Georgia native the Reverend Henry Fullingim, his wife Martha, and their 17 children came to northeast Texas in 1849. Henry Fullingim served the area as a circuit-riding Methodist minister. Their son, Archibald, and their son-in-law, John Hale, came to Wise County in 1853 and were among the area's first settlers. Hale became the first Wise County sheriff in 1856. This cemetery is named for John T. and Sarah Waggoner, on whose land it was established. Martha Fullingim's burial in 1868 is the first recorded here. The Waggoner's deeded the property to Wise County in 1885.