Historical Marker

Willingham Cemetery

Marker installed: 2003

Willingham family members were original settlers at Salado Springs (Salado) in the early 1850s. They eventually moved a few miles west and established a successful stock farm operation. Patriarch Archibald Willingham (1786-1857), a Georgian by birth and a veteran of the war of 1812, was the first to be buried in the family cemetery on their land. His wife, Ellener (Belcher), and their son, Sterling Andrew Jackson Willingham, are also buried in the cemetery; their graves are the only ones marked of the small number of burials. The cemetery is also known as Three Chimneys after the family home that was nearby.

Historic Texas cemetery - 2003.

Texas was once an independent country: After winning its independence from Mexico in 1836, Texas became its own country, known as the Republic of Texas. It existed as an independent nation for nine years before being annexed by the United States in 1845.