Milam County Historical Commission
Milam County, Texas
Milam County, Texas
Locklin Cemetery
San Gabriel, TX
FM 486 - 5 miles north of Thorndale and 1.2
miles south of San Gabriel
Located between FM908 and FM 1331
Locklin Cemetery
Abigale McLennan Fokes acquired a Mexican land grant
here in 1835. Peter M. Mercer established a
blacksmith shop in this area in the early 1840s. His
burial in 1844 is the first recorded in this
cemetery. Fokes later set aside this site for
cemetery purposes. The cemetery is believed to be
named for the extended family of early area settler
William Lawson Locklin. It presently contains about
400 burials including many of this area's frontier
settlers and their descendants and veterans of the
Texas revolution and Republic of Texas army. It
continues to serve the area.
Marker erected 1994
Views of Locklin Cemetery from FM 486
.
Locklin Cemetery Receives ‘Historic Designation’
Rockdale Reporter - September 6, 2012
Locklin Cemetery Association of Milam County has been approved for a Historic Texas
Cemetery Designation by the Texas Historical Commission. Begun in 1998, the Texas
Historical Commission designation is an official recognition of family and community
graveyards that encourages preservation of historic cemeteries. The designation
imposes no restrictions on private owners’ use of land adjacent to the cemetery or the
daily operations of the cemetery.
The benefits of designation include having its location and boundaries recorded in the
county deed records as a historically dedicated cemetery worthy of preservation. As
well, the designation provides some State of Texas protection from encroachment,
vandalism and theft. The Locklin Cemetery has already received an Official Texas
Historical Marker back in May 1995. The cemetery is located about seven miles north of
Thorndale and two miles south of San Gabriel.
This cemetery is rich with history. In the year 1835, the State of Coahuila and Texas
granted one league of land and one labor to Abigail McLennan Fokes, declaring her as a
colonist and the legal recipient of this Mexican Land Grant. Abigail Fokes had come to
America in about 1800 with her family and then to Texas from Florida with several
other Scottish families. She brought with her six children (her husband died just
before leaving Florida) and found and occupied Locklin Cemetery receives ‘historic
designation’ the land, periodically retreating to Washington on the Brazos for
protection from the Indians.
In June 1844, a close friend of the family named Peter M. Mercer was buried where this
cemetery is now located and represents the first grave. Exactly when the land for the
cemetery was given is unknown, as the Milam County Court House burned in April 1874,
taking with it most of the county records. Through the reconstruction of some deeds,
it is evident that small portions of Abigail’s land were given for the city of San
Gabriel, including land for the school and the San Gabriel Baptist Church.
Land was also given for the cemetery, but it is unclear whether this land was given by
Abigail or one of her children and the exact date it was given is unknown. Regardless,
the name Locklin probably came from William Lawson Locklin, Sr. who married into the
Fokes family. Since 1844, there have been about 600 burials in the cemetery, composed
mostly of Locklins and families related or connected to the Locklins.
Locklin Cemetery Association officers are Jerry McDaniel, president; Mary L. Thornton,
vice president; Nancy Graham, secretary and Fritzi Simon, treasurer.
The Association has recently embarked on a comprehensive mapping and condition
assessment of all existing gravesites and gravestones, using sophisticated global
positioning satellite (GPS) technology.
MEETING - The Association’s next meeting will be at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 15 at
the Thorndale Senior Citizen Center. Any interested person is welcome to attend and
participate in discussion of Association plans and operations. For more information on
the meeting, contact Nancy Graham at Nancy-graham@sbcglobal.net
**************************************************************************************
Locklin Cemetery work day ahead Saturday October 18, 2014
THORNDALE - The Locklin Cemetery Association will hold a work and clean-up day at the
cemetery beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18.
“Bring a sack lunch and join us,” said Jean Hejl, spokesperson. The cemetery is on FM
486 north of Thorndale. Entrance is at the historical marker. FMI: Hejl, 512-898-2764.
**************************************************************************************
Locklin Cemetery meeting set March 2, 2013
THORNDALE - Locklin Cemetery Association will hold its annual business meeting at
10 a.m. Saturday, March 2 in the Senior Citizens Center at Thorndale.
Locklin Cemetery is located in the San Gabriel community off FM 486, north of
Thorndale.
Rockdale Reporter, February 7, 2013
**********
Locklin Cemetery meeting Sept. 15th, 2012
THORNDALE - Locklin Cemetery Association will meet at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 15, 2012 at the
Senior Citizens Center in Thorndale.
“Officers will be elected and a progress report will be heard on the cemetery beautification
project remapping of the cemetery and other improvements,” said Nancy Graham, secretary.
Rockdale Reporter - August, 16, 2012
**************************************************************************************
Locklin Cemetery Assn. meeting set March 20, 2010
THORNDALE—The Locklin Cemetery Association annual meeting will be held at 10 a.m.
Saturday, March 20, 2010 in the Thorndale Senior Citizens Center.
Rockdale Reporter, March 11, 2010
.
.
The Locklin Cemetery,
located between
Thorndale and San
Gabriel on FM 486 was
recently approved for a
Historic Texas Cemetery
Designation by the Texas
Historical Commission.
CEMETERY WORK DAY — Locklin Cemetery Association members held their annual work day
Saturday in the historic cemetery. A picnic lunch was served in the pavilion of the
hallowed grounds.
These workers are (L-R) Diane Lewallen, association president Kirk Baird, Allen Hejl,
Mary Frances Gauntt, Stephen Simank, Stacy Smylie, Peggy Edmondson, John Smylie and Loy
Edmondson.
Not shown: Carole Simank, Carolyn Baird, Jay Lewallen and guest Jack Brooks.
The cemetery's earliest recorded burial is that of Peter Mercer, a veteran of the Texas
Revolution, in 1844. It is said that he was killed by Indians on a knoll known as
Mercers Bluff and that his body fell into the San Gabriel River.
Rockdale Reporter
2019-05-18
