Farmersville I.O.O.F. Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it: and it's got layers worth unfolding. Now, Farmersville sits in Collin County, and it's one of the oldest towns around these parts. Before Farmersville even had a name, the anchor of this whole stretch of northeast Texas was a settlement called Sugar Hill, about a mile and a half to the northeast, founded by a man named John Yeary.

But settlements have a way of drifting toward wherever life is easiest, and by the 1850s, the center of things had shifted to this area. The new community took the name Farmersville, a name that came straight from the agricultural background of the pioneer residents who built it. No poetry required; those folks were farmers, and they called it like it was.

Now fast-forward to 1875. A group of men came together and formed Pride Lodge No. 208 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the I.O.O.F., with fifteen charter members. You might know the Odd Fellows by another name: the Three Link Fraternity.

Three chain links, each one standing for something: friendship, love, and truth. The order itself had its origins back in 18th-century England, so by the time those fifteen men signed their names in Farmersville, they were joining something with roots going back a long, long way. For twenty-four years, the lodge did what lodges do.

Then in 1899, Pride Lodge No. 208 established a cemetery on a high hill at the north edge of town. A high hill. The kind of ground that says, we intend for this to last.

But here's the quiet thing the marker notices: the kind of detail that makes you stop. The earliest marked grave in that cemetery belongs to a woman named Mattie Robinson Hicks, who died in 1898. One year before the Odd Fellows formally set aside the land as a burial ground.

The land caught up to her, you might say. The second oldest marked grave was for a child of G.C. Burkett.

And beyond those two, other early graves hold individuals who were reinterred there from nearby family cemeteries and rural burial grounds, brought in from the surrounding countryside, gathered together on that hill. Over the years, the cemetery grew. Today it encompasses twenty-five acres of landscaped grounds.

There's a mausoleum dating to 1902. There's carved statuary, including, of all things, one of a sailor. And a wide variety of memorial stones that reflect the changing tides of architectural design all the way through to modern times.

The Farmersville I.O.O.F. Cemetery is still in use. Still accepting the town's stories, one at a time, from the pioneer era forward.

Twenty-five acres on a high hill, holding friendship, love, and truth, and the whole long arc of Farmersville right along with them.

What the marker says

Farmersville is one of the oldest towns in Collin County. It has historic ties to the antebellum (pre-Civil War) era of Texas and the pioneer settlement of Sugar Hill (1.5 mi. NE), founded by John Yeary. The center of settlement soon shifted to this area in the 1850s with the beginning of Farmersville, a community named for the agricultural background of its pioneer residents. In 1875, Pride Lodge No. 208 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) formed with 15 charter members. In 1899, the organization established a cemetery here on a high hill at the north edge of the town. The Odd Fellows Order, known as the "Three Link Fraternity" for the symbolic use of three chain links representing friendship, love and truth, had its origins in 18th-century England. The earliest marked grave in this cemetery is that of Mattie Robinson Hicks, who died in 1898, the year before the Odd Fellows formally set aside the land as a burial ground. The second oldest marked grave was for a child of G.C. Burkett. Other early graves include those of individuals reinterred here from nearby family cemeteries and rural burial grounds. Enlarged over the years, the Farmersville I.O.O.F. Cemetery today encompasses 25 acres of landscaped grounds. Notable features include a 1902 mausoleum, carved statuary, including one of a sailor, and a wide variety of memorial stones that reflect popular architectural design influences through the years. Still in use, the site now also serves to chronicle the history of Farmerville through the lives of those who made their home here, from the pioneer era to modern times. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2006