Shiloh Cemetery
Sutherland Springs, Wilson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Shiloh community developed along Lodi-Sutherland Springs Road. In 1886, J. H. James and others sold land to John P. Pritchett for a cemetery, although the land was already being used as a burial ground. Pritchett also later conveyed adjoining land to the Methodist Episcopal Church South and to Wilson County to establish Shiloh School. The earliest known burial here was Florence Price (d. 1884). James Madison Smith (d. 1905) served in the 2nd Florida Cavalry C.S.A. during the Civil War. The last known burial was Thomas McDonald in 1939. Today, Shiloh Cemetery features concrete, granite and marble headstones, unmarked graves, and interior fencing. It is a historic vestige of a rural Wilson County settlement.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Shiloh community grew up along the Lodi–Sutherland Springs Road in Wilson County, and by 1886 landowners had formalized this burial ground already in use, later adding land for a Methodist church and a school. Its graves include Florence Price, buried in 1884, and James Madison Smith, a Confederate veteran of the 2nd Florida Cavalry, with the last known burial in 1939. Today the cemetery's mix of headstones and unmarked graves is one of the few surviving traces of the settlement.
Why it matters
Rural cemeteries like Shiloh are often the last physical record of vanished pioneer communities, preserving the names of the settlers and veterans who built them.
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Related people
- · James Madison Smith
- · John P. Pritchett
- · Florence Price
Themes & tags
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