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Wheatland Cemetery has served this area since the mid-1800s. Originally named the Branson-Brotherton Cemetery, this burial ground is on property donated by Tom Branson and H.K. Brotherton. The two men, Ohio natives, both were farmers and owners of large tracts of land and are buried here. The cemetery also has roots with Methodist congregations. Organized in the 1840s, the first Methodist church in this area was Wesley Chapel. The church moved here in 1864 to the community of Sprouls' Corner (Sprowls' Corner), which residents soon renamed Wheatland. Wesley Chapel also changed names to Wheatland Methodist Church. The congregation met on the land donated by Branson and Brotherton. Although formally established in 1872, this cemetery contains a number of earlier burials, including some who were reinterred from the Wesley Chapel burial ground. Burials here include area pioneers, farmers, community leaders, veterans of conflicts dating to the Mexican American War (1846-48), and victims of flu, malaria and diphtheria epidemics in the community. The cemetery contains fraternal organization gravestones, vertical stones and curbing. In 1913, the Uhl and Branson families deeded additional acreage; the Methodist Episcopal Church South at Wheatland also conveyed land that year. The Wheatland Cemetery Association, which family members of the interred organized in 1908, continues to maintain the burial ground. Today, historic Wheatland Cemetery remains a record of the early pioneers and residents of the once-thriving Wheatland Community. Historic Texas Cemetery – 2006 |
