WHERE DID THIS CEMETERY COME FROM???

BUCKNER CEMETERY
McKinney, Texas

Who knew? Deak and I were out driving around this past Sunday and we stopped at Garden Center just off Hwy 380 just before you get into McKinney, Texas. Now, the Garden Center was closed so we just parked the car and was walking around looking at their trees and plants they had for sale. There is nothing but concrete around and behind the Garden Center because McKinney has a big Trade Days open to the public every 3rd Monday and this Garden Center is located right in front of the Trades Day lots.

So, we walk toward the back of the lot and MUCH TO MY SURPRISE what do you think I see......right in the middle of this parking lot there is a cemetery!!!! HOLY COW!!!! Who would ever guess there would be a cemetery right in the middle of this big parking lot!!!! It is the strangest thing to see a cemetery with just a few graves in it, a couple of trees and a small fence around it. Now is it haunted??? I don't know.... but you can bet I will find out! It just sits there minding its own business with a few trees around it, like ...this is my place and I am NOT moving know matter what is around me, I was here first!!! LOL And I have to tell you...it was a little sad to me to think that soooo many people visit this area every month and know one takes care of the cemetery. The stones are all broken. Some have been laid against trees but most are just laying on the ground. You can tell, it needs a lot of TLC.

Now, this looks like an old map to me but
I tried to circle where the cemetery is. But now,
when we were there, it seems that the Trades Day
has expanded the area and is all back behind the cemetery now.

You can clearly see concrete surrounding the cemetery.

So, what do you think the FIRST thing I did was when I got home???? You guessed it!!! I was on the internet looking up any and everything to do with Buckner Cemetery.

Now, I will say I couldn't find a lot on it, but the things I did find out, were VERY interesting. Now, here's what I do know in summary...

Buckner was the first town in Collin County. It was named by John McGarrah for his home town of Buckner, Arkansas. When Collin County was formed in 1846 by the state of Texas, the residents were told to pick a county seat within 3 miles of the geographic center of the county and name it "Buckner." The residents picked the existing town of Buckner because it was the only town in the county. However, it was 7 miles from the center of the county. The exact center of the county is on the East Fork flood plain. Two sites were picked for the county seat. Eleven residents voted on the location of the county seat with 10 picking the present-day McKinney square location. They tried to name the county seat Buckner as instructed, but the post office said the name "Buckner" was already in use. The residents named the county seat "McKinney" after the man who was in the state legislature from this area, Collin McKinney. The stores in Buckner were literally dragged to the square in McKinney and the town of Buckner disappeared. There was a Kiowa Indian tribe that lived near Buckner. It was led by a chief named Spotted Tail. As long as the Kiowas lived there, no other Indians attacked the area.

The ancient McGarrah-O’Brien Cemetery is slightly Northeast of the site of Old Ft. Buckner, the first County Seat of Collin County, and is a part of John McGarrah’s headright. According to the Peters Colony book, “John McGarrah, a family man, came to Peters Colony in 1842 and claimed his headright of 640 acres. His patent was number 981.” He built a little store or trading post, primarily to trade with the Indians who brought in furs to trade for goods he sold in the little store. He is listed in the 1850 census of Collin County as a family man, age 45 and came to the area from Fayetteville, Arkansas, where the family migrated in 1821.

Only a few headstones remain in the old cemetery, but according to J. B. Wilmeth who was an elected official at the first election in 1846, it once had a large number of graves marked with Bois d’Arc slabs. (I know, I didn't know what Bois d' Arc slabs were either. It is a type of wood that was very resilient to weather conditions. It was often used as a marker for a grave and sometimes could even be carved into different shapes).

Those listed as buried there include:

Edna Fallis, wife of B. J. O’Brien, 1816 - 1897
Jane, wife of George W. O’Brien, Jan. 27, 1905 - Dec. 17, 1871
David O’Brien, March 4, 1808 - Nov. 1, 1885
Parmelia, wife of David O’Brien, June 27, 1823 - July 12, 1870
Franklin, son of David and Parmelia, July 23, 1853 - July 12, 1870
George W. O’Brien, Dec. 8, 1799 - June 30, 1876
Lorenzo J. Graves, 1818 - 1886
Reily, son of T. F. and A. F. Darnell, 1829 - 1880
Laurence, son of A. G. and N. J. Donaldson, 1879 - 1899
Mary Jane Donaldson, 1854 - 1886
Polly T. Graves, Sept. 22, 1822 - July 31, 1898

Then, too, the old Indian who lived with his small tribe near Buckner and is credited with saving the settlement from invasion of Comanche tribes is buried in an unmarked Christian grave at his own request (Kiowa chief, Spotted Tail). Chief Spotted Tail has been called a hero because he helped bury people in the middle of the night so others would not have to who died in a smallpox epidemic in 1873. He died from smallpox himself shortly after and was buried at the Buckner cemetery. He was given a white man's burial.

You can bet there will be a PART 2 to this story. I will let you know what I find out about if it is haunted or not after I do an investigation. CAN'T WAIT!!!!!

If you would like to read more about this cemetery here is a link:
http://www.oocities.org/heartland/estates/4167/cemeteries/bucknercem.htm