Waggoner Cemetery
Decatur, Wise County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Georgia native the Reverend Henry Fullingim, his wife Martha, and their 17 children came to northeast Texas in 1849. Henry Fullingim served the area as a circuit-riding Methodist minister. Their son, Archibald, and their son-in-law, John Hale, came to Wise County in 1853 and were among the area's first settlers. Hale became the first Wise County sheriff in 1856. This cemetery is named for John T. and Sarah Waggoner, on whose land it was established. Martha Fullingim's burial in 1868 is the first recorded here. The Waggoner's deeded the property to Wise County in 1885.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Reverend Henry Fullingim, a Georgia-born circuit-riding Methodist minister, brought his wife Martha and their seventeen children to northeast Texas in 1849. His son Archibald and son-in-law John Hale—who became Wise County's first sheriff in 1856—were among the county's earliest settlers. The cemetery took its name from John T. and Sarah Waggoner, on whose land Martha Fullingim's 1868 burial became the first recorded here.
Why it matters
Pioneer cemeteries like this one are often the most durable record of a frontier community's founding families and the itinerant preachers who followed settlement across Texas.
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Related people
- · Henry Fullingim
- · Martha Fullingim
- · John Hale
- · John T. Waggoner
- · Sarah Waggoner
Themes & tags
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