RIKE CEMETERY - FARMERSVILLE
CR815
33.173N
96.402W
Cemeteries of Collin County, Texas, by Joy
Gough
This is private
property. The people in the first house own the second house. They allow
visitors to the cemetery but would prefer to be notified first. The eastern half
of the cemetery is surrounded by a bois d'arc fence. The western half is
surrounded by a 4-foot chain link fence. The fences are not visible from CR 815,
but can be seen from the back on the house.
The Robert Rike family moved to the area around 1850. They owned 200 acres of
land, reaching from the west side of Pilot Grove Creek to within a mile of old
Farmersville. They had a bridge over the creek in the early 1850's. Their name
was originally spelled "Reich."
This cemetery is on the eastern bank of Pilot Grove Creek. The Rikes were buried
on the eastern side of the cemetery with other families on the western side.
There are several large trees in the former-Rike half. There are a few trees
inside the fence on the western half. At one time this cemetery covered about 1
acre of land.
When the
Farmersville IOOF Cemetery opened, all of the Rikes were moved there, except for
one Rike baby, who was buried in the western side. The graves on the western
side stayed in the cemetery.
Most of the
people still buried here belong to the Strickland family. I have heard the
cemetery referred to as the Morrow/Odil Cemetery. Members of both of those
families are buried here also.
The former-Rike
half of the cemetery is now being made into a park. The family who owns the land
would like to erect an entrance and maybe do some landscaping. As far as I know
there is no deed for the cemetery.
The house in front of the cemetery was once a Nazarine church building that was
moved from Farmersville. The Farmersville Historical Society has published a
cookbook that includes a photo and a brief history of the church. The owners
have made a vacation home out of the building. It still has the original
attendance board and pulpit.
This cemetery is well cared for. In 1992 the Sheriff's Department cleaned this
cemetery and repaired the bois d'arc picket fence around it. They returned in
1993 to burn the brush left behind the previous year.
CEMETERY INDEX
Recommended
citation:
Rike
Cemetery - Farmersville,
"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 ]. | 