Cemeteries with Texas Ties

Smiths in Ramsey Historical Cemetery of Erath Co

2010-10-17T14:14:00.000-07:00

A reader who recently found my blog asked if I knew of any tombstones with the name of SMITH in or around Lingleville in Erath County. There are a few Smiths buried in the beautiful little historical Ramsey cemetery between Stephenville and Lingleville. There are also many who were marked unknown by the Ramsey Cemetery Association. I have placed the few pictures that I took of the Smiths here on this post. It is a beautiful little cemetery that is well cared for.

The Smith Tombstones are in the right foreground of this picture.

These markers date from the 1800s and there are many, many more.

Most of the markers I could not read.

SOURCE:

Ramsey Cemetery, Lingleville, Erath Co., Texas.

Photographs in Digital Format. Property of Judith Richards Shubert, Fort Worth, Texas.

Brad in the Bluebonnets

2010-05-26T11:46:00.000-07:00

MALLORY MONUMENT

Brad Cemetery

The top photograph was taken in January of 2009 and the bottom one in April of 2010. In my first post showing the Mallory Monument I promised to go back to Brad and take a picture of the back of the stone. It did not have any names on it, and I assume it was placed there as a family monument. The other Mallory headstones found nearby are pictured below.

When my husband and I arrived at the cemetery there was a light misty rain falling and he decided to stay in the Suburban. Usually he gets out and helps me find names or stones that I may be searching for, or he just walks along in his own thoughts. Sometimes you'll even see him off in the distance in one of my pictures! That day he took the opportunity to just sleep.

Bob Shubert

The most delightful surprise was the beautiful wildflowers, particularly the bluebonnets, that covered the graves in this often lonely feeling cemetery.

Bobby Lee Mallory

Oct. 17, 1925 - Dec. 10, 2002

Married November 22, 1951

Mary Margaret

Sept. 12, 1926 - Dec. 5, 1996

"Our Children: Melodee, Jeffry & Mark"

Jeffry Alan
son of
Bob & Margaret Mallory
Born and Died April 29, 1955

MALLORY

Lou F.Mallory

Oct. 12, 1901 - Nov. 26, 2002

Omer L. Mallory

April 8, 1899 - April 17, 1965

"Together in His Hands Forever"

Hugh Edgar Mallory

Cpl US Army

KOREA

Aug. 25, 1932 - Feb. 23, 1995

MALLORY

Charlie Pat Mallory

Aug. 12, 1954 -

Barbara Jean Mallory

Apr. 11, 1934 - Jan. 28, 2003

Married on September 15

"The Lord is my Light and my Salvation;

of Whom Shall I be Afraid?" Psalm 27

Cole Austin Mallory

Jan. 7, 2008 - Jan. 7, 2008

A Mallory Angel

Rachel A. Mallory

PENA

Aug. 2, 1967 - Dec. 31, 2000

Mother of Amanda, Zachary & Gabby

Whoops! He's awake! Until next time.

Mallory Family in Brad Cemetery

2010-02-28T18:30:00.000-08:00

MALLORY

Family Monument

Brad Cemetery

This beautiful grey granite monument is found with several other Mallory tombstones located in the southeast corner of the cemetery. I failed to photograph the other side, and now I do not know if there was anything carved there or not. I will go back and add that information here if there is.

Clepper

Jerry Lee Clepper

Aug. 5, 1942 - June 3, 2003

Betty Jean (Ranspot)

Mar. 27, 1944 - Jan. 4, 2008

This monument to Jerry and Betty Jean Clepper is found on the southeast side of the cemetery. The Mallory grouping is seen in the distance behind the Clepper stone.

I regret not taking individual photos of the Mallory family tombstones, so I plan to stop there again on my way to Possum Kingdom the next time. I have a friend who has just discovered the Mallorys are her family. And I would like to provide her and other members of her family a visual of the resting place of their ancestors.

(If you click on the photograph you may be able to make out the individual names on some. Other posts about Brad Cemetery can be found here and this blog's banner is a view of the cemetery.)

