Burns Cemetery
Trenton, Fannin County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Land for this cemetery was donated in 1876 by Tennessee native William Boyd Burns (1821-1907), whose log cabin home was located adjacent to the site. Pioneer settler of the Trenton community, he also gave nearby property for a Union church building, Burns Chapel, which served as an early schoolhouse for the surrounding rural area. The cemetery was first used in 1877 for the burials of Burns' stepson John Patton and daughter Priscilla Burns, who at 16 was a teacher in the Orangeville Academy. Other graves include those of pioneer area settlers and prominent leaders of Trenton. Among the Civil War veterans interred here and early physician Dr. W. C. Holmes, who fought at Shiloh, and John w. Connelly, a former teacher in the Indian Territory who became a popular local preacher. For well over a century the Burns Cemetery has served residents of the Trenton area. The original tract has been enlarged through a donation of land and the purchase of additional property. Still in use, the cemetery serves as a historic reminder of the region's rich heritage and as the site of an annual memorial service honoring the settlers who led in the area's development.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Tennessee native William Boyd Burns donated the land for this cemetery in 1876, next to the log cabin where he lived as a pioneer settler of the Trenton community. He also gave ground for a union church and schoolhouse, tying the burial ground to the area's earliest institutions. Its graves include Civil War veterans — among them a physician who fought at Shiloh — and generations of the settlers who built up Trenton.
Why it matters
For well over a century the cemetery has held the pioneers and veterans whose labor created a North Texas farming community from the open prairie.
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Related people
- · William Boyd Burns
- · Dr. W. C. Holmes
- · John W. Connelly
Related events
- · Battle of Shiloh
Themes & tags
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