Parker Cemetery
Grapeland, Houston County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Willis Parker arrived in this area from North Carolina in the 1850s. Many of his relatives later joined him in Texas. Upon Willis Parker's death about 1857, his parents Ralph R. and Sarah C. Hodge Parker set aside land on their farm for a cemetery. Although Willis Parker's grave is believed to be the oldest here, his father's grave bears the earliest tombstone (1861). Of the more than four hundred marked and unmarked graves, most are interments of the Parker and related families, including Civil War, World War I and World War II veterans.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Willis Parker migrated from North Carolina to this part of Texas in the 1850s, drawing kin behind him, and his death around 1857 prompted his parents to set aside family land as a burial ground. The oldest surviving tombstone belongs to his father, dating to 1861. Among the more than four hundred marked and unmarked graves rest members of the Parker and allied families, including veterans of the Civil War and both World Wars.
Why it matters
A family graveyard that gathers soldiers from three American wars beside its pioneer founders offers an intimate map of one settler clan's place in the nation's story.
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Related people
- · Willis Parker
- · Ralph R. Parker
- · Sarah C. Hodge Parker
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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