Woods Prairie Cemetery -- West Point TX
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member Benchmark Blasterz
N 29° 56.798 W 097° 03.280
14R E 687741 N 3314462
Peaceful and historic Woods Prairie Cemetery down a dirt road in rural Fayette County Texas
Waymark Code: WMVQ1V
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 05/16/2017
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member elyob
Views: 1

This beautiful and quiet little cemetery holds the remains of several early pioneers, veterans of the War of 1812 and the Texas Revolution, and a survivor of the Dawson Massacre.

We estimate there are fewer than 200 people buried here, but it's hard to know because there is a mass grave of yellow fever victims.

A state historic marker reads as follows:

"WOODS PRAIRIE CEMETERY

Zadock Woods (d. 1842), veteran of the War of 1812 and one of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred colonists, brought his family to settle in this area in 1828. He built a fortified home on land deeded to his son, Montraville, and established a cemetery here for his family and neighbors.

The first burial is said to be that of a ranch hand. Another alleged early grave belongs to Stephen Cottle, brother of Woods' wife Minerva. He died c. 1828, and tradition holds he is buried north of his sister's plot; hers is the first marked grave, dating to 1839.

Zadock Woods himself is not buried at the cemetery. Killed at the Dawson Massacre of 1842, he is buried at Monument Hill State Historic Site in La Grange, in a vault with others who fell with him. A veteran of the massacre who survived capture and then imprisonment in Mexico is buried here, though. That survivor, Joseph C. Robinson, lived until 1861 and was honored here with a Texas Centennial marker in 1936.

To protect and preserve the cemetery property, which is the resting place of many early Texas pioneers, J.A. Darby, M.E. Darby, T.C. Moore and A.W. Young purchased the site in 1875 and deeded it to their heirs. The pioneer graveyard serves as a reminder of the area's early history.

Historic Texas Cemetery - 2002"
City, Town, or Parish / State / Country: West Point TX

Approximate number of graves: 150+

Cemetery Status: Active

Cemetery Website: [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:
Post an original, un-copywrited picture of the Cemetery into this Waymark gallery, along with any observations about the cemetery.
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Benchmark Blasterz visited Woods Prairie Cemetery -- West Point TX 03/16/2017 Benchmark Blasterz visited it