Zion Hill Cemetery - Richards Family of Zion Hill Community Parker County

2010-01-25T08:24:00.000-08:00

Beautiful

Guardian of the Gate

Zion Hill Cemetery

Tombstone of Joshua Hooper Richards

and wife, Elizabeth Conway Richards

Looking to the West in Zion Hill Cemetery
RICHARDS
Father

J. H.

April 21, 1861 - Feb. 25, 1939

Mother

Elizabeth

Mar. 20, 1866 - Dec. 1, 1939

"The Lord is My Shepherd"

J. H. and Elizabeth Richards

My Paternal Great-grandparents

Tombstones of Earl S. and Ida Martin Richards

and their son, William buried to the left of them

Earl is the son of J. H. and Elizabeth

EARL S. RICHARDS

Aug. 23, 1895 - Apr. 5, 1954

IDA M. RICHARDS

Oct. 6, 1898 - May 15, 1974

"Wife of Earl Richards"

WILLIAM EUGENE RICHARDS

PFC US Army

World War II

Sep. 23, 1922 - Nov. 18, 1981

(Son of Earl and Ida Richards)

ANNIE LAVERN

Dau of

E. S. and Ida M. RICHARDS

Mar. 25, 1927 - Jan. 15, 1930

MINNIE BELLE RICHARDS

Nov. 16, 1892 - Mar. 28, 1972

"In Loving Memory"

(Daughter of Joshua H. and Elizabeth Richards.

Belle was never married.)

ELMA DEWEY RICHARDS

Aug. 24, 1898 - Feb. 11, 1986

"A Loving Memory"

(Daughter of Joshua H. and Elizabeth Richards.

Dewey was never married.)

See a photograph of my great-grandparents, Joshua Hooper Richards and Elizabeth Conway Richards on my blog, Genealogy Traces, at this post. You can read Earl Sanford Richards' obituary and see a photograph of him here.
See other photographs from Zion Hill in the previous post.

SOURCES:
Zion Hill Cemetery, Zion Hill Community, Parker County, Texas near Weatherford.

Photographs in Digital Format belonging to Judith Richards Shubert, Fort Worth, Texas. 2010

Zion Hill Cemetery - Plumlee Family of Parker County

2010-01-21T20:03:00.000-08:00

Zion Hill Cemetery

Zion Hill Community

Parker County, Texas near Weatherford

This possibly could be the original entrance to the cemetery. It looks like a hitching post to the right, but this could be conjecture on my part. I have not found any information on the cemetery other than what is written on the Texas Historical Commission sign.

Zion Hill Church School and Cemetery

"Zion Hill was named by early settler Samuel Wolfenberg who deeded 4 acres for a school / church and cemetery in 1877. Zion Hill School, established in 1868, operated until 1927 when it merged with the Peaster School system. The school building also housed early church services. Zion Hill Church was organized in 1871. The first recorded burial is that of Wolfenberg's granddaughter, Margaret Lionberger, in 1879. The cemetery covers 6 acres and contains more than 700 burials including at least 8 Civil War veterans and many veterans of World War I and World War II."

PLUMLEE

A Freemason

Born Sept. 2, 1830 - Died in 1888

The first Plumlee headstone I came upon in Zion Hill was this one which has been preserved. The broken pieces found and placed on a base of concrete stone in order to protect what remains of this once lovely memorial to a beloved family member. There were several markers for Plumlee family members in the same area of the cemetery. They were placed near the entrance on the south side and along the east and north side. Near this broken stone the next three grave markers were found and then the following headstones and markers. I have posted all of the photos of Plumlee markers that I saw for those who are researching the Plumlee / Sapp line in Parker County.

Infant Children of J.W. Plumlee

Two by M. F. Plumlee and one by L. A. Plumlee

Sister

CELLA MAY PLUMLEE

Dec. 19, 1892 - Apr. 6, 1935

ELISHA JACK PLUMLEE

1860 - 1925

FLOYD DENTON PLUMLEE

July 19, 1891 - Aug. 13, 1907

HARRY H.

son of

J. D. & ? Plumlee

JOHN D. PLUMLEE

Dec. 4, 1869 - Feb. 4, 1941

"Gone But Not Forgotten"

Mother

LUCINDA

Wife of

I. D. PLUMLEE

Born May 2, 1828 - Died Mar. 5, 1896

"Gone But Not Forgotten"

