Historical Marker
Williams Cemetery
Historical marker location:
McKinney, Texas
( McKinney, 1.5 mi. W of US 75 and .25 mi. N of intersection of Eldorado Pkwy and Harding Blvd.)
Marker installed: 2000
Grafton Williams came to this area in 1843 with the Peters Colony and received a 640-acre land grant. He was active in the creation of Whites Grove Settlement here. After his wife Harriet's death in 1848, he donated land for use as a community cemetery, sometimes called Mount Olive Cemetery because the Mount Olive Baptist Church was once adjacent to it. The Williams Cemetery Association, formed in 1885, maintains the site, using funds from the sale of land willed to the cemetery in 1927 by Samuel Payne. Today the burial ground, still active, is a link to the community's heritage and early residents.
Historic Texas Cemetery - 2000.