OLDEST Marked Grave in Plano Mutual Cemetery - Plano, TX
N 33° 01.572 W 096° 40.927
14S E 716486 N 3656578
An interpretive sign at the front of historic Plano Mutual Cemetery at 18th St and Jupiter Rd notes that the oldest marked grave in the cemetery is that of Miss Elenora Hawkins, dating to 1853.
Waymark Code: WM1356M
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 09/18/2020
Views: 0
Miss Hawkins rests at peace in the oldest part of the cemetery, with many members of the Forman family with her. While her headstone and footstone have shifted a bit, they're actually in fairly good condition, given their age. The inscription on the headstone reflects the literacy of the person who created it, with a few backwards letters and periods used instead of spaces, but frankly, a McGuffey Reader was probably the last thing on their mind in the 1850s when this was rough and tumble country. It reads:
In
Memory of
Elenora. O. Hawkins
Daughter.oF. Loutia.and.L.hardin.haw
kins.who.departed.This.Life.on.The
16th.oF.aug.1853 aged.16.years.oF
Congestive Fever.
----------
The sign was placed by the Plano Conservancy for Historic Preservation, and they call them "wayside signs." The main text notes that Miss Hawkins was actually the second burial in the cemetery, as a Dr. Lillie started things off in 1852, but his grave is unmarked in the northeast section of the cemetery. Miss Hawkins is referenced on a timeline to the left of the text as "Oldest Marked Grave - 1853 - Miss Eleanor [sic] Hawkins", and the sign provides some background, noting that she was going to be a school teacher:
In the early 1800's, this land now known as Collin County, Texas, was part of Mexico. In 1836 Texas won its independence from Mexico, becoming a sovereign nation. The broad borders of this new Republic of Texas encompassed several future U.S. states. Hoping to promote settlement, the Congress of the Republic of Texas offered parcels of free land, known locally as Peters Colony. Many of the families responding to heavy advertising came from Kentucky and Tennessee. This land was comprised of fertile plain. Thus, this rich land was attractive to both the farmers and the stockman. Such a vast land was sparsely populated.
Plano Mutual Cemetery had its beginnings in the Forman Family Cemetery. The first person buried here in what is now an unmarked grave was a Dr. Lillie who died in 1852. Dr. Lillie, the nephew of William Forman, Sr., died within a few days of his arrival. Upon his death the owners of four sections of land that cornered together decided to locate a graveyard where each of the four could contribute an equal portion of land for the cemetery. For reasons unknown most of the earlier graves were all dug on Forman land. The second oldest grave is that of Eleanor C. [sic] Hawkins, age 16, said to have come from Kentucky to teach school. Lionel Simpson, Benjamin Mathews and his wife Mary Ann, who were Peters Colonists from Kentucky, are also buried in Plano Mutual Cemetery.
The additional portions of the cemetery resulted as a combination of several organizations, which purchased land for cemetery use by and for their members. Each organization handled its respective part as to who could be interred, how this right to interment was acquired, and provided for maintenance.
As early as 1891 the ladies of the Plano community gathered together to keep the cemetery in good condition. A wooden pavilion is remembered to have straddled the center road and was large enough to let cars pass beneath. Metal benches were on either side with a pump nearby. The ladies received contributions, sold burial spaces and prepared meals for sale to the men who came each month to trade horses and mules in downtown Plano.