Bascom Cemetery
Tyler, Smith County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Bascom was settled in the mid-1840s and named for a Tennessee Methodist bishop by early settler Lazariah Smith. Burials took place just north of this site until 1857 when one acre west of the Tyler to Henderson Road (present-day FM 848) and two acres east of the road were set aside for cemetery purposes. Graves from the early site were reinterred in Bascom Cemetery. The first recorded burial was that of John Pinkerton in 1851. Included among the more than 2,000 interments are those of the area's earliest settlers and their descendants and at least one veteran of the War of 1812.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The community of Bascom was settled in the mid-1840s and named by early settler Lazariah Smith for a Tennessee Methodist bishop. Burials began just north of this spot, and in 1857 acreage on both sides of the Tyler-to-Henderson road was set aside as a cemetery, with graves from the earlier site reinterred here. Among its more than 2,000 burials lie the region's first settlers, their descendants, and at least one veteran of the War of 1812.
Why it matters
The cemetery preserves the memory of East Texas's earliest Anglo settlers, whose graves trace the arc of frontier settlement from the Republic era onward.
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Related people
- · Lazariah Smith
- · John Pinkerton
Themes & tags
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