William Alfred Sanderson
Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(Sept. 11, 1819 - May 28, 1904) A native of England, William Sanderson came to Texas in 1841. He obtained a Republic of Texas land grant and in 1847 settled in Tarrant County with his wife, Isabella Francis (Ayres). Sanderson soon established himself as a farmer and stock raiser. A charter member of the First Christian Church of Fort Worth, he also was appointed Justice of the Peace and was involved in the relocation of the county seat from Birdville to Fort Worth. Recorded - 1984
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Born in England in 1819, William Alfred Sanderson came to Texas in 1841, obtained a Republic of Texas land grant, and settled in Tarrant County in 1847 with his wife Isabella. He established himself as a farmer and stock raiser, helped charter the First Christian Church of Fort Worth, served as Justice of the Peace, and took part in moving the county seat from Birdville to Fort Worth. His life traces the transformation of the region from frontier grant land to organized county.
Why it matters
An English immigrant who claimed a Republic land grant and helped shape Fort Worth embodies the settlement and civic founding of frontier Texas.
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Related people
- · William Alfred Sanderson
- · Isabella Francis Ayres
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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In 1861 Benjamin Patton Ayres and his wife Emily bought a 320-acre farm and set aside two acres on this hillside as a family burial ground. Ayres, the second Tarrant County clerk and a founder of Fort Worth's First Christian Church, was the first laid to rest here. Beyond the fenced family plot lie an unknown number of graves — victims of spring fevers and Trinity River floods — whose fieldstone markers have long since vanished.
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