James Gibson Smith, Jr., a native of Tennessee, married Sarah A. James, a native of Arkansas, soon after settling in this part of Burnet County in 1850. Together they raised eight children and set aside this site as the family cemetery. Their granddaughter, Anita Fay Smith, who died of diphtheria in 1901, was the first person buried here. A neighbor, Charles McLean, who died in 1901, was the second person buried here, followed by James G. Smith, who died in 1902. A cemetery association formed by Smith family descendants in 1981 maintains the site, which includes veterans of the Civil War and World War II.