Arlington Cemetery
Arlington, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Encompassing more than ten acres of land, Arlington Cemetery includes within its borders several small historic graveyards, including the original old cemetery of Arlington, the W. W. McNatt Cemetery addition, the Masonic Cemetery, and the Old City Cemetery. William W. McNatt, who brought his family here from Arkansas in 1872, was a retail merchant and large scale farmer in this area. He sold the cemetery property to the Arlington Cemetery Society in 1899. Another group, the Arlington Cemetery Association, was chartered in 1923 and maintained the graveyard for many years until the City of Arlington assumed ownership and maintenance. The oldest documented burial here is that of one-year-old Mattie Luna Cooper (1874-75), daughter of pioneer Arlington settlers J. D. and Luna A. Cooper. Numerous other early settlers also are buried here, as are veterans of conflicts from the Civil War to World War II. Local officials interred in the graveyard include at least seven former postmasters and the following former mayors: M. J. Brinson, George M. Finger, Emmett E. Rankin, Williams C. Weeks, Thomas B. Collins, T. G. Bailey, W. H. Davis, Preston F. McKee, William H. Rose, Will G. Hiett and Harold E. Patterson.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Spanning more than ten acres, Arlington Cemetery gathers within its bounds several older graveyards — the original town cemetery, the W.W. McNatt addition, the Masonic Cemetery, and the Old City Cemetery. McNatt, an Arkansas transplant of 1872 and prominent merchant-farmer, sold the ground to the Arlington Cemetery Society in 1899. The oldest documented grave is that of one-year-old Mattie Luna Cooper (1874–75); around her rest pioneer settlers, veterans from the Civil War to World War II, and a long roster of the town's postmasters and mayors.
Why it matters
A consolidated pioneer cemetery like this is a community's collective memory in one place, holding the founders, officials, and soldiers whose lives trace the town's whole history.
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Related people
- · William W. McNatt
- · Mattie Luna Cooper
Themes & tags
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