Phillips Cemetery
Travis, Falls County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Ezekial Thomas Phillips (1830-1905), a Civil War veteran, moved his family to Falls County in 1869. His son Robert M. Phillips (b. 1857) died in a shooting accident on March 18, 1883, a short time before his wedding. He was buried on this tract, which was to have been a wedding gift from his father. Requests for burials at this site were so numerous that Phillips donated the land as a public cemetery in 1903. There are 350 known graves, including those of Phillips and his wife Louise "Lucy" Jane (Wade) (1836-1897). Phillips Cemetery has served residents of the area for over a century.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Ezekial Thomas Phillips, a Civil War veteran, moved his family to Falls County in 1869. When his son Robert died in a shooting accident in 1883 shortly before his wedding, he was buried on the very tract meant to be his wedding gift. So many neighbors asked to bury their dead there that Phillips deeded the land as a public cemetery in 1903, and it now holds some 350 graves.
Why it matters
A private family sorrow became a shared community resting place, tracing how ordinary settlers built the institutions that outlasted them in post-war Texas.
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Related people
- · Ezekial Thomas Phillips
- · Robert M. Phillips
Themes & tags
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