In the late 1850s, rancher, farmer, veteran, and community leader John L. Goforth (1827-1901), his wife Annie (Tiller) Goforth, and their children were among the first settlers on Bear Creek. John Goforth became known for high standards in ranching and for shipping hundreds of cattle to market each year. After serving in the Civil War, he acquired considerable acreage near the Parker-Tarrant County line and succeeded in ranching and farming, including stock raising and wheat, while also serving for many years as a school trustee and justice of the peace. John and Annie had seven children, but four died young. Their first son, John Lytle Jr., died in 1862 while John was serving in the Civil War and was buried in the Chadwick Family Cemetery, also known as Goforth Graves, three miles southwest on South Bear Creek in Parker County. The first marked burial in the Goforth Cemetery was their daughter Mattie Bell Goforth (1858-1880), who died at age 22. Also buried in the family graveyard is their granddaughter Mattie A. Booz (1886-1888), daughter of Josie (Joanna) Goforth and John Henry Booz. A year later, their son Charles Goforth (1866-1889) was buried there, and the last marked gravesite is that of John Goforth, buried beside his family. John Goforth had purchased the cemetery and surrounding property from Mahalda Bonner on the condition that she be buried there. Although no records of her death or burial survive, evidence of unmarked graves exists at the cemetery, including Annie Goforth's burial next to John. Goforth descendants still live in the area and on the original family land.