PLUMLEE

Howard L. - Born 1938 -

Annie Ruth - Born 1939 - Died 2003

HURSHEL PLUMLEE

1892 - 1912

JOHN R. PLUMLEE

PLUMLEE

John W. - Born Aug. 24, 1856 - Died Feb. 20, 1941

Father

Fannie - Born Aug. 8, 1867 - Died Dec. 10, 1941

Mother

"Asleep in Jesus"

Mother
MABEL A. BLOSS
PLUMLEE
July 27, 1876 - Jan. 1, 1954
"None Knew Her But to Love Her"
Wife of John D. Plumlee

SUSAN E. PLUMLEE

PLUMLEE

Father - WILLIS FRANK

July 24, 1902 - Jan. 23, 1992

Mother - ETHEL STEVENS

Mar. 4, 1905 - Jul. 21, 2005

"Married Dec. 23, 1923

A Peaceful Place to Rest

View looking West

View looking East

Zion Hill Cemetery - 1879
Lych-gate on South Side

View looking West

Zion Hill Community Church
South of the Cemetery

Zion Hill is also the burial place of several of my Richards ancestors, including my great-grandparents, Joshua Hooper Richards and Elizabeth "Sallie" Conway Richards. They are not far from some of the Plumlee family graves, reinforcing my belief that there is a tie to them through the Sapp family line. Joshua Hooper Richards is the grandson of Charles Harrison Richards and Mary "Polly" Sapp Richards of Shelby County, Texas and originally from Alabama.

SOURCE:

Zion Hill Cemetery, Zion Hill Community, Parker Co., Texas.

Photographs in Digital Format. Property of Judith Richards Shubert, Fort Worth, Texas.

Technorati Claim Code

2010-01-12T07:32:00.001-08:00

SVR9N2MXM3PJ

Wordless Wednesday - West End Cardinal

2009-10-21T15:29:00.000-07:00

Tombstone Tuesday - Gonzales & Galindo

2009-10-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

Luis L. Gonzales
Pedro L. Galindo
Tombstones in Round Rock Cemetery

Sources:

Cemetery
Round Rock Cemetery, Sam Bass Road, Round Rock, Williamson County, Texas

Photograph
Gonzales, Luis L. and Galindo, Pedro L. Tombstones, Round Rock Cemetery, Round Rock, Texas. Digital Photograph, 2009. Privately held by Judith Richards Shubert, Fort Worth, Texas.

Smithfield Cemetery, North Richland Hills, Texas

2009-07-31T13:00:00.000-07:00

Smithfield Cemetery, North Richland Hills, Texas
South Entrance

In the year 1887 the St Louis and Southwestern Railway built their tracks close to the area called Zion in Tarrant County, Texas. As happened with many little towns like this, it was eventually abandoned after the people and businesses began to drift away and relocate closer to the railroad where a new development grew up. This new settlement was called Smithfield, for Eli Smith, the resident who donated land for a church and cemetery.

"By the late 1940s Smithfield reported 350 residents and eight businesses. Nearby North Richland Hills annexed Smithfield in 1958. The Smithfield name survives in several local institutions, including a middle school, and on historical markers at the Smithfield cemetery, Masonic lodge, and two churches."

1861 - 1865
LEST WE FORGET
Dedication to the Memory
of those Confederate Veterans
that Served the South with
Honor Courage and Valor

Eli Smith
Texas Historical Commission

(Mar. 11, 1848 - Jan. 27, 1879)

A native of Missouri, Eli Smith moved to Texas in 1859 with his parents. They settled in this part of Tarrant County, and in 1868 Smith married Sarah J. Hightower. About 1876 Smith donated part of his farmland to the community, then known as Zion, for a Methodist Church and cemetery. Residents of the area honored Smith for his generosity and community service by renaming the settlement Smithfield. Smith remained an active Mason and a successful farmer until his sudden death shortly before his thirty-first birthday. He is buried at this site. (1984)

Eli Smith
Born Mar. 11, 1848
Died Jan. 27, 1879
Aged 30 Yrs. 10 Mos.
& 16 Dys.

