Texas Historical Marker #06212
Thompson Cemetery. Collin county pioneer Abner Thompson came to this area about 1850 and settled on land that was originally part of the Silvester Williams Survey, deeding a portion of it to be used as a cemetery. The first burial, that of Thompson himself, took place in 1852. His grave is marked with two large square stones which have deteriorated through time and have become nearly illegible. Tall posts of Bois d'Arc, which mark the nearby grave of one of Thompson's employees, have stood the effects of weathering for more than one hundred years. Also buried here are Miles and Emily J. Graves who, in 1862, donated over an acre of land to the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, which was organized five years earlier. When the congregation divided in the early 1880s, that land was given to the Thompson Cemetery, which was enlarged several more times in later years. A Memorial Day service has been held at the Thompson Cemetery each year since the early 1950s, bringing together people from the nearby communities of Lavon and Copeville. There are over 800 graves here which are given perpetual care by the Thompson Cemetery Association. (1983) Historic Texas Cemetery - 2005 (medallion) #6212
?, Lavon, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #00076
Abston Cemetery. John Abston (1761-1856), a soldier in the American Revolution, was a native of Virginia. In the 1830s Abston and his family moved to Missouri. In 1853 he moved to Collin County, Texas, with the family of his son Jesse. Following Jesse's death that year, the family moved farther south in the county. John Abston and Jesse Abston's widow, Sarah, purchased land in this area in 1854. A small plot of land was set aside as a family burial ground. John Abston's burial here in 1856 was the first in the cemetery. There are thirty-seven marked graves, including those of several generations of the Abston and related families. All but one of the stones bear 19th-century death dates. According to family tradition, Sarah Abston at one time gave a small house and a parcel of land to a former slave, Elias Bellew, with the agreement that he would maintain the cemetery. As a result, the graveyard has also been referred to as the Old Bellew Cemetery. Descendants of those interred in this cemetery still reside in Collin County. The graveyard stands as a reminder of the area's heritage. (1988)*** #76
?, Lavon, TX, United States