HistoricSiteMarkers
Reconstruction & Gilded Age

Wright Cemetery

Weatherford, Parker County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Located on land given by early settler L.F. Wright for a Union Church and School in 1874, this cemetery is one of the few remaining physical reminders of the Wright Community. Although L.F. Wright and his wife are not buried here, the cemetery does contain the graves of some of their family. The oldest marked grave is that of the wife and child of Wright's brother, R.A. Wright. Juda F. Connell Wright, with her infant daughter, died in 1876. Other families represented here include Byas, Ewton, Erwin, Mitchell, and Moughon. Plain rocks mark some early burials. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

In 1874, early settler L.F. Wright deeded land in Parker County for a union church and school, seeding the small Wright Community on the North Texas frontier. The graveyard that grew up here holds the family of Wright's brother R.A. Wright — its oldest marked grave belongs to Juda F. Connell Wright and her infant daughter, who died in 1876 — alongside the Byas, Ewton, Erwin, Mitchell, and Moughon families. Plain fieldstones still mark the earliest, poorest burials.

Why it matters

Pioneer cemeteries like this are often the last surviving trace of a vanished rural community, preserving the names of the ordinary families who settled post–Civil War Texas.

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Related people

  • · L.F. Wright
  • · Juda F. Connell Wright

Themes & tags

Westward ExpansionEducationFrontier HistoryLandmark

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