barker Cemetery. Still in use, the site is a monument to the vision of Hester and Armstead Barker.
FIRST - Classification Variable: Person or Group
Date of FIRST: 01/01/1893
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.
Recent Visits/Logs:
| There are no logs for this waymark yet. |
|
|
|