Order of the Masons Symbol

Mary Idena
Dau. of
Eli & S. J. Smith
Born Oct. 8, 1872
Died July 22, 1887

Ancient Cedars of Smithfield Cemetery

Sources

Photographs:

Smithfield Cemetery, Tarrant County, Texas, Digital Photographs. 2009. Privately held by Judith Richards Shubert, Fort Worth, TX. 2009.

Websites:

Smithfield United Methodist Church - North Richland Hills, Texas, http://www.smithfieldumc.org/about.html : accessed July 31, 2009.

Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "Smithfield, Texas" http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/SS/hjs17.html (accessed July 31, 2009).

Cemeteries Photographed by Allen Wheatley, Cemeteries Index for Smithfield Cemetery, North Richland Hills, Tarrant County, http://teafor2.com/Smithfield.html : accessed July 31, 2009.

Wordless Wednesday – Cemetery Bench

2009-06-16T08:26:00.001-07:00

Brad Cemetery

just west of the entrance close to the highway

Brad Cemetery, Hwy. 180 West of Palo Pinto, Texas

Technorati Tags: Cemeteries,Texas,Cemetery Statuary

Tombstone Tuesday - James F. Fisher

2009-06-09T07:50:00.000-07:00

The community which was once known as Honey Bend now exists only as a cemetery. By the 1880s the little town was settled, taking its name from a very prominent twist in the nearby Brazos River.

At the peak of the communities' life, it boasted of little more than a school and church, but the folks there did manage to form a cemetery association in 1932 to maintain the original graveyard.

It is listed as a Ghost Town by Texas Excapes: Population 0. It is located in the North Central Texas area of Young County just a few miles south of Graham, off of FM 1287. It is about 37 miles NW of Mineral Wells.

James F. Fisher

James F. Fisher

In Memory
of
James F. Fisher

Was Born
Nov. 18th, 1877
And Died
Dec. 20th, 1882

"GO HOME Dear Friends,
And Dry Your TEARS
I Must Lay Here
Till Christ APPEARS"

Son of Joseph and Sarah Fisher

Sources

Photographs:

Fisher, James F. Tombstone. Digital Photographs. 2009. Privately held by Judith Richards Shubert, Fort Worth, TX. 2009.

Websites:

Holub, Dorman. USGWArchives.net Online Texas Genealogy, "Gooseneck Cemetery, Young County, TX." http://www.usgwarchives.net/tx/young/photos/tombstones/gooseneck.html/ : accessed June 9, 2009.

Troesser, John. TexasEscapes.com Online, "History in a Pecan Shell: Ghost Towns-Gooseneck, Texas." http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasGhostTowns/GooseneckTexas.htm/ : accessed June 9, 2009.

Caleb and Charlotte Pinkston Simmons - Tombstone Tuesday in Round Rock Cemetery

2009-06-02T05:58:00.000-07:00

S I M M O N S

Caleb Simmons
Husband of C. P. Simmons
Born Oct 21, 1808
Died Nov. 26, 1881
"Sheltered and safe from sorrow"

Charlotte Pinkston
Wife of Caleb Simmons
Born Nov. 30, 1818
Died Jan. 22, 1907
"Gone to a land of rest"

Round Rock Cemetery, Sam Bass Road,
Round Rock, Williamson County, Texas
Picture taken by Judith Richards Shubert, May 2, 2009 (c)

Major John Alexander Formwalt Honored Pioneer

2009-05-25T18:46:00.000-07:00

In the pages of our nation's history, and in Texas, in particular, there has never been a person of a more spotless character than John Alexander Formwalt. He was the second son of Jacob and Rebecca (Troup) Formwalt born in Knoxville, Tennessee on April 22, 1820. His great-grandparents were of German birth and came to America in colonial days.

When a young boy John received his primary education in the subscription schools of the time and pursued his studies there until he was twelve years old. At age eighteen he went to a private school taught by an Englishman in the mountains of Alabama.

In the year 1840, young John A. Formwalt made his first visit to Texas. He stayed in Red River County for six months and then returned to Tennessee, having made the trip on horseback. He spent some years in Pontotoc County, Mississippi, where he worked as clerk and bookkeeper for a mercantile firm, but when his abilities and reliable character came to be recognized he was elected to the office of county clerk. He remained in that position from 1847 to 1849, when he was forced to seek a change of climate because of failing health.

