McFarland-Wilson Cemetery
Bleakwood, Newton County, Texas
Marker Inscription
According to McFarland family tradition, Colonel Thomas S. McFarland established this site as a family cemetery about 1840. Thomas and his father William McFarland held prominent military and political positions in the Republic of Texas. The earliest recorded burial here was that of Fabrina McFarland in 1890. Property containing this graveyard was conveyed by R. E. McFarland, Thomas' son, to Thomas S. Wilson in 1889. The first Wilson family member buried here was E. V. Wilson in 1891. The cemetery is maintained by descendants of persons buried here.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Family tradition holds that Colonel Thomas S. McFarland set aside this ground as a family burial place around 1840, when he and his father William were figures of standing in the young Republic of Texas. The land later passed to the Wilson family, whose members began to be laid here in the 1890s. Descendants still tend the graves, keeping alive the memory of two pioneer East Texas families.
Why it matters
Rural family cemeteries like this preserve the names and lineages of the settlers who built the Republic of Texas on the western edge of American expansion.
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Related people
- · Thomas S. McFarland
- · William McFarland
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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