This cemetery is named for the Reverend Thomas Stanford, a pioneer Methodist minister who moved to Texas from Arkansas in 1862 with his wife and family. They, with the E. R. Barcus family, established a school, church and cemetery. The Stanfords' daughter and son-in-law, Martha and Thomas Richey, donated five acres of land for this graveyard in 1875. The first recorded burial occurred in 1875. After years of neglect the graveyard was restored in 1962, and by 1965 a cemetery association was formed to maintain the site. The cemetery continues to serve the community. (1997)