Collinsworth Cemetery - Plano, TX - Out of Place Graves on Waymarking.com

This burial ground is a good neighbor, not making a sound to disturb any of the neighbors whose homes surround the cemetery. An iron fence with a gate protects the grounds, which are well-maintained. This is a Historic Texas Cemetery, with a sign at the gate:

Collinsworth Cemetery
Established 1895

Historic Texas Cemetery - 2002
Marker is Property of the State of Texas

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An interpretive sign provides some background:

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.

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There are accompanying inset photos of the family home, the area, the remaining grave markers, and where applicable, photos of those named on the headstones.

First Name: Not listed Last Name: Not listed Born: Not listed Died: Not listed

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