Stanford Chapel Cemetery
Waco, McLennan County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This cemetery is named for the Reverend Thomas Stanford, a pioneer Methodist minister who moved to Texas from Arkansas in 1862 with his wife and family. They, with the E. R. Barcus family, established a school, church and cemetery. The Stanfords' daughter and son-in-law, Martha and Thomas Richey, donated five acres of land for this graveyard in 1875. The first recorded burial occurred in 1875. After years of neglect the graveyard was restored in 1962, and by 1965 a cemetery association was formed to maintain the site. The cemetery continues to serve the community. (1997)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1862 the Reverend Thomas Stanford, a pioneer Methodist preacher, brought his family from Arkansas to this corner of central Texas and, with the Barcus family, planted the trio that anchored so many frontier settlements: a school, a church, and a cemetery. His daughter and son-in-law gave five acres for the graveyard in 1875, the year of its first recorded burial. After decades of neglect the ground was restored in the 1960s and is still tended by a cemetery association today.
Why it matters
Pioneer burial grounds preserve the names and kinships of the ordinary families who settled Texas, and the church-school-cemetery cluster shows how faith communities organized life on the frontier.
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Related people
- · Rev. Thomas Stanford
- · Martha Richey
- · Thomas Richey
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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