Woodland Cemetery
Kirvin, Freestone County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In a community founded 1848 by pioneers mostly from Alabama, this cemetery was opened with burial of Capt. John L. Wortham (1841-62), who died in Galveston while in Confederate Army in the Civil War. Col. Luther R. ("Dick") Wortham (1820-74), a merchant and planter who came from Kentucky, gave land around the grave for a cemetery, Woodland College, and a Baptist church. In 1906, Woodland College building was given to the people of nearby Shiloh for their school. This cemetery with over 1,000 graves -- burial place of many local leaders -- marks center of the historic community.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Settled in 1848 mostly by families from Alabama, this community opened its cemetery in 1862 with the burial of Capt. John L. Wortham, who died at Galveston serving in the Confederate Army. His kinsman Col. Luther "Dick" Wortham, a Kentucky merchant and planter, donated the surrounding land for a cemetery, a Baptist church, and Woodland College. With over 1,000 graves, the ground marks the heart of a vanished frontier town.
Why it matters
The cemetery anchors the memory of a Deep South–settled Texas community whose fortunes rose and fell with the Civil War and the shifting map of rural settlement.
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Related people
- · John L. Wortham
- · Luther R. Wortham
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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