This was in 1849, when the California gold fever was intense; and with others he journeyed to the Pacific slope, where he engaged in mining for nearly two years. He returned to his home in Mississippi and a year later, selling out his interests there, he emigrated to East Texas. He made the trip with ox teams and reached Anderson County after traveling for three months! When there, he purchased and operated a farm for two years and then moved to Palestine in the same county, where he was appointed postmaster, serving in that capacity for three years.

He resumed farming and in 1859 purchased a section of land near Thorp Spring in Hood County close to the town of Granbury. He was a very important man in the development of Hood County and was known to take an active part in its affairs and was recognized as a "wide-awake," progressive and valued citizen.

Major Formwalt was a Democrat, though he never was a politician. He was first appointed to the office of Justice of the Peace to fill a vacancy and was subsequently elected to the same office three times. He was a Master Mason in good standing for 25 years or more, and in religious belief he was a Presbyterian. He was very generous with his contributions to educational interests; and school, church and social interests found in him a friend.

Married twice, first at Pontotoc, Mississippi, in December, 1845, to Miss Courtney Lane McEwen, daughter of Colonel D. K. McEwen, he was the father of seven children. Courtney died in 1880, and having preceded Major Formwalt in death, her grave marker has the designation "Consort"

Courtney L.
Consort of J. M. Formwalt
Born May 11, 1825
Died Dec. 20, 1880

After Courtney died, and on December 25, 1882, John married Mrs. Burdett, widow of John Burdett and daughter of Judge Jowers, of Palestine, Texas.

In Memory of Maj. J. A. Formwalt Born April 22, 1820 Died Jan 18, 1914

Both Major Formwalt and Courtney L. Formwalt's memorials are on this tall, impressive monument located in a shady, beautiful spot under an old, magnificent cedar in Granbury Cemetery in Hood County.

Major Formwalt was always a leader and after Civil War broke out, he enlisted as a private in Captain William Shannon's company to serve in the Confederate Army; but in the following spring Colonel A. Nelson, to whom this company reported, noticed the qualities of leadership that this young private possessed, and sent Formwalt to the Brazos settlement to raise a company. He soon accomplished this. Formwalt was elected its captain, and he and his men immediately reported to Colonel Nelson's Tenth Regiment of Texas Infantry. This noted regiment, upon the promotion of Colonel Nelson, was subsequently commanded by Colonel Roger Q. Mills, and Major Formwalt participated in all the many desperate battles in which his command took part.

Major Formwalt was captured January 11, 1862, at Arkansas Post, and suffered imprisonment at Columbus, Ohio, for five months, when he was exchanged. After that time his service was in the Army of the Tennessee. At the battle of Franklin, Tennessee, in the assault led by Generals Pat Cleburne and Hiram B. Granbury, Formwalt, as senior captain, led his regiment to the charge and fell, severely wounded, being one among many other heroes whose blood was shed that day. He was not mortally wounded, however, and was afterward promoted to the rank of major.

Not long after the war ended, Major Formwalt returned home, began a mercantile business in Granbury but soon returned to the farm which had been badly wasted during the years he was gone. His wife and children had faced many hardships and dangers known only to those who were within the territory so frequently invaded by the Indians. Much of his property was wasted and gone, but he resumed the labors of a civilian and soon again became prosperous.

"Though spending his later years in judicial office, the military title of Major is far more fitting to Mr. Formwalt than that of judge, for, possessing the bluntness and courage of the Scottish chief, he combines with it the grace and courtesy of the faithful Christian gentleman. Deeply imbued with sentiments of patriotic devotion to his country, had his life been spent under favoring circumstances, honor and glory might alike have attached to his name and fixed it well upon the pages of his country's history; but as the fatality of events have decreed he is now serving his neighbors in the humble office of magistrate at the age of seventy-six years, but with buoyant step and figure erect appears not to exceed sixty. It has already been fitly written:

'The march of the soldier is ending;
On the hilltops over the river
The campfire lights are ascending
To our God, the merciful giver,
Where comrades assembling in glory
At the heavenly gates are waiting;
While mortals in song and in story,
Their valorous deeds are relating.' "
1896

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sources:
Granbury Cemetery, Granbury, Hood County, Texas
Photographs taken by Judith Richards Shubert (c) 2009
History of Texas, 1896, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co.
Hood County Texas Genealogical Society

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In honor of Memorial Day, the topic for the June 2009 edition of the GYR Carnival is Veteran's Memorials. Sharing photos and/or stories related to all-things veteran's in honor of our fallen heroes.

