THE BROWNING COMMUNITY DEVELOPED IN THE 1870s ALONG THE OLD BELTON ROAD WHICH SERVED AS A TRANSPORTATION, COMMERCE AND MAIL ROUTE. JOHN R. BROWNING, HIS WIFE JULIA AND THEIR CHILDREN WERE AMONG THE FIRST SETTLERS IN THE AREA, AND THE RURAL COMMUNITY WHICH DEVELOPED TOOK THEIR SURNAME. EARLY INSTITUTIONS IN THE AREA INCLUDED CLEAR CREEK BAPTIST CHURCH, ORGANIZED IN 1872, AND THE OGLETREE GAP STAGECOACH STATION, BUILT IN 1878. ANOTHER PIONEER FAMILY WAS THAT OF WATT WILLIAM SMITH, HIS WIFE, MARTHA (McLEAN), AND THEIR CHILDREN. THEY SETTLED ON THE GREGORY BRANCH OF THE LAMPASAS RIVER AND LIVED ON A HORSE AND CATTLE RANCH. WATT MADE SEVERAL CATTLE TRAIL DRIVES TO KANSAS BEFORE SETTLING IN THE AREA PERMANENTLY. HE AND HIS BROTHER, JAMES, BUILT A TWO-STORY LIMESTONE BUILDING WITH A COMMUNITY SCHOOL ON THE FIRST FLOOR AND A MASONIC LODGE HALL ABOVE. WATT SMITH SET ASIDE A PART OF HIS PROPERTY FOR A COMMUNITY AND FAMILY BURIAL GROUND BY 1875, WHICH IS THE DATE OF THE FIRST KNOWN BURIAL. A SON OF NEWTON AND SUE WALKER DIED AND MAY 18, 1875, AND HIS IS THE OLDEST IDENTIFIED GRAVE. WATT SMITH DIED IN 1877 AT HIS RANCH HOME ABOUT A HALF-MILE FROM THE CEMETERY. WATT, MARTHA, SIX OF THEIR EIGHT CHILDREN, AND OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS ARE AMONG THOSE BURIED HERE. THIS INCLUDES WATT’S WIDOWED MOTHER, NANCY SMITH, WHO CAME TO TEXAS FROM TENNESSEE BY WAGON AT AGE 90 AND LIVED TO BE 98. MILITARY VETERANS FROM WORLD WAR I THROUGH THE VIETNAM WAR ARE REPRESENTED. GRAVESTONE MATERIALS INCLUDE LIMESTONE, GRANITE, CONCRETE, METAL AND FIELD STONES. IN 1974, SMITH FAMILY DESCENDANTS AND AREA RESIDENTS FORMED A CEMETERY ASSOCIATION WHICH CONTINUES TO MAINTAIN THIS BURIAL GROUND AS A BELOVED CHRONICLE OF THE AREA’S RURAL HERITAGE.