Bosqueville Cemetery
Waco, McLennan County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Burials began here as early as 1850 on 10 acres given by Little Berry White for a school and cemetery. A log schoolhouse at this site in 1853-54 served the Methodist and Baptist Churches as a meeting place. Some of the unmarked graves were those of slaves. The first marked graves, dated 1856, were those of David Smith Kornegay, a veteran of San Jacinto, and his mother-in-law, Bridget Lamb McGary. Another San Jacinto soldier, Alexander McKinza, and thirty-one veterans of the confederate army are buried here. In 1908, heirs of Dr. N.J.W. Wortham gave 1.5 acres. (1979)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Burials began here as early as 1850 on ten acres given for a school and cemetery, where a log schoolhouse once served both Methodists and Baptists. The ground holds a striking cross-section of early Texas: veterans of the 1836 San Jacinto campaign, dozens of Confederate soldiers, pioneer families, and the unmarked graves of enslaved people. Each row of stones speaks to a different chapter of the state's contested past.
Why it matters
In one small plot it gathers the founding fight for Texas independence, the divisions of the Civil War, and the presence of the enslaved whose graves went unnamed.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
In 1850 central Texas was still raw frontier. Texas had joined the United States only five years earlier, and McLennan County was just being organized along the Brazos River. Settlers were arriving along the Brazos and its tributaries, including the Bosque River, which gave Bosqueville its name. Some of these early settlers were veterans of the Texas Revolution who had fought for independence from Mexico in 1836.
It was also a slaveholding society. Cotton farming was spreading through the Brazos valley, and enslaved African Americans did much of the work of clearing land and raising crops. Their lives and deaths often went unrecorded, which is why so many enslaved people across the South lie in unmarked graves.
Within about a decade, the Civil War arrived. Texas seceded in 1861, and many men from McLennan County joined the Confederate army. After the war, Reconstruction and emancipation transformed the social order of the region. A burial ground like this one spans all of those changes in a single plot of land.
People & events
Little Berry White gave ten acres here for a school and cemetery, and burials began as early as 1850. In 1853–54 a log schoolhouse stood on the site. It doubled as a meeting place for both the Methodist and Baptist churches, a common arrangement on the frontier when communities could afford only one building and shared it.
The first marked graves date to 1856. One belongs to David Smith Kornegay, a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto. Next to him is his mother-in-law, Bridget Lamb McGary. Another San Jacinto soldier, Alexander McKinza, is also buried here. San Jacinto was the decisive 1836 battle that won Texas its independence, so the graves of two men who fought there give this rural cemetery an unexpected link to the founding of the Republic of Texas.
Thirty-one veterans of the Confederate army are also buried here, along with pioneer families of the Bosqueville community. Some of the unmarked graves belong to enslaved people. Their names are not recorded on stone, but the marker honestly acknowledges that they are here. In 1908 the heirs of Dr. N.J.W. Wortham donated another 1.5 acres, enlarging the cemetery for later generations.
Its place in the American story
Few small cemeteries capture so much of the American story in one place. The San Jacinto veterans link it to the Texas Revolution, which led to an independent republic and eventually to Texas joining the United States. That annexation was itself one of the causes of the U.S.-Mexican War, a conflict that reshaped the map of North America.
The Confederate graves and the unmarked graves of enslaved people tell another part of the story. The Civil War was fought over slavery and the future of the Union, and here soldiers who fought for the Confederacy lie in the same ground as people who were held in bondage. The difference between marked and unmarked graves reflects the deep inequality of that society, in death as in life.
Today historians and descendants across the country are working to locate and honor the unmarked burials of enslaved people in cemeteries like this. By stating plainly that some of these graves belong to enslaved people, the Bosqueville marker helps keep their presence part of the public record and not something forgotten.
If you visit
Bosqueville Cemetery is an easy trip from Waco, but it feels far from the city. As you walk the grounds, look for the older stones from the 1850s and the graves of the San Jacinto veterans. Notice too the open spaces that may hold unmarked burials. The stretches without stones are as much a part of the history here as the carved names.
Take your time and be respectful, since this is an active burial ground that families still visit. Reading the stones carefully, you can follow different eras of Texas history, from the frontier years through the Civil War and beyond.
This cemetery pairs well with a Waco history day, especially if you are interested in the Texas Revolution, the Civil War or the African American experience in central Texas. Visiting a rural burial ground like this alongside the city's museums gives you the larger story and the local, human scale of it.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · David Smith Kornegay
- · Little Berry White
Related events
- · Battle of San Jacinto
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Alexander McKinza
Waco, TX
Alexander McKinza left his native Alabama for Nacogdoches in 1834, arriving on the eve of Texas's fight for independence. He joined the Sabine volunteers under Capt. Benjamin F. Bryant and fought at the decisive Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. Settling into civilian life, he married Clarissa Brewer, kept a store near Douglass, and served as a Nacogdoches County justice of the peace before moving to McLennan County around 1860.
David Smith Kornegay
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David Smith Kornegay was a soldier of the Texas Revolution who fought at the decisive Battle of San Jacinto in 1836 and later escaped the deadly Dawson Massacre of 1842. Born in North Carolina in 1810, he came to Texas in its founding struggle and died in 1856. The State of Texas erected this marker in 1936 during the centennial of independence.
Old Walker Homestead
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Built around 1853 of locally made Waco sand brick, this Texas take on Greek Revival style was the work of James Walker and his son W. C. Walker. Both men were veterans of the Battle of San Jacinto, the 1836 clash that won Texas its independence. Their home is remembered as the first brick house in the rural part of the county.
Louis Moore
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