Magnolia Springs Cemetery
Kirbyville, Jasper County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Originally known as Pinetucky, this community was first settled by Alexander and Sherod Wright, two brothers who arrived about 1824. The settlement was renamed Magnolia Springs when the post office opened in 1850. The earliest known interment in this community burial ground is that of Sherod Wright's wife Anna, who died on July 25, 1858, at the age of 60. In 1860 Fellowship Baptist Church purchased 12 acres of land for a church and cemetery. For a number of years, the local Baptist and Methodist congregations shared a frame church building located north of the cemetery property. The graveyard was enlarged in 1902, when the black congregation of Springhill Church bought 4.2 acres adjoining the south side for burial purposes. Many early leaders of the community are buried here, including the Rev. John Bean (1792-1871), a Baptist preacher; Nathan Corley (d. 1871), one of the founders of the Masonic Lodge that bears his name; Aurin G. Horn (1793-1858), a wealthy plantation owner; and Dr. Ransom P. Sholars (b. 1812), the area's first physician. Magnolia Springs Cemetery contains over 900 marked and unmarked graves.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded around 1824 as "Pinetucky" by the Wright brothers and renamed Magnolia Springs when its post office opened in 1850, this East Texas community grew up around its churches and this shared burial ground. The earliest known grave dates to 1858, and in 1860 the Fellowship Baptist Church bought land here for worship and burials. In 1902 the graveyard grew when the Black congregation of Springhill Church purchased adjoining acreage, and today more than 900 marked and unmarked graves hold the community's early preachers, physicians, and planters.
Why it matters
A pioneer cemetery like this preserves the layered social history of a 19th-century Southern community — Baptist and Methodist worshippers, founding leaders, and a Black congregation buried side by side — in a single acre of ground.
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Related people
- · Alexander Wright
- · Sherod Wright
- · Rev. John Bean
- · Nathan Corley
- · Dr. Ransom P. Sholars
Themes & tags
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