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Pioneer physician John Chadd received a land grant in 1845 made by Texas Governor J. Pinckney Henderson. Dr. Chadd donated land to the community in 1846 to be used for a church, school, and cemetery and chose the community's biblical name of Smyrna. This cemetery dates to 1850 when John Glover was buried in an unmarked grave. The earliest headstone is that of Susana Kirkpatrick in 1859. Dr. Chadd deeded two acres of land in 1874 to the Smyrna Methodist Episcopal Church. The cemetery has been closely associated with the church through the years. Tombstones mark the graves of Dr. Chadd and his wife Emily Jane Taylor, and other early settlers who lived and died in the area. Among the more than 675 graves are those of veterans of conflicts from the Civil War to the Vietnam War. The Smyrna Cemetery Association was established as a non-profit organization in 1954 by the people of the Smyrna community. Additional land was donated to the cemetery in 1962 and in 1974. Annual meetings have been held at the cemetery since 1946. The site continues to serve Smyrna and many surrounding communities. (1997) |
