Texas Historical Marker #05657
Vinson Cemetery. Wiley and Phebe Vinson and their children came to Texas from Alabama in 1851. Settling in Limestone County in 1859, the family farmed and operate a gristmill and tanning yard. When Vinson bought additional land in 1870, he set aside one-half acre for this cemetery. He died in 1871, and was the first to be buried here. Other graves include those of his wife, Phebe, who died in 1873, and relatives who lived nearby. Vinson Cemetery was restored in 1962 by members of the Fox Family Association, descendants of Wiley Vinson, who maintain it today. 1974 #5657
Of FM 1246 & FM 2749, SE of Thornton, Thornton, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #01373
Eaton Cemetery. The Richard Eaton family came to Texas in 1833 as members of the Robertson Colony. They moved to this area about 1845 and established a home and farm. The family farm, is that of Richard's first wife, Mary, who died about 1848. Also interred here are Richard Eaton and his second wife, Charity, as well as other members of their family and neighbors. There are both marked and unmarked graves in the Eaton Cemetery, the final resting place of many Texas pioneers. 1990 #1373
SM 14, S of Thorton about 2 mi., Thornton, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #11676
Cobb Cemetery. Brinkley Davis and his family, including his daughter Mary Ellen, moved to this area from Indiana in 1833. Brinkley Davis received a land grant of about 4500 acres from the Mexican government in 1835, and the surrounding area became known as Davis Prairie. A native of Alabama, Pinckney Cobb came to Texas in the early 1840s. He married Mary Ellen Davis in 1845, and they eventually had nine children. This cemetery was established on Cobb family land in the 1850s. Brinkley Davis died in 1852 and his is the earliest marked grave. William Neri, the second child of Pinckney and Mary Ellen Cobb, died at the age of six in 1855. Pinckney Cobb died at age 45 and was interred here in 1866, seven months before his youngest son was born. Another Cobb son, George Levi, was 20 when he died and was buried here in 1872. County Judge l. B. Cobb donated a parcel of land joining the west side of the cemetery in 1887. Many early settlers of the surrounding communities are interred here. The site was cared for by family and community members until the area population decreased during World War II and it became necessary to pay for cemetery maintenance. Other burials of interest include that of Nathaniel G. Hudson, who came to Texas in 1836, joined the Santa Fe expedition in 1841 and was held prisoner in Mexico from 1841 to 1843. Nathaniel P. Hudson, a veteran of the Spanish American War, also is interred here, as are seven Confederate veterans. At the dawn of the 21st century, 964 graves (227 unidentified) graced the cemetery grounds. Many early graves are those of infants and small children, testaments to the harsh conditions of pioneer life. (2000) #11676
3 mi. E on CR 778, Thornton, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #15001
Thornton Schools. Thornton was established in 1871 by the Texas Central Railroad and had a post office by 1873. By 1880, the town had approximately 200 residents and three churches, as well as several businesses and a Masonic lodge. Early schools included the Thornton Male and Female Institute, founded in 1877 by physician and teacher Edward Coke Chambers. The Institute, known also as Thornton College, included a wood-frame classroom building, student housing and Chambers' home. The school received its charter in 1881 and in 1884 merged with the school of Henry P. Davis. In 1889, Chambers sold the Institute to Davis, who continued to operate the school until 1891, when he sold it to the newly formed Thornton Independent School District. In 1903, a storm destroyed the school building, and in 1920, the second school building burned. The third schoolhouse, built of brick, was completed in 1921. During the 1930s and 1940s, several rural districts consolidated with Thornton, including all or part of Mill Creek, Prairie View, Pleasant Grove, Davis Prairie, Beulah and Eutaw Springs common school districts. In the early 1960s, with a declining student population, Thornton began to close its schools. African American students, who had for many years attended a Rosenwald School on Ellis Street, began traveling to Groesbeck for classes, as did the high school students from the White campus. In 1965, Thornton consolidated completely with the Groesbeck Independent School District, stipulating in the transfer that the main school building and grounds at this site be deeded to the city for use as a community center. (2004) #15001
?, Thornton, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #03784
Old Potter's Shop. The fine, white clay mined near here was used at this shop from the 1840s to 1912 to make pitchers, jars, crocks, churns, flower pots, and ornamental urns, which were used locally and shopped out of county. In the 1870s the shop, built by Alberry Johnson, was a major industry in Pottersville (later Oletha) Wm. C. Knox later bought the plant and hired J. L. Stone as the chief artisan. John Fowler then became owner and was joined by is son E. J. Fowler about 1900. Men dug Kaolin clay from pits and hauled it to the plant, where mules provided labor to grind the clay to powder and it was fashioned into ceramics. Historically, Kaolin-- still mined today from the deposits nearby-- has been used to make fine porcelain and china. It ranks with gas, oil, and stone as a major commercial resource in Limestone County. During the 19th century, vast natural resources throughout the state were creating new enterprises. Cattle and cotton headed the list of products, which also included lumber, iron ore, stone, and salt, as well as finished articles such as cloth, iron kettles, soap, flour, brick, and matches. These businesses, although crude and not of the "luxury" type, initiated the industrial growth of Texas. 1967 #3784
FM 1245 and CR 758, Thornton, TX, United States