Kimbro Family Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Kimbro Family Cemetery in Williamson County. Now settle in, because this one reaches back a long way. All the way back to 1836, the very year Texas declared independence from Mexico.

That's when a man named Daniel Kimbro arrived in the Republic of Texas. Not a bad year to show up. He settled first in San Augustine, down on the Sabine River, and from there he made his way to Bastrop, where he ran a shop dealing in looms, spinning wheels, chairs, and wagons.

The tools and furniture of a civilization being built from scratch, one household at a time. Then in 1846, Daniel Kimbro picked up again and moved to this part of the country, and here's the detail that'll stay with you: he lived in a tent on the banks of Brushy Creek. A tent.

While he was putting down roots so deep that this family's name would mark the land for over a hundred years. He didn't just settle here, he helped shape the place. Daniel Kimbro was one of the signers of the petition to create Williamson County, and he played an active part in the area's early development.

He and his wife, Mary Polly, born a Gilbert before she was a Kimbro, raised six children together. Some of those children are buried in this small family plot. Mary Polly herself, no headstone has ever been found for her, but it is believed she rests here too, among her family.

Daniel Kimbro was buried here in 1882, and the plot stayed in family hands for over one hundred years after that. Now, the land didn't always treat these graves gently. For some time in the nineteen fifties, the surrounding land was farmed, and many of the stones were damaged or removed.

Some, the marker tells us plainly, may have been plowed under when the land was cultivated. A quiet kind of erasure, happening one growing season at a time. What remains stands as a reminder of Williamson County's past.

A man who arrived with a young republic, lived in a tent by a creek, helped sign a county into existence, and wound up right here. The land changed around him. Some of the stones are gone.

But the cemetery endures.

What the marker says

This small family cemetery contains the graves of members of a pioneer Williamson County family. Named for Daniel Kimbro, who was buried here in 1882, the plot remained in family ownership for over one hundred years. Daniel Kimbro arrived in the Republic of Texas in 1836, the year independence from Mexico was declared. Settling first in San Augustine on the Sabine River, he later moved to Bastrop, where he operated a shop dealing in looms, spinning wheels, chairs, and wagons. He moved to this area in 1846, and lived in a tent on the banks of Brushy Creek. One of the signers of the petition to create Williamson County, he played an active part in the area's early development. He and his wife, Mary Polly (Gilbert) Kimbro, had six children, some of whom are buried here. though no headstone has been found for her, it is believed that Mary Polly Kimbro is also interred here with her family. For some time in the 1950s, the land surrounding the graves was used for farming, and many of the stones were damaged or removed. Some may have been plowed under when the land was cultivated. This cemetery stands as a reminder of Williamson County's past.