Hopson Burleson Memorial Cemetery
Fairfield, Freestone County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Hopson Burleson (1806-1882) moved his family from Goliad to this area in 1835 after receiving a land grant from the Mexican government. He immediately set aside two acres of the land for a cemetery. The first marked grave, dated 1872, is that of the infant son of A. G. and Zillah Pullin. Names of families who have used the graveyard include Burleson, Coleman, Henderson, Kelley, Newman, Pullin, Humphrey, Pinkard, Spires, Rowland, and McClelland. Several of Burleson's slaves are buried near his grave. The cemetery is a reminder of the early settlers in this area.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Hopson Burleson brought his family from Goliad to Freestone County in 1835 on a land grant issued by the Mexican government, on the eve of the Texas Revolution. He set aside two acres for a family burial ground that in time gathered the graves of neighboring settler families and, near his own, several people he had enslaved. The oldest marked grave dates to 1872, though the ground had been in use since the earliest days of the community.
Why it matters
The cemetery records both the Anglo settlers who claimed Mexican land grants in the 1830s and the enslaved people whose labor built those homesteads, buried side by side in the same soil.
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Related people
- · Hopson Burleson
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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