Becknell Cemetery
Clarksville, Red River County, Texas
Marker Inscription
BECKNELL CEMETERY THIS HISTORIC CEMETERY IS ALSO KNOWN AS ROBBINSVILLE CEMETERY AFTER THE COMMUNITY THAT ONCE THRIVED IN THIS AREA. NAMED FOR JOHN ROBBINS, AN EARLY SETTLER, ROBBINSVILLE SERVED AS A GATHERING PLACE FOR AREA FARMERS. THE CEMETERY BECAME KNOWN AS BECKNELL CEMETERY WHEN MARY BECKNELL, WIFE OF WILLIAM BECKNELL, DEEDED THE LAND TO THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AS A BURIAL GROUND ON DEC. 20, 1861. BURIALS INCLUDE WILLIAM BECKNELL (1788-1856), “FATHER OF THE SANTA FE TRAIL,” AND THREE OTHER BURIALS OF PIONEER FAMILIES, INCLUDING MCGUIRE AND TURNBOLE. IT IS BELIEVED THERE ARE A NUMBER OF UNMARKED GRAVES. THE CEMETERY IS THE LAST REMAINING VESTIGE OF A COMMUNITY’S PIONEER RESIDENTS.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Also known as Robbinsville Cemetery, this burial ground recalls the vanished community of Robbinsville, named for early settler John Robbins and once a gathering place for area farmers. It took the Becknell name after Mary Becknell, widow of trailblazer William Becknell, deeded the land to a Methodist church for burials in 1861. William Becknell himself lies here among pioneer families, along with a number of unmarked graves.
Why it matters
As the last surviving trace of a frontier community that has otherwise disappeared, the cemetery preserves the memory of the pioneers who first settled this corner of Texas.
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Related people
- · William Becknell
- · Mary Becknell
- · John Robbins
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
William Becknell
Clarksville, TX
William Becknell, born in Virginia in 1797, blazed the commercial route to Santa Fe in 1821, earning lasting recognition as the 'Father of the Santa Fe Trail.' He later served in the army of the Republic of Texas and settled in Red River County, where he died in 1865. The State of Texas erected this memorial marker in his honor in 1957.
William Becknell
Clarksville, TX
Born in Virginia around 1787, William Becknell became one of the great pathfinders of the American frontier. A veteran of the War of 1812 who fought at the Battle of Credit Island, he organized a trading party in 1821 that reached Santa Fe just after Mexico won independence from Spain, opening legal commerce along what became the Santa Fe Trail. He later settled in Red River County, where he led a militia company protecting frontier settlers.
Old Shamrock Cemetery
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Established in 1860 on the eve of the Civil War, Old Shamrock Cemetery is among the earlier burial grounds near Clarksville in Red River County, one of Texas's oldest settled regions. Designated a Historic Texas Cemetery in 2001, it holds the graves of the antebellum pioneers who first farmed this North Texas country.
New Shamrock Cemetery
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New Shamrock Cemetery was established in 1918 near Clarksville in Red River County, taking its name from the older Shamrock community it succeeded. Its Historic Texas Cemetery designation, granted in 2001, preserves it as a record of the families of this North Texas farming region in the early twentieth century.