Scurlock Cemetery
Sabine Co. Cemeteries of TX
Location: Off Goat Hill Road, via
State Highway 21 and Farm Road 1, four miles east of Geneva.
Historical Marker Inscription:
This cemetery is named for North Carolina native William Scurlock (1807-1885), a veteran
of the Texas Revolution, who is buried here. He and his brother, Mial, migrated to Texas
in 1834 and constructed a log cabin in this vicinity. The following year they enlisted in
the Texas Revolutionary Army. Known as the "man with the charmed life", William
served in the Siege of Bexar, the Battle of Agua Dulce, and participated in the Matamoros
Expedition. Captured by Mexican forces at Goliad and used as a medical assistant, he
escaped the massacre of Col. James W. Fannin 's troops. He later eluded his captors and
fought at the Battle of San Jacinto. Mial Scurlock was Killed at the fall of the Alamo.
After the war Capt. Scurlock served in the Republic of Texas Congress (1838-1840) and
fought in the Mexican War (1846-1848) before settling here. His wife Frances (1821-1902)
was the daughter of William A. and Phenaty Thompson, pioneer settlers of the area. The
earliest marked grave here is that of their son, George, who died in 1864. Also buried
here is Confederate veteran W. J. Walton (1838-1916). Captured at Jonesboro, Georgia, in
1864, he spent the remainder of the Civil War in an Illinois military prison