Wheatland Cemetery

Duane's take

The official marker for Wheatland Cemetery in Dallas County — let me tell you what it says. Now, out here in Dallas County, the ground has a way of holding onto memory longer than the living do. And few patches of earth have been holding on longer than Wheatland Cemetery, which has served this area since the mid-1800s.

That's not a short run, friends. That is the kind of staying power that demands a story. It started out under a different name entirely — the Branson-Brotherton Cemetery, named for the two men who donated the land itself.

Tom Branson and H.K. Brotherton, both Ohio natives, both farmers, both owners of large tracts of land out here. And when their time came, both of them were laid to rest in the very ground they'd given over.

There's something quietly profound about that. You give the land, and the land takes you back. Now, this cemetery doesn't stand alone in history — it's tangled up with the Methodists, the way so many Texas community stories are.

The first Methodist church in this area was called Wesley Chapel, organized in the 1840s. By 1864 it had moved to the community known then as Sprouls' Corner — you'll also see it spelled Sprowls' Corner, depending on who was doing the writing. The residents didn't keep that name long.

They renamed the community Wheatland. And Wesley Chapel, keeping pace, became Wheatland Methodist Church. That congregation met right there on the land Branson and Brotherton had donated.

The cemetery itself was formally established in 1872, though the ground had already been receiving the departed before that. Some of those earlier burials were reinterred from the Wesley Chapel burial ground — folks moved, in a manner of speaking, to follow the congregation. Among those buried here you'll find area pioneers, farmers, community leaders, and veterans of conflicts going all the way back to the Mexican American War, which ran from 1846 to 1848.

You'll also find the victims — and that word deserves its weight — victims of flu, malaria, and diphtheria epidemics that swept through this community. Epidemics don't spare the thriving, and Wheatland was once thriving indeed. Walk among the stones and you'll notice fraternal organization markers, vertical stones, curbing — the full visual vocabulary of a community that took the act of remembrance seriously.

In 1913, the Uhl and Branson families deeded additional acreage to the grounds. That same year, the Methodist Episcopal Church South at Wheatland conveyed land as well. The cemetery was growing, because communities do, and so does their history.

The Wheatland Cemetery Association has been keeping watch since 1908, organized by family members of those interred. More than a century later, they're still at it. Still maintaining this ground.

And that, right there, might be the whole story in miniature. A piece of land donated by two Ohio farmers. A congregation that changed its name when the town did.

Pioneers and veterans and epidemic victims and fraternal brothers, all resting together in Dallas County soil. Wheatland Cemetery stands today as a record of the early pioneers and residents of a community that once thrived — and in this ground, in some real sense, still does.

What the marker says

Wheatland Cemetery has served this area since the mid-1800s. Originally named the Branson-Brotherton Cemetery, this burial ground is on property donated by Tom Branson and H.K. Brotherton. The two men, Ohio natives, both were farmers and owners of large tracts of land and are buried here. The cemetery also has roots with Methodist congregations. Organized in the 1840s, the first Methodist church in this area was Wesley Chapel. The church moved here in 1864 to the community of Sprouls' Corner (Sprowls' Corner), which residents soon renamed Wheatland. Wesley Chapel also changed names to Wheatland Methodist Church. The congregation met on the land donated by Branson and Brotherton. Although formally established in 1872, this cemetery contains a number of earlier burials, including some who were reinterred from the Wesley Chapel burial ground. Burials here include area pioneers, farmers, community leaders, veterans of conflicts dating to the Mexican American War (1846-48), and victims of flu, malaria and diphtheria epidemics in the community. The cemetery contains fraternal organization gravestones, vertical stones and curbing. In 1913, the Uhl and Branson families deeded additional acreage; the Methodist Episcopal Church South at Wheatland also conveyed land that year. The Wheatland Cemetery Association, which family members of the interred organized in 1908, continues to maintain the burial ground. Today, historic Wheatland Cemetery remains a record of the early pioneers and residents of the once-thriving Wheatland Community. Historic Texas Cemetery – 2006