Bethesda Cemetery
Bethesda, Parker County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Settlers in the 1860s called this area Dry Creek but renamed it Bethesda Community in 1876 after they built a schoolhouse used for Methodist worship. John G. Leach (1846-1930) and John Marshall Coalson (1826-1897) gave land near the school for a cemetery in 1877 when Leach's daughter Minnie E. (1872-1961) seemed near death with diphtheria. She recovered and the earliest marked grave is that of Charlie A. Walker (1879-1880). Childhood mortality accounts for many graves in the older part of the cemetery. Descendants of pioneer families donated land in 1973 to enlarge the site to five acres. (1978)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Settlers who called this area Dry Creek renamed it Bethesda in 1876 after building a schoolhouse used for Methodist worship. When young Minnie Leach seemed near death from diphtheria in 1877, her father and a neighbor gave land for a cemetery; she survived, and the earliest marked grave belongs instead to an infant. Many graves in the old section reflect the heavy toll of childhood illness among pioneer families.
Why it matters
The cemetery is a poignant record of frontier community life and the childhood mortality that shadowed early Texas settlement.
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Related people
- · John G. Leach
- · John Marshall Coalson
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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