FIRST Burial Site of Little Prairie Flower - Asbury Cemetery - Edom, TX - First of its Kind on Waymarking.com

Prairie Flower was initially buried next to her Aunt Phoebe, who married Adren Anglin, an early Texas Ranger who had helped to construct Fort Parker -- read on -- and who contributed to the Texas Revolution. He is the subject of a Texas Historical Marker at the front of the cemetery, and is buried with his wife and near where his niece was buried. A granite marker there reads:

First Burial Site of
Little Prairie Flower

Daughter of
Cynthia Ann Parker
& Chief Peta Nocona

1858-1863

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Another Texas Historical Marker for the cemetery itself provides some background:

The first recorded burial on this site was that of Asbury Lowery (1836-1855). The new burial ground was named in his memory. In 1863, Prairie Flower (1858-1863), the young daughter of celebrated Comanche Indian captive Cynthia Ann Parker and Comanche Chief Peta Nocona, was interred here when she died while living with relatives of her mother. In 1965 her remains were removed to the post cemetery at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, to be re-interred near the graves of her mother and brother, Chief Quanah Parker, during ceremonies attended by both Comanche and Anglo descendants.

A Texas Ranger named Adren Anglin (1796-1865) also was buried here in the early years of the graveyard. H. W. and H. L. Walker donated two acres including the existing Asbury Chapel and Cemetery to trustees of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, in 1879.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, family members and descendants of the deceased observed a cemetery memorial day by coming together to clean the grounds and share food and fellowship. Eventually, Asbury Chapel merged with the Edom Methodist Church. The first cemetery board of directors was organized in 1945 while John W. Miller (1884-1975) was caretaker.

Maintained by an association, the cemetery contains almost 400 recorded and marked burials and approximately 30 unmarked graves. Among the unmarked graves is believed to be that of pioneer Van Zandt County settler Esable Lindsey and six of her children. The Asbury Cemetery continues to be a chronicle of the pioneers of Van Zandt County.

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Cynthia Ann Parker was one of five captives taken by the Comanche in the 1836 Fort Parker Massacre near Groesbeck, TX. Over time, four of those captives either escaped or were ransomed back to "white society", but Cynthia Ann ultimately went native. She was a young girl, anywhere from eight to eleven years old when she was abducted, and she was raised by a Comanche couple. At some point, she became the only wife of chief Peta Nocona -- it was common practice for chiefs to have multiple wives, something he eschewed due to his devotion to Cynthia Ann -- and they had three children, the best known of which was Quanah Parker, who has his own story.

Pecos, the second child, was not quite a teenager when he died in 1863, his final resting place unknown, while Topsannah (Prairie Flower) was born in 1858. She was with her mother at the Battle of Pease River, near Crowell, TX, when they were captured by a group of Texas Rangers led by Sul Ross. Some accounts indicate that Peta Nocona was killed in the battle, while others say that he escaped, only to die a few years later of his wounds. Cynthia Ann and Topsannah were repatriated to "white society", where they were discouraged from their "savage ways" by relatives here in Van Zandt County. Topsannah caught the influenza and died of pneumonia, leaving her heartbroken mother to finish her last days refusing food and water, unhappy about not being with the only family she'd ever known. Topsannah was buried here, while her mother was buried some miles southeast in the Foster Cemetery in Anderson County. Some accounts erroneously indicate that Prairie Flower was buried there, too, referring to the cemetery as "Fosterville" and referencing relatives in "Van Zandt" as if it was a city and not a county.

FIRST - Classification Variable: Place or Location Date of FIRST: 01/01/1863 More Information - Web URL: [Web Link]

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