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 Belew Cemetery
N 33° 20.499 W 096° 58.334
14S E 688707 N 3690999
Texas Historical Marker commemorating the origins and history of the Belew Cemetery, the main burial ground in Aubrey, TX, containing many burials of early area pioneers.
Waymark Code: WMH3QZ
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 05/17/2013
Views: 15
Note that the Belews themselves aren't here: They're up the road in Pilot Point.
Marker Number: 17216
Marker Text:
Around 1856, Richard (Dick) Aaron Belew (1820-1900) and Mary Jane Belew (1822-1902), their five children and 39 other families came together by wagon from Tennessee to Denton County. They stopped on a hill in the area later known as the Belew Schoolhouse Settlement, part of the A.G. Stapp Survey north of Aubrey. A school soon opened in a log cabin at the site and was later used as a church. The cemetery was located in close proximity to the school. The first piece of land was purchased in October 1880 from Richard Aaron Belew by the citizens of the Belew Schoolhouse Community to be used as a public grave yard. Over 70 red sandstone rocks mark many of the early graves in this original 2.8 acres. By the early 1900s, the Belew Cemetery was established as the main burial ground for the Aubrey area.
In 1902, a Ladies Cemetery Society was organized by Kate Hodges (1857-1906), Mary L. (Mollie) Henderson (1854-1919), Ola Price (1877-1955), Bettie Catlett (1855-1918), Mary Caddell (1854-1940) and Nora McIntosh (1872-1965) to raise funds for the care of the cemetery. To raise money for additional land, the Ladies Cemetery Society voted to hold a Thanksgiving dinner for the community. For 85 years, this fundraiser was a success and allowed the society, later renamed the Belew Cemetery Association, to purchase additional land in 1903 and for the construction of a house for the sexton in 1906 and a pavilion in 1910. Additional land was acquired in 1962 and 1983. The Association's first directors represented rural school districts in the surrounding area. Early settlers, Association founders and veterans from the Civil War to the Gulf War are buried here. This historic cemetery continues to honor the area's heritage and ancestors.
Historic Texas Cemetery - 2011
Marker is property of the State of Texas
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Visit Instructions:
Please include a picture in your log. You and your GPS receiver do not need to be in the picture. We encourage additional information about your visit (comments about the surrounding area, how you ended up near the marker, etc.) in the log.
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