Collinsworth Cemetery 1895 ... - Plano, TX - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

There are some interesting photos to complement the text, all of which is superimposed upon a background depicting the local roads. One photo at the bottom of the sign shows the surviving headstones as they stand inside the cemetery, numbered to correspond with photos, above, showing what those buried here looked like in life. There is also a photo of the Collinsworth house and an illustration of their property layout in relation to Parker Rd. The text reads:

...A Family in Mourning

William Sephus Collinsworth arrived by train from Tennessee in the 1870s and walked six miles west to the land on which he would build his home. His parents, Lucy Ann Rowlett and Farwick M. Collinsworth, and seven siblings including a brother named Daniel M. "Milt" Collinsworth joined him on the family homestead. Before long many Collinsworths had set up permanent residence in the area.

In May 1895 Milt Collinsworth welcomed a traveling salesman into his home for the night, an act of hospitality that would dramatically impact the family's future. The next morning as the man was leaving, he mentioned feeling ill. A young Collinsworth daughter who had helped to change the bed linens in which the man slept became sick and was diagnosed with smallpox. Though this diagnosis came early, the doctor was unfamiliar with proper measures of treatment. The disease spread quickly through the family resulting in four deaths within thirty days. Following custom, many extended family members gathered together in the Collinsworth home for the funerals where the illness was further spread. Eventually more than ten relatives succumbed to the illness.

To avoid a citywide epidemic, Plano officials quarantined land extending to the north and south by present-day Spring Creek Parkway and Park Boulevard and to the east and west by what is now Coit Road and Preston Road. Further, the city passed a resolution to vaccinate all citizens against the virus. Passage on all through-roads was prohibited, making transport of food and medical supplies very difficult. Only a few compassionate friends and those who had already recovered from smallpox crossed the quarantine to come to the aid of the Collinsworth family.

The Collinsworth Cemetery was started during this epidemic behind the Milt Collinsworth family home. Bodies were brought to the site from as far away as Frisco and buried by night, a practice thought to help lessen the likelihood of contamination. Although six stones are visible in the Collinsworth Cemetery, reports cite this as the resting place for as many as thirty Collinsworth family members. This site was used as late as 1925. With the passage of time, many tomb stones have disappeared. Some of these could be buried under as much as 18 inches of soil that covers the original cemetery.

While the land surrounding the cemetery has changed hands a number of times, the cemetery continues to be the property of all descendants of the courageous Collinsworth men and women who helped settle this area.

Group that erected the marker: Plano Conservancy for Historic Preservation URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link] Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: Collinsworth Cemetery 3108 Vermillion Dr Plano, TX USA 75093

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