Tombstone Tuesday - Annie Dillard

2009-05-19T10:44:00.001-07:00

"Mother"
Annie Dillard
Died Feb. 6th, 1926

Round Rock Cemetery, Sam Bass Road,
Round Rock, Williamson County, Texas
Picture taken by Judith Richards Shubert, May 2, 2009 (c)

Tom Allen Lies in Broken False Crypt in Round Rock near Austin

2009-05-12T23:02:00.000-07:00

Thomas Allen
1876 - 1915
Austin Police Dept.
Mounted Patrol
Second Officer Killed in Line of Duty

One of the first graves I encountered in the Round Rock Cemetery was that of Officer Thomas Allen, of the Austin Police Department, Mounted Patrol. His gravemarker indicates that he was the 2nd police officer killed in the line of duty. However, if the following narrative is correct, it seems that he might have had a personal score to settle.

Officer Tom Allen is listed on the Austin Police Association website as having been "Austin's only African-American police officer since the death of John Gaines" two years earlier in 1913. Gaines was shot by George Booth, a deputy constable, at 6th Street and Trinity Street on November 19 of that year.

Officer Allen was shot and killed October 24, 1915, at Jennings' Drug Store in the 400 block of East 6th Street. Officer Allen and the editor of a black newspaper in San Antonio had earlier had an argument. Officer Allen, angered by reports that he had mistreated several African-American women he had arrested, confronted the editor by the wagon yard near Red River Street. When the editor walked away, Officer Allen then followed the man to Jennings' drugstore. The editor drew a handgun from a briefcase and shot Officer Allen as he entered the drugstore, having "his own gun drawn and ready." A newspaper story at the time reported that Officer Allen was killed only thirty feet from the site where Officer John Gaines had died two years earlier.

Round Rock Cemetery was established in the early 1850s in what is now known as Old Round Rock. It is the burial place of many area pioneers and outstanding Round Rock citizens. The oldest legible gravemarker is that of 11-year-old Angeline Scott, which has a date of 1851. However, there are many, many unmarked graves that could date from long before that time.

The cemetery is spread out over 4 1/2 acres of land which sits beside the busy Sam Bass Road and is surrounded by homes and businesses. It is in fair condition but there are many markers (particularly crypts) that are cracked or broken. It is well mowed, however, and the Texas Historical Commission marker at the front entrance says that it is cared for by the Round Rock Cemetery Association.

Sources:
Austin Police Association
Round Rock Cemetery, Sam Bass Road,
Round Rock, Williamson County, Texas
Picture taken by Judith Richards Shubert, May 2, 2009 (c)

"Asleep in Jesus!" Lillian Copeland - Tombstone Tuesday in Veal Creek Cemetery

2009-04-28T11:01:00.000-07:00

Lillian Copeland
Born Mar. 10, 1898
Died May 13, 1908

"Asleep in Jesus! blessed sleep, From which none
ever wakes to weep"

This beautiful gravemarker is that of a 10-year old child. Notice the height of the familiar tree- or woodsmen of the world design. It is only one-half or one-third as tall as those placed at adults graves. Also, there is a lamb on the marker which usually was used on children's gravestones.

In 1917 The General Council Publication House in Philadelphia published Favorite Hymns by William Lee Hunton.¹ It contains "stories of the origin, authorship, and use of hymns we love." A copy of this book was stamped May 11, 1918, Andover-Harvard Theological Library, Harvard Divinity School.

The author writes that hymns concerning death and burial soothes the grieving and the message in them comforts and reaches the soul. Mr. Hunton states that many hymns of Christian experience are especially helpful for the dying, and comforting to the living who mourn. But there are hymns which seem solely to be messages of comfort for those who mourn the departure of loved ones. Among these is one which was penned by a woman, Margaret Mackay.

It is the first two lines of this hymn which adorns the child's gravestone above.

