William Williamson

William Williamson picked the cemetery site himself, after his son Absolom died in an accident in 1890, expecting a public road to pass it. In 1909 sons Caleb and Joseph deeded a 30-foot right-of-way, now part of FM 105 in front of Williamson Cemetery, still a free burial place. The Orange Leader says the Louisiana-born rancher and his wife Joissine were baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 20, 1900, the first in the county to join, and that he died that November. His descendants number well over 1,000, in more than 20 states.

What the plaque says

William Williamson (1829-1900) This community egan in 1867 when Louisiana native William Williamson and his wife Joissine Desmarais bought squatters rights and a log house on this tract of public land. Their home served as the community gathering place for socials and church meetings. After the death of their son Absolom in 1890, the Williamson Cemetery (1.3 mi. N) was set aside. Vitally interested in education, Williamson served as a school trustee as did several of his 15 children and their descendants. In 1900 Williamson and his wife were baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; this marked the beginning of Mormonism in this area. The first church house of pine logs was erected about 1901 by volunteers. In 1915 a frame building was constructed here on an acre of land donated by Williamson's son Joseph. Signs of the Williamson influence in the community include: an early school and a major road bearing the name; the annual July 24th commemoration of the Mormons' arrival in the Salt Lake Valley; the public cemetery which has about 650 graves; the Family Genealogical Association; and this church building which is located at the center of the community. (1979)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Village Creek State Park — 8.4 mi
  A 2,466-acre state park on one of the few free-flowing creeks in Texas, with a launch for the Village Creek Paddling Trail, boat rentals and sandy-upland trails in the Big Thicket.
• McFaddin-Ward House — 11 mi
  A Beaux-Arts Colonial Revival mansion finished in 1906 and lived in by one family for 75 years, with free guided tours of three furnished floors, the carriage house and gardens.
• Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum — 14 mi
  A re-created oil boomtown on the Lamar University campus, with a derrick, period shops, a 1941 granite monument and an optional re-enactment of the January 1901 Lucas gusher.
• Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center — 18 mi
  More than 250 acres on Adams Bayou, begun by H. J. Lutcher Stark in 1937, with garden rooms, a cypress-tupelo swamp, a heronry blind and free pontoon tours in season.

More markers nearby

• Wiess Bluff — 4.7 mi
• Site of Collier's Ferry — 8.0 mi
• Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias — 8.3 mi
• J.P. Richardson, Jr: The Big Bopper — 8.6 mi