ROWLETT CREEK CEMETERY - Plano
FM2478 and Cemetery Road
FM2478 and Cemetery Road
This area was once known as the Rowlett community. It was one of the earliest communities in Collin County. Many of the early settlers here had been neighbors in Illinois. Rowlett Creek Baptist Church is said to be the earliest Baptist Church in Collin County, starting in 1848. It was active in the Elm Fork Baptist Association. Out of this church came most of the Baptist churches in Collin County and both First Baptist of Dallas and First Baptist of Fort Worth. The church was disbanded around 1935. The present chapel was built later as a memorial to the old church. It can be used for funerals or special occasions.
The cemetery covers several acres of land. It was started in 1862 and was associated with Rowlett Creek Baptist Church. There is a creek on the north and east of the cemetery. The creek on the east is West Rowlett Creek. The cemetery is fenced with an old wire fence and has an arch at the entrance with the dates 1895 -1920. 1895 was the year that the cemetery association was formed. There is a historical marker behind the chapel. The gates of the cemetery have been kept locked lately due to continued vandalism. The cemetery association holds Decoration Day in May each year. The cemetery is still in use and is very well maintained.
Next to the chapel there is a commemorative for George White, who donated part of the land for the cemetery. He was a surveyor, who platted both Rowlett Creek Cemetery and Pecan Grove Memorial Park in McKinney, where he is buried. When I was there, the commemorative for George White was broken. It has since been repaired. The deed for the cemetery, listed in Vol R, p 385, includes a plat map of the cemetery made by George White. Shadrick Jackson, Jr. donated 4 acres of land to the cemetery in 1862 and was one of its earliest burials, dying in 1863. The cemetery association has bought and sold land over the years. This cemetery contains more Peter's Colonists than any other cemetery in the county. It also contains the graves of some of the ancestors of LBJ. There is a good history of this church and cemetery written by Miss Lucy Rasor.
Godfrey Baccus was one of the first County Commissioners for Collin County, elected on July 13, 1846. The arched marker for him and his wife Minerva says:
"This is our family, three children.
We had three children,
Jesus picked them up.
Jersey County, Illinois. ...
Minerva M. wife of G. Baccus ...
Thou knowest I love Thee dearest Lord.
But Oh I long to soar
Far from the sphere of mortal joys,
That I may love Thee more.
Godfrey S. Baccus ...
Do not I love Thee, Oh my Lord,
Behold my heart and see:
And turn each cursed idol out
That dare to rivle Thee."
Cemeteries of Collin County, Texas, Joy Gough
The cemetery covers several acres of land. It was started in 1862 and was associated with Rowlett Creek Baptist Church. There is a creek on the north and east of the cemetery. The creek on the east is West Rowlett Creek. The cemetery is fenced with an old wire fence and has an arch at the entrance with the dates 1895 -1920. 1895 was the year that the cemetery association was formed. There is a historical marker behind the chapel. The gates of the cemetery have been kept locked lately due to continued vandalism. The cemetery association holds Decoration Day in May each year. The cemetery is still in use and is very well maintained.
Next to the chapel there is a commemorative for George White, who donated part of the land for the cemetery. He was a surveyor, who platted both Rowlett Creek Cemetery and Pecan Grove Memorial Park in McKinney, where he is buried. When I was there, the commemorative for George White was broken. It has since been repaired. The deed for the cemetery, listed in Vol R, p 385, includes a plat map of the cemetery made by George White. Shadrick Jackson, Jr. donated 4 acres of land to the cemetery in 1862 and was one of its earliest burials, dying in 1863. The cemetery association has bought and sold land over the years. This cemetery contains more Peter's Colonists than any other cemetery in the county. It also contains the graves of some of the ancestors of LBJ. There is a good history of this church and cemetery written by Miss Lucy Rasor.
Godfrey Baccus was one of the first County Commissioners for Collin County, elected on July 13, 1846. The arched marker for him and his wife Minerva says:
"This is our family, three children.
We had three children,
Jesus picked them up.
Jersey County, Illinois. ...
Minerva M. wife of G. Baccus ...
Thou knowest I love Thee dearest Lord.
But Oh I long to soar
Far from the sphere of mortal joys,
That I may love Thee more.
Godfrey S. Baccus ...
Do not I love Thee, Oh my Lord,
Behold my heart and see:
And turn each cursed idol out
That dare to rivle Thee."
Cemeteries of Collin County, Texas, Joy Gough
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ROWLETT CREEK CEMETERY
IN 1836 DR. DANIEL ROWLETT (1786-1848), A KENTUCKIAN, CAME TO TEXAS WITH HIS WIFE AND SIX OTHER FAMILIES. ROWLETT, A PHYSICIAN, LAWYER, SURVEYOR, AND POLITICIAN, SETTLED NEAR PRESENT BONHAM. HE LOCATED MUCH OF HIS LARGE 1838 LAND GRANT IN THE FERTILE AREA ALONG PRESENT ROWLETT CREEK. AFTER MEETING IN HOMES AND OUTDOORS, SEVEN CHARTER MEMBERS ORGANIZED THE WILSON CREEK CHURCH OF UNITED BAPTISTS IN 1848, UNDER LEADERSHIP OF THE REV. DAVID MYERS. IN 1852 THE NAME BECAME "ROWLETT CREEK BAPTIST CHURCH". GEORGE WHITE (1820-1886) DEEDED SIX ACRES AT THIS SITE IN 1861 FOR A MEETINGHOUSE. THE FOLLOWING YEAR SHADRICK J. JACKSON (1830-1863) AND HIS WIFE SOPHRONIA DEEDED AN ADJACENT FOUR ACRES. SOON LOTS WERE SET ASIDE FOR THIS CEMETERY. THE EARLIEST MARKED GRAVE IS THAT OF PIONEER ALFRED HARRINGTON IN 1862. THE SECOND INTERMENT IN 1862 WAS THAT OF CHARLES GOUGH, WHO WAS ON FURLOUGH FROM THE CONFEDERATE ARMY. IN 1895 THE ROWLETT CREEK CEMETERY ASSOCIATION WAS FORMED. ROWLETT IS BELIEVED TO BE THE EARLIEST BAPTIST CHURCH IN COLLIN COUNTY. IT BECAME INACTIVE IN 1935 BUT HAD BEEN INFLUENTIAL IN ESTABLISHING MANY EARLY CHURCHES, A NUMBER OF WHICH ARE STILL PROMINENT IN THE NORTH TEXAS AREA. Texas Historical marker, 1979 |
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