Westbrook-Walker Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's the story as the official marker tells it, one-fourth of a mile southeast of where you're rolling right now. Ervin Westbrook was a Georgia man by birth, and he and his wife Rachel McCorra Walker had been working a farm up in Mississippi. Then came 1858, and the two of them pointed themselves toward Texas.

They didn't come alone. Rachel's brother, John H. Walker, packed up his own family and made the journey with them.

Two families, one road, one destination. By 1859, both families had settled right here in this part of Milam County. Now, they were building something.

A life, a community, the kind of roots that take generations to grow deep. But the ground has a way of claiming its own before you're ready. The cemetery got its start in 1864, when Walker's wife, Mary Frances Wells, was buried here.

That first burial set the purpose of this place, and it held that purpose for decades. The Westbrook family came to rest here. The Walker family came to rest here.

And a number of their neighbors found their final ground here too, until the last burials in the early 1920s. All told, somewhere between twenty and thirty people lie in this cemetery. Among them, three Civil War veterans: Ervin Westbrook himself, the Georgia man who started it all with a westward decision in 1858, and two Walkers, William P.

Walker and John Walker. Three veterans of that terrible war, buried together in the quiet Texas soil they chose. This cemetery was recognized during the Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood, 1845 to 1995.

Families travel a long way to become part of a place. These two families traveled all the way from Mississippi, and this ground is proof they arrived.

What the marker says

(One-fourth miles southeast) Georgia native Ervin Westbrook and his wife Rachel McCorra Walker left their Mississippi farm for Texas in 1858. They were joined by Rachel's brother, John H. Walker, and his family. The two families settled in this area in 1859. The cemetery began with the burial of Walker's wife, Mary Frances Wells, in 1864. It served as a graveyard for the Westbrook and Walker families and a number of their neighbors until the last burials here in the early 1920s. Among the 20 to 30 people buried here are Civil War veterans Ervin Westbrook, William P. Walker, and John Walker. Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood 1845 - 1995