BRINLEE CEMETERY - MELISSA
CR473
Latitude 33.304N
Longitude 96.508W
Cemeteries of Collin County, Texas, Joy Gough
This is a deeded
cemetery listed in Vol 41, p 259 and 260. Half of the cemetery was deeded
by Mr. and Mrs. W. M. Coffey and half was deeded by Mr. and Mrs. W. S.
Osborn. It is on the Hiram Brinlee survey. The cemetery covers about 1
acre, and is fenced, and well maintained. A small sign on the
chain-link fence says "Brinlee Cemetery." The gate in the fence is
not locked. There are a few stones hidden in the undergrowth. A few of the stones
are down.
BRINLEE CEMETERY
Historical marker application, approved, but not
purchased.
The Brinlee Cemetery in Collin County is hidden in an
agricultural area about four miles east of Melissa on the Hiram Brinlee
survey. Sitting near the end of CR 473 and covering almost 1/4 acre of
land, the cemetery is surrounded by farm land and trees near the
Brinlee Branch of Sister Grove Creek. It contains about seventy graves
and is an active cemetery.
The earliest marked grave is that of a child, J. C.
Osburn, buried in 1874. A child of Hiram Brinlee, Collin A. Brindlee, is
listed in the 1850 U. S. Census Mortality Schedule as dying in
October of 1849, so the cemetery was probably in use that far back. It is said
that the Brinlee slaves were buried here. A break-down of the years of
burials shows that most of the burials were in the 1880s and 1890s.
Fourteen of the seventy listed burials were for little children. A look at the
obituaries of the people buried here shows that most of them died from
accidents — accidental shootings, falling off a horse, burns—
evidence of how hard life was for the early pioneers.
The Brinlee Cemetery is one of two cemeteries that
served the early Chambliss community, which was located ½ mile
southeast. The community was probably named for Dr. Charles Chambliss, who
settled in the area in the 1880s. A post office was opened at Chambliss in
1898 and closed in 1903. Chambliss had a cotton gin, general store,
gristmill, molasses mill and a school. A general store was located near the
Stony Point Church. The only remnants of Chambliss today are the
Brinlee Cemetery, and the Stony Point church and cemetery.
Two deeds for a cemetery were signed by trustees of the
Brinlee Cemetery in 1889. James M. Nichols, W. N. Osborn, and J. Milt
Carroll were the trustees. Nichols and Carroll are buried in the
cemetery. One deed is with W. S. Osborn and Harriet E. Osborn for an area 50
yards by 20 yards and the other is with W. N. Coffey and Sophronia Coffey
for an area 25 yards by 50 yards. One is dated in February and the
other in April of 1889. Combined the deeds total about ½ acre of land.
Three of the earliest residents of Collin County are
buried in the Brinlee Cemetery — Hiram Brinlee, Josiah Nichols, and
his wife Elizabeth Jane Fitzhugh Nichols. The Brinlees buried in this cemetery include Hiram
Brinlee, David Francis Brinlee, Hiram C. Brinlee, Charles D. Brinlee,
Nancy Elizabeth Brinlee and William Brinlee. Also buried here are
daughter Sarah B. Anderson and son-in-law Robert B. Sims and probably son
Collin A. Brinlee. S. Hiram Carrol Brinlee was born December 25, 1807, in
Tennessee or Kentucky. In 1824 he traveled with the Collin McKinney
clan and settled on land around Texarkana, Arkansas, as part of the
Wavill’s Red River Colony. After a border dispute between the United
States and Mexico, the area was declared part of the Republic of Texas. On
September 14, 1832, he married Elizabeth Ann McKinney, daughter of Daniel
McKinney and niece of Collin McKinney. They lived at Red River Landing in
Red River County. On February 2, 1838, he was given 4,428 acres of land
by the Republic of Texas for living in the territory before the Republic
was founded. The acreage in Collin County was 1622.35 acres. The
certificate was not filed until April 10, 1911. The Hiram Brinlee survey is
Collin County abstract #30. Most of his children were born there.
In 1844, possibly because of a flood on the Red River,
the family moved from Red River County to the Collin County area with
Collin McKinney’s family and settled at a point about four miles east of
present-day Melissa. The Brinlee homestead was just west of the
cemetery. Hiram Brinlee ran a general store in the Stony
Point/Chambliss area. It is said that parts of the foundation of the store are
still visible near the Stony Point Cemetery. All of his sons and
sons-in-law fought in the Civil War. He died in 1885. His children took part in
the Oklahoma land rush and most of the family moved there. Elizabeth
McKinney Brinlee has a memorial stone at the Brinlee Cemetery, but is buried
in Oklahoma.
The Brinlees lived under four flags in Texas - the
Mexican, Republic of Texas, the Confederacy, and the United States. Also buried in the Brinlee Cemetery are Josiah Nichols
and his wife, Elizabeth Jane Fitzhugh Nichols. Josiah Nichols was
born February 6, 1822, in Lincoln County, Missouri. He came to Collin
County in 1846. He immediately joined Capt. Stapp’s Ranger company at
Buckner and served until 1847. He then joined Capt Fitzhugh’s Co. and
served twelve months.
On February 23, 1847, he married Capt. Fitzhugh’s
sister, Elizabeth Fitzhugh. He received a pension from the state of Texas
for his time with the Rangers. During the Civil War Nichols was a
captain with state troops in 1863. In 1864 he served in the Indian
Department with the regular army. He was discharged in 1865 and appointed
Collin County sheriff, serving seven months. The Nichols lived on the
James Fisher survey just south of the Brinlee survey and the Brinlee
cemetery. Josiah Nichols died March 28, 1915.
Elizabeth Fitzhugh Nichols was the daughter of John and
Sarah Fitzhugh and a sister of William F. Fitzhugh. The Fitzhughs came
to Texas from Kentucky by way of Missouri and Arkansas and settled
south of present-day Melissa in 1845. Elizabeth, “Aunt Betty,”
married Josiah Nichols on February 23, 1847. She was the mother of
seven children. Elizabeth Nichols died June 6, 1911.
There are veterans of several wars buried in the
Brinlee cemetery. Josiah Nichols was a veteran of two wars, the Mexican
and Civil. Also serving in the Civil War were David Brinlee, Hiram C.
Brinlee, A. A. Davis, and Robert Sims. Roy Cravens was a veteran of
World War I and Clifford Wright was a veteran of World War II.
The Brinlee Cemetery continues to serve and represent
the people of this rural section of Collin County.
CEMETERY
INDEX
Recommended citation:
Brinlee Cemetery - Melissa,
"CEMETERIES OF COLLIN COUNTY."
Collin County, Texas History and Genealogy Webpage by Genealogy Friends of Plano
Libraries, Inc., <http://www.geocities/genfriendsghl>
[Accessed Fri February 13, 2004 ]
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