Historical Marker
Becknell Cemetery
Historical marker location:
Clarksville, Texas
( 6 miles west of Clarksville, the first branch bottom east of the road side park on Highway 82)
Marker installed: 2012
BECKNELL CEMETERY
THIS HISTORIC CEMETERY IS ALSO KNOWN AS ROBBINSVILLE CEMETERY AFTER THE COMMUNITY THAT ONCE THRIVED IN THIS AREA. NAMED FOR JOHN ROBBINS, AN EARLY SETTLER, ROBBINSVILLE SERVED AS A GATHERING PLACE FOR AREA FARMERS. THE CEMETERY BECAME KNOWN AS BECKNELL CEMETERY WHEN MARY BECKNELL, WIFE OF WILLIAM BECKNELL, DEEDED THE LAND TO THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AS A BURIAL GROUND ON DEC. 20, 1861. BURIALS INCLUDE WILLIAM BECKNELL (1788-1856), “FATHER OF THE SANTA FE TRAIL,” AND THREE OTHER BURIALS OF PIONEER FAMILIES, INCLUDING MCGUIRE AND TURNBOLE. IT IS BELIEVED THERE ARE A NUMBER OF UNMARKED GRAVES. THE CEMETERY IS THE LAST REMAINING VESTIGE OF A COMMUNITY’S PIONEER RESIDENTS.
The first oil well in the United States was drilled in Texas in 1859. The discovery of oil transformed the economy of the state and helped to make Texas one of the wealthiest states in the nation.