DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — and it's quite a story. David Faulkenberry, believed to have been born in South Carolina around 1795, married a woman named Nancy Douthit in 1814 in Tennessee. Together they had seven children, and by all accounts they were the kind of family that moved toward the frontier, not away from it.
They were part of Daniel Parker's Pilgrim Church — an Illinois congregation — and in 1833, that whole community picked up and came to Texas. Two years later, in 1835, the Faulkenberrys and others from the church, including a man named Elisha Anglin, pushed on into what is now Limestone County. They built cabins out there.
And they built Fort Parker — a fortification raised against the threat of attack from Native Americans. Now, you don't build a fort unless you know the danger is real. And it was.
In 1837, near Fort Houston, David Faulkenberry and his oldest son, Evan, were both killed in an attack. Father and son, gone together. Nancy was left to carry the family forward.
And carry it she did. She later wed Elisha Anglin — the same man who had made that journey with them into Limestone County — and together they established what would become this very cemetery. Her descendants formally deeded it as a graveyard in 1874.
The city annexed the cemetery and its additions in 1979. The first marked burial here dates to 1854, and it is the grave of a child. From that quiet, sorrowful beginning, the cemetery grew to hold two state representatives, five sheriffs, an early Texas Ranger, veterans whose service reaches back to the Texas Revolution, and a man named John C.
Clariman, who served for years as a caretaker of the grounds. Today, this place is a link — a direct, tangible link — to the 19th-century settlers of Limestone County and the descendants who came after them. Nancy Faulkenberry lost everything on the frontier and then turned around and built something that's still standing.
That's the kind of story this ground holds.
What the marker says
David Faulkenberry, believed to have been born in South Carolina circa 1795, wed Nancy Douthit in 1814 in Tennessee. The couple had seven children. The family was part of Daniel Parker's Pilgrim Church, an Illinois congregation that came to Texas in 1833. The Faulkenberrys and others from the church, including Elisha Anglin, moved to present-day Limestone County in 1835. They built cabins and Fort Parker for protection against Native Americans. David and his oldest son, Evan, were killed in an attack in 1837 near Fort Houston. Nancy later wed Elisha Anglin and established this cemetery. Her descendants formally deeded it as a graveyard in 1874, and the city annexed the cemetery and its additions in 1979. The first marked burial, dating to 1854, is that of a child. Among the gravesites are those of two state representatives, five sheriffs, an early Texas Ranger, many veterans from military action dating back to the Texas Revolution, and John C. Clariman, a longtime caretaker of the cemetery. Today, the cemetery is a link to Limestone County's 19th-century settlers and their descendants. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2003