ROWLETT CREEK CEMETERY - ALLEN
FM2478
Cemeteries of Collin County, Texas, Joy
Gough
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."
Historical
marker, 1979.
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 I
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.
Rowlett
CEMETERY INDEX
Recommended
citation:
Rowlett Creek Cemetery - Allen,
"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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