Connell Cemetery
Brownwood vicinity, Brown County, Texas
Marker Inscription
William Connell came to Texas with his family in 1834. He later served in the Republic of Texas Army, the Texas Rangers, and the Confederate Army. Connell Cemetery, believed to be one of the oldest in Brown County, was probably in use before 1861. When William and Loumisa Wills Connell buried their son William Archibald in 1866, they erected what is believed to have been the first headstone on this site. The last was that of Edward Bruce McCallum, dated 1949. Sixteen families are noted; over twenty graves remain unmarked. Connell Cemetery was deeded to Brown County in 1893. (1997)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
William Connell brought his family to Texas in 1834 and lived through its most formative decades, serving in the Republic of Texas Army, the Texas Rangers, and later the Confederate Army. The cemetery that bears his name—thought to be among the oldest in Brown County—was likely in use before 1861, and when the Connells buried their son in 1866 they set what is believed to be its first headstone. Sixteen families and more than twenty unmarked graves lie here, a quiet record of the pioneers who settled this frontier.
Why it matters
The burial ground preserves the story of a frontier family whose service spanned the Republic, the Rangers, and the Civil War—the successive struggles that defined nineteenth-century Texas.
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Related people
- · William Connell
- · Loumisa Wills Connell
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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