Washburn Cemetery
Bells, Grayson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Samuel and Mary Washburn and their family moved to Texas from Missouri in 1836. Washburn was granted 1280 acres of land in 1838. As more settlers moved into the area, a burial site was needed and a portion of land on the south edge of the Washburn survey was set aside for a cemetery. The oldest marked grave is that of infant Mary Gentry in 1867. However, many graves marked only with rocks or bois d'arc posts are believed to be from the 1850s. The 2.5-acre cemetery contains about 300 graves. The Washburn Cemetery Association maintains the site. (1997)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Samuel and Mary Washburn brought their family from Missouri to Texas in 1836 and received a large land grant two years later. As settlers filled the area, a corner of the Washburn survey was set aside for burials; the oldest marked grave dates to 1867, though rough graves marked only with stones or bois d'arc posts likely reach back to the 1850s. Roughly 300 graves now rest on the 2.5-acre site.
Why it matters
Pioneer family cemeteries like this one are among the most durable records of early Anglo settlement in Texas, preserving the names and hardships of frontier families who left few other traces.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
The Washburns came to Texas in 1836, one of the most dramatic years in the state's history. That spring Texas declared independence from Mexico and won it on the battlefield, and the new Republic of Texas began inviting settlers with generous offers of land. Families from Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky and elsewhere headed toward the Red River country of North Texas.
The land around present-day Grayson County was frontier then, far from established towns and exposed to danger. Settlers built homes, cleared fields and slowly formed communities with churches, schools and, sooner or later, burial grounds.
The Republic used land to attract and hold settlers, and grants of hundreds or thousands of acres were common. Those grants became the survey lines that still shape Texas property today, and many rural cemeteries, like this one, began as a corner of a family's original survey.
People & events
Samuel and Mary Washburn brought their family from Missouri to Texas in 1836, and in 1838 Samuel received a grant of 1,280 acres. That is a lot of land for a family to work, and it gave them a lasting place in the new community.
As more settlers arrived, the neighborhood needed somewhere to bury its dead. A piece of land on the south edge of the Washburn survey was set aside for that purpose, and it became the Washburn Cemetery. The family's land became common ground, which is how many frontier communities first took shape.
The earliest burials are the hardest to name. The oldest grave with a readable marker belongs to an infant, Mary Gentry, who died in 1867, a small reminder of how often frontier families lost children. Many older graves are marked only with field stones or posts of bois d'arc, the tough, rot-resistant wood of the Osage orange tree, and are thought to date to the 1850s. Those people are nameless now, but they are still here.
Its place in the American story
Cemeteries like this one record a chapter of American history that seldom made the history books: families who moved west in the 1830s and 1840s, often leaving few written records behind. The Washburns' journey from Missouri to Texas was part of a much larger migration that pushed the nation's border across the continent.
The unmarked graves carry their own meaning. Stones and wooden posts were what people had when there was no money or stonecutter nearby, and they are the most honest record we have of how hard frontier life was. The oldest marked grave belongs to a baby, a reminder of how fragile life was in those years.
Today a cemetery association still cares for the site, and that is part of the story too. Across rural America, volunteer groups keep these places from disappearing. With about 300 burials on 2.5 acres, Washburn Cemetery is a small record of a whole community's history.
If you visit
Walk the rows slowly and look for the range of markers, from carved headstones to simple field stones and weathered posts. The plainest markers are probably the oldest, so take a moment with them even though they carry no names.
This is still a cared-for cemetery, maintained by its association, so please treat it with respect: stay on paths, leave the stones undisturbed, and remember that families may still visit their relatives here. It is a peaceful spot for a quiet pause on a drive through Grayson County.
Pair it with other pioneer-era markers in North Texas and the Red River region to get a sense of how settlement spread through this area in the Republic years. For families, it is a gentle way to talk about what frontier life really asked of people.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Samuel Washburn
- · Mary Washburn
- · Mary Gentry
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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