A Woman's Hymn Concerning Death

Asleep in Jesus! blessed sleep,
From which none ever wakes to weep:
A calm and undisturbed repose,
Unbroken by the last of foes.

Asleep in Jesus! o how sweet,
To be for such a slumber meet;
With holy confidence to sing
That death has lost his venomed sting.

Asleep in Jesus! peaceful rest,
Whose waking is supremely blest:
No fear, no woe, shall dim that hour
That manifests the Saviour's power.

Asleep in Jesus! oh, for me
May such a blissful refuge be!
Securely shall my ashes lie,
And wait the summons from on high.

The hymn which appeared first in "The Amethyst; or, Christian Annual," for 1832, was occasioned by the author, Mrs. Mackay, of Hedgefield, England, reading an inscription on a tombstone in a rural burying-ground in Devonshire.

Later, in writing concerning her verses, the writer says, the burying-ground referred to is that of Pennycross Chapel. It is a few miles distant from a busy seaport, and is reached by a succession of lovely green lanes. The quiet aspect of the Pennycross "God's Acre" comes soothingly over the mind, suggesting at once the thought of "Sleeping in Jesus." Certainly the thought, which is the thought of Christ and strictly biblical, is beautifully emphasized for the comforting of countless mourning ones, as well as for the staying of the souls of many as they are about to fall into that sleep which knows no earthly awakening.

Sources:

1. Hunton, William Lee, "Favorite Hymns," Google Book Search, (Online: Books.Google.com) [Original published by The General Council Publication House, 1917; Original from Harvard University], page 225-226, <http://books.google.com/books?id=6VINAAAAYAAJ> accessed April 28, 2009.

Veal Creek Cemetery, Stephens County, Texas
Photograph by Judith Richards Shubert (c) 2009

Tombstone Tuesday - Maynard H. Brewer

2009-04-14T16:07:00.000-07:00

Maynard H. Brewer
Texas
Pvt. 311 Tech Sch SQ AAF
World War II
Feb. 19, 1899 - Oct. 19, 1966

Freemason Symbol

Brad Cemetery, Palo Pinto County, Texas
Photograph by Judith Richards Shubert (c) 2009

Wordless Wednesday - Gooseneck Greek Cemetery

2009-03-25T11:05:00.000-07:00

Gooseneck Cemetery
Young County between Graham and Possum Kingdom Lake
Burials in Gooseneck Cemetery date from
shortly after the Civil War.

J. B. Whittenburg for Tombstone Tuesday

2009-03-24T21:40:00.000-07:00

J. B. Whittenburg
Born
Apr. 5, 1850
Died
Dec. 3, 1906

"Death is certain; the hour unseen."

"Thy Will be Done"
An open book and a single rose adorn the monument.

I think this is a very beautiful gravestone. The elements chosen for the monument are well done and dignified. The metal fencing was seen in several other areas of this cemetery. I wonder if it was placed there long after the death and burial. Since there is a concrete slab covering it and a small footer in place, maybe the entire plot was enclosed later.

Gooseneck Cemetery, Young County, Texas near Possum Kingdom Lake
Photographs taken by Judith Richards Shubert, 2009 (c)

Orville Durham, 1916-1974 - Tombstone Tuesday

2009-03-17T14:58:00.000-07:00

Orville Durham

Jan. 15, 1916
Dec. 4, 1974

Veales Creek Cemetery

Stephens County, Texas

Near Possum Kingdom Lake

Veales Creek Cemetery, Stephens Co., Texas,
off Hwy. 1148 between Graham and Caddo
Picture taken by Judith Richards Shubert, 2008 (c)

Gooseneck Cemetery - Tombstone Tuesday

2009-03-10T21:55:00.000-07:00

Portis Ribble
"He Loved Life and Saw Good Days"
7 - 23 - 31

Gooseneck Cemetery, Young County, Texas near Possum Kingdom Lake
Photographs taken by Judith Richards Shubert, 2009 (c)

A Touching Farewell to Mollie & Maggie Houx

2009-03-07T11:36:00.000-08:00

Farewell

In Memory of

Mollie. E.
wife of
A. Houx.
Born Apr 3. 1845.
Died Mar 31. 1880.

