Davidson Family Cemetery
Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas
Marker Inscription
DAVIDSON FAMILY CEMETERY WILLIAM L. DAVIDSON (1777-1861), JANE STUART (FLEMING) DAVIDSON (1787-1869) AND THEIR CHILDREN CAME TO TEXAS IN 1851 FROM MISSISSIPPI AND SETTLED IN BRAZOS COUNTY. AROUND 1857, THEY MOVED TO NAVARRO COUNTY. THAT SAME YEAR, DAVIDSON PURCHASED TWO TRACTS OF LAND FROM WILLIAM M. LOVE IN SOUTHEASTERN NAVARRO COUNTY TOTALING 830 ACRES AND BEGAN TO FARM THE LAND. HIS SONS, WALKER YOUNG DAVIDSON AND ROBERT STUART DAVIDSON, ALSO PURCHASED LAND FROM WILLIAM M. LOVE AS WELL AS MORE LAND IN THE AREA OVER THE YEARS. BOTH SONS SERVED IN CO. H, 20TH TEXAS CAVALRY, BASS REGIMENT DURING THE CIVIL WAR. THE DAVIDSONS WERE SUCCESSFUL SHEEP FARMERS AND RANCHERS, AND WERE KNOWN BY THE LARGER CATTLE RANCHERS OF THE AREA AS “GRANGERS.” IT IS BELIEVED THAT THEY WERE LIKELY MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL GRANGE OF THE ORDER OF PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY, A FRATERNAL ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN FARMERS. IN 1861, A PORTION OF THE DAVIDSON LAND WAS SET ASIDE AS A FAMILY BURIAL SITE ON THE TRACT DEEDED TO ROBERT STUART DAVIDSON. THE FIRST KNOWN BURIAL IS THAT OF MARY ANN (1860-1861), THE DAUGHTER OF WALKER YOUNG DAVIDSON AND ANN E. DAVIDSON. BOTH WILLIAM L. DAVIDSON AND JANE STUART DAVIDSON ARE BURIED HERE. IN ADDITION, ROBERT STUART DAVIDSON (1833-1880) IS BURIED HERE ALONG WITH THE WIFE OF WALKER YOUNG DAVIDSON, ANN ELIZA (1840-1883), AND HER DAUGHTER, MISSOURI ELIZA (1861-1871). WALKER YOUNG IS BURIED IN THE NEARBY EUREKA CEMETERY. THIS SMALL FAMILY BURIAL GROUND IS FENCED AND FEATURES STONE MARKERS AND OBELISKS. IT IS A REMINDER OF EARLY PIONEER SETTLERS TO THE EUREKA COMMUNITY AND NAVARRO COUNTY. HISTORIC TEXAS CEMETERY – 2003
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
William and Jane Davidson brought their family from Mississippi to Texas in 1851, settling by the late 1850s on hundreds of acres in southeastern Navarro County. The Davidsons prospered as sheep farmers and ranchers in cattle country—earning the nickname "Grangers" for their likely ties to the farmers' fraternal order—while two sons rode off to serve in the 20th Texas Cavalry during the Civil War. Set aside in 1861, this fenced family plot with its stone obelisks holds the graves of the pioneer parents and several of their descendants.
Why it matters
A single family cemetery like this one preserves the texture of mid-19th-century Texas settlement—migration, homesteading, the tensions between sheepmen and cattlemen, and the war that swept up its sons.
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Related people
- · William L. Davidson
- · Jane Stuart Davidson
- · Robert Stuart Davidson
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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