Annetta Cemetery
Aledo, Parker County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Community founder A. B. Fraser was a Confederate soldier who went into exile in Central America rather than declare allegiance to the Union. The Frasers named their daughter, who was born in Honduras, Anneta. The family returned to the U. S. in 1872, settling in Fort Worth, then moved a few miles west of the city in 1876. Fraser established a store and freight station near Weatherford and named the station for his daughter. When the Texas and Pacific Railroad built tracks through this area in 1880, it adapted the Fraser name, spelling it Annetta. Though it is likely that the site had already been used as a burial ground for several years before Edgar M. King was interred here in September 1882, his is the earliest tombstone on this site. King was the first of many of his family to be buried in Annetta Cemetery. Thirty-five infants' graves are dated between 1882 and 1910, a testament to the harsh conditions of pioneer life. Those interred here were civic and church leaders, educators, politicians, farmers, ranchers, merchants, and manufacturers. The Bell, Bledsoe, Chapman, Chew, Duncan, Nichols, Otto, and Winslow families are prominently represented, as are others who built the Annetta community. One burial is that of a veteran of the Civil War; other graves are those of veterans of several major United States and international wars and conflicts. More than 935 graves were counted in 1998. Fading railroad tracks and the Annetta Cemetery are all that remain to chronicle the passing of the pioneers of Annetta community. (1998)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Community founder A. B. Fraser was a Confederate soldier who chose exile in Central America over swearing loyalty to the Union, and it was there his daughter Anneta was born in Honduras. Back in Texas by the 1870s, he built a store and freight station west of Fort Worth and named it for her; when the Texas and Pacific Railroad arrived in 1880 it adopted the name as Annetta. The cemetery that grew up here holds hundreds of graves — civic leaders, farmers, and, in a poignant testament to pioneer hardship, thirty-five infants buried between 1882 and 1910.
Why it matters
Annetta's story captures how railroads, cattle-country settlement, and the harsh realities of frontier mortality together shaped the small communities of North Texas.
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Related people
- · A. B. Fraser
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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