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This community was called "Illinois Settlement" by the early families who immigrated here. Later, it became known as "Fairview". J. F. Thurmond (1853-1945) and his wife Amanda Elizabeth Merrifield arrived in 1880 from Dallas County, Texas. In 1883, when an infant daughter died, Thurmond asked his brother Fred and neighbors to select a tract for a burial ground. They chose this spot next to the land Thurmond had given for a church and schoolhouse. Including this graveyard, Thurmond had donated six acres to the community. Until the Fairview Baptist Church organized in 1895, prayer meetings were held in homes and then in the schoolhouse by visiting ministers. In 1913 Fairview Cemetery Association organized. After the school consolidated in 1950, the structure was deeded to the cemetery association. The Fairview Baptist Church leased the building and remodeled it for the youth department and community center. In 1915 this plot became the "Thurmond-Fairview Cemetery". Still in use, the site has over 400 graves. Perpetual care is funded by: an endowment left by Fred Thurmond, the proceeds from the sale of 2.7 acres given by J. M. McKinnon, revenue from a gas well, the sale of lots, and individual gifts. (1979) |
