Historical Marker
Lafayette Cemetery
Historical marker location:
Gilmer, Texas
( 6 mi. NE of Gilmer on SH 155, then 4 mi. NE on FM 2796, then .8 mi. west on FM 593, then 2 mi. north on FM 993 to intersection w/FM 1975)
The Lafayette community, named by early settler Matthew F. Locke for his son, Lafayette Locke, developed in this area in the 1850s. Locke deeded three acres of land to the Philadelphia Baptist Church for a cemetery in 1858. The land, which already contained two family burials, became known as Lafayette Cemetery. The oldest documented grave is that of T. E. Montgomery, Locke's brother-in-law, who died in 1855. Although the community began to decline in the 1920s, this and other nearby graveyards serve as visible reminders of the area's pioneer heritage.