The cemetery sees occasional maintenance, and there is a small footpath that goes from the west side of the cemetery over to Jessup Ct on the north side, crossing a stone retaining wall and taking visitors directly past the remaining headstones. One child, Jane Curtis Thomas (1876-1877), is buried outside of the southernmost plot, in which Allie B. Leach (b. 1881, d. 1881) rests at peace. Preston Lawrence Leach (1824-1868) and his daughter, Delana C. Leach (1859-1873) are together in the northernmost plot, and Mr. Leach's headstone is complemented by a marker noting his service in the Civil War (with the Texas Partisan Rangers, misspelled on the marker).
Near the footpath at the southwest corner of the cemetery is an interpretive sign, placed by the Plano Conservancy for Historic Preservation. They refer to them as "Wayside Signs", and this one's main text is complemented by a map showing the cemetery's location within Collin County, photos of three of the cemetery's headstones, and a partial family tree showing Perrin family ties to President Lyndon B. Johnson. It reads:
The site of the Leach/Thomas/Perrin Cemetery was part of the original Jeremiah Muncey survey. The Muncey family settled along Rowlett Creek in one of the earliest settlements in the Plano area. In 1844, the Muncey family was killed in a raid. Based on a young surveyor's account, oral histories attribute the attack to Native Americans.
Historians believe that the Muncey land was obtained by the family of William and Dycea Perrin sometime after the Muncey incident and that a portion of this land was used as the Perrin Family Cemetery. One of the Perrin daughters married into the Thomas family. When William Perrin divided his land among his children, this daughter (Mrs. Thomas) inherited the property on which the family cemetery was located. Although the markers have disappeared, William and Dycea (Kerbey) Perrin area buried in the Leach/Thomas/Perrin Cemetery. Another Perrin daughter, Mary Elizabeth married John Smith Huffman, Jr. who was the first doctor in Plano. They are the grand-grandparents of Lyndon Baines Johnson. The Huffmans are buried in Rowlett Cemetery.
Preston Lawrence Leach, his wife Nancy Elizabeth Atkins and their eight children arrived in Texas from Anderson County, Tennessee around 1860. Another three children were born in Texas. Preston and his oldest son, Charles Monroe, enlisted in the Confederate States Army and served near McKinney.
After settling in the area, the Leaches made arrangements to use the Perrin Family Cemetery for family burials. Today, pipe fencing surrounds the graves of Preston Leach and two of his daughters, Delana and Allie. When Preston's wife Nancy died seventeen years after his passing in 1868, her body was intended to rest next to that of her husband. Extreme weather conditions on the day of her funeral services prevented this from occurring. Instead family members buried her in Allen where she lies between twin sons John and Joseph at the east end of the Allen City Cemetery.
The Leach Thomas Perrin Cemetery [sic] was in active use until about 1920. The cemetery is located on the boundary between the Plano and Allen communities and many residents of Allen are reported to be buried here as well. Accounts specify that approximately one-hundred people are interred in this cemetery, although the stones and markers have been knocked down after the barb wired fences gave way to cows and horses grazing in the surrounding fields.
Family Plots
In the early 1840s when pioneers began arriving in Collin County, they settled on headrights (property) that were isolated from one another. As more families relocated to this region, a section of the open acreage, thick with prairie grass, would be set aside for a final resting place for loved ones. The need to prevent or contain disease made a quick burial necessary resulting in small cemetery plots scattered across the countryside. In some instances outlying settlers would obtain permission to bury their deceased family members in another family's cemetery.
Funerals were held in homes with relatives and nearby neighbors preparing the body and tending to those in grief. Family members cared for these burial grounds, holding an annual Decoration Day, usually the first Sunday in May. Distant relatives drew together to refresh the grounds, to renew ties, and to provide a social venue to welcome babies born within the previous year. During the early twentieth century burial practices began to change to reflect a trend towards cultural homogenization. Folk burial practices associated with the region faded away as growth and development occurred. Perpetual care, provided by the funeral industry and commercialized by mass produced tombstones, plastic floral wreaths, funeral chapels, professional gardeners and mausoleums in park like settings became common. The culture of an era adapted and took on an identity that would have been very foreign to people of the late 1800s.
Produced by the Plano Conservancy for Historic Preservation, Inc.
Funded in part by a grant from the City of Plano, TX
Research compiled from:
Cemeteries of Collin County, Texas by Joy Gough
Plano, Texas: The Early Years by Friends of the Plano Public Library
The Handbook of Texas Online sponsored by Texas State History Association
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NB: The reference to "Rowlett Cemetery" should be "Rowlett Creek Cemetery, which is also in Plano, about eight miles northwest of here.
Visitor's note: One resident who was walking by gave me a warm welcome and told me a little about what she knew about the cemetery. Another watched me during my visit to make certain that I wasn't up to mischief with my camera and GPS. The latter is a serious indication of suburbia.