Wild Cow Prairie Cemetery

Wild Cow Prairie Cemetery. . , The earliest local history of Wild Cow Prairie Cemetery describes the wetland just south of the cemetery as a lush feeding ground for the wild cows and ponies left by the Spanish. At sun-up and sunset, it was said to be covered with pink flamingos, white egrets, and thousands of other beautiful birds. Wild Cow Prairie Cemetery sat at the corner of Stagecoach Road and Wire Road. Britton Branch Jr. deeded the property for the cemetery and, in 1849, Branch's son-in-law, William D. Boulden Sr., was the first to be buried here. For the next 75 years, the town of Pemberton, located just one mile southwest, used Wild Cow Prairie Cemetery as a segregated burial ground for whites. Interred here are two Sumter County commissioners, Charles L. Branch and James Weeks; one Hernando County commissioner, Frank L. Smith; and a member of the Board of Public Instruction for Hernando County, Stephen Weeks. James Hunter Pemberton, the last person laid to rest here, was interred in 1924. By the Great Depression, Pemberton was in ruins, and the federal government bought the property. In 1958, the federal government leased the property to the State of Florida, and the town site became part of the Withlacoochee State Forest., James T. Pemberton founded the town of Pemberton in 1876. The town developed around a ferry that helped early settlers and stagecoaches cross the Withlacoochee River, from Sumter to Hernando County. The town was an important early transportation hub for Sumter County. As a critical cog in Henry B. Plant's transportation empire, it served as a junction of two busy railroads, and as a landing for steamboats traveling the Withlacoochee River. In his 56 years, Pemberton fought in the Civil War, and served as the first postmaster for Pemberton, the proprietor of the Pemberton Hotel, and as an Inspector of Marks and Brands. In his political career, he served as one of five delegates from Sumter County for Florida's Democratic Party convention during the presidential election of 1896. Pemberton was the first county resident to be recommended by the Sumter County Board of Commissioners in 1902 for the position of Fish and Game Warden, but he died before the State of Florida could finalize his appointment. Pemberton was laid to rest in Wild Cow Prairie Cemetery on May 15, 1905.