The Texas Spirit Quest
is a series of Caches placed by many individuals, near cemeteries and historic sites in hopes of paying respect to the many pioneer ancestors that have ‘walked’ before us.
There are hundreds of cemeteries in the rural communities across Texas. This series will introduce you to many of them. The cache pages will provide a virtual history tour of the cemeteries, tombstones and local lore.
There are up to 229 interments at this still-active site, which was founded by the McMillin family in 1854, with the first recorded burial taking place in 1857. The numbers may be a little off, as there may be some unregistered burials, and at least one person (S.P. Lanford) seems to be listed three times and Nannie B. Markham and Capitola Buckley are both listed twice. Among others may be found members of the Buckley, Copper, Dyess, Edwards, Housewright, Ivey, Jones, Markham, Pearce, Stone, Teague, and Williams families. Obviously this is almost exclusively an Anglo cemetery. The years 1891-1894 may have been particularly harsh, judging by the cluster of dates of death across an extensive age range in that timeframe.
At the time of placement, the site was in relatively good shape. A few headstones are in fragments, but some show signs of repair. The grounds are gated and are fronted by a simple chain link fence, but the gate is not locked. You will need to enter in order to find the cache. Parking is adequate, but pull over as far as you can. As always, any refinements to the listed coordinates are welcomed.