Fairview Cemetery
Gainesville, Cooke County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Originally the Howeth Family Cemetery, this site traces its history to 1854, when a tornado struck the Howeth family cabin near Gainesville. First buried here were Thomas and Louisa Howeth, young children of William and Harriet Bell Howeth. William Howeth deeded the ten-acre cemetery to Cooke county in 1868. In 1878 the Cooke County commissioners turned over the site to the city of Gainesville in a 999-year lease. A city ordinance reserved a section for freedmen. The cemetery's name was changed in 1897 to East Hill, and in 1904 the name was changed again to Fairview. A separate Jewish Cemetery adjoined this site from 1881 until 1964 when the two graveyards were combined. Among the estimated 18,000 graves are those of Civil War veterans; Preston Conlee, a San Jacinto Battle veteran and Bastrop County sheriff who lies in an unmarked grave; 34 victims of the 1918 influenza epidemic; Bob Scott, ex-slave and centenarian; and former U.S. Senator Joseph Weldon Bailey. A chapel and Sexton's office, designed by Dallas architect Will Scott Richter, was constructed in 1938 at a cost of $6,296. The arched gate dates to 1964. This Victorian-era cemetery continues to serve the city. (1997)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
What began in 1854 as the Howeth family's private burying ground — first receiving two of their children after a tornado struck their cabin near Gainesville — grew into one of North Texas's great community cemeteries. Deeded to the county in 1868 and leased to the city a decade later, it set aside ground for freedmen and eventually absorbed an adjoining Jewish cemetery. Among its estimated 18,000 graves lie Civil War veterans, a San Jacinto soldier, victims of the 1918 flu, a centenarian former slave, and a U.S. senator.
Why it matters
A single Texas cemetery holds the whole arc of a frontier town's story — settlement, slavery and emancipation, war, epidemic, and civic life — in one shared ground.
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Related people
- · Thomas and Louisa Howeth
- · Bob Scott
- · Joseph Weldon Bailey
- · Preston Conlee
Related events
- · 1918 influenza epidemic
- · American Civil War
Themes & tags
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