Maggie. E.
Dau of A. & M. E. Houx.
Born Mar 19. 1880
Died Sept 14. 1880

Alexander Houx was born in the year 1851 in Missouri. He married Mollie E. who was also born in Missouri on April 3, 1845. She died March 31, 1880, twelve days after giving birth to their daughter, Margaret E. "Maggie" Houx, on March 19. Baby Maggie lived only 5 short months before she followed her angel mother home on September 14th.

Alexander and Mollie had one other child, two-year old Omer A. Houx, born May 10, 1878 in Texas. Omer moved to Oregon as an adult but must have returned to Texas, as he is also buried in the Brad Cemetery.

Alexander and his two-year old son, Omer, were found in the 1880 U.S. Federal Census, Palo Pinto County, Texas, District 155, on page 126C. Alexander stated that he was a white, widowed 29-year old, born in Missouri in 1851 and that his father and mother were both born in Missouri, as well. Omer was shown as being born in Texas and the son of Alexander.

I could not determine what the gravestone was made of; however, it appeared as if the original marker had been broken, attached to a stone marker and then possibly broken again at the base. It is now lying on the ground. Over all, however, the memorial is a beautiful marker.

Sources:
This family was found on RootsWeb Freepages:Mark Murphy Genealogy and accessed by me March 7, 2009.
FamilySearch.org Census Search Records
Photographs taken by Judith Richards Shubert 1-22-2009 (c)

Brad Cemetery on Thomas Lindsey Land in Palo Pinto County

2009-03-06T14:22:00.000-08:00

As the Texas Historical Commission sign dated 1998 states, the Brad Cemetery began with a few graves on Thomas Lindsey land in the 1870s. A traveler through the harsh terrain of north Texas lost his young daughter near there and Mr. Lindsey allowed him to bury her on his land. Soon after that Mr. Lindsey buried his own sister near the young girl.

I'm not sure if there has been a marker placed in the cemetery to mark the resting place of these two young girls, but according to the historical marker, the first marked grave is that of Tump Mapes, an infant buried in 1877.

TUMP
Son of
J. T. & E. A.
MAPES
Born June 23, 1877
Died Oct. 2, 1877

Photographs taken by Judith Richards Shubert 2009 (c)
Brad Cemetery, Palo Pinto County, Texas

Tombstone Tuesday - March 3, 2009 - Raymond Aston

2009-03-03T11:45:00.000-08:00

On a sunny day I walked toward the northwest corner of the country cemetery near Tolar with my eyes raised toward the metal fenced family plot that proved to belong to the Astons of Hood County. As I scanned the slight rise and small clump of cedar and oak that stood between me and my goal, I was taken by surprise by the tiny metal enclosure that was fashioned into what appeared to me to be a baby’s bed. The weeds and grass filled the inside of the plot with a beautiful little gravestone that could only be that of a child.

At first I thought I wouldn’t be able to read it as I could not step into it or reach down inside it to remove some of the weeds around the stone, but after taking several digital shots with my Olympus camera I was able to read it. The weeds were not as high as those in the larger Aston family plot that was adjacent to it.

Raymond Son

Of Ada & Charlie

ASTON

Born & Died

Jul 1, 1906

A stillborn baby is recorded in the Hood County Register of Births, 1903 – 1928,
born to Charlie Aston, residence Granbury, on July 1, 1906.
The baby’s birth is listed under Certificate #1199 which was filed the next day
on July 2, 1906, as white male, single birth, stillborn.
The mother’s name is not listed.

Sources:
Hood County Genealogical Society
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Tolar, Hood County, Texas
Pictures taken by Judith Richards Shubert, 2008 (c)

Aston Births Hood County 1903-1928

2009-03-03T09:20:00.000-08:00

Wilborn ASTON

Cert. #35

17 July 1903

Sex M, S Birth, Race W, Leg * L, Alive

Father: Bob ASTON, Born TX

Mother: Florence WEEKS, Born Texas

Residence: Granbury

Date Filed: 17 Jul 1903

ASTON

Cert. #806

18 July 1905

Sex M, Single Birth, Race W, Leg L, Alive

Father: Hugh ASTON

Mother: Fannie

Residence: Granbury

Date Filed: 2 Aug 1905

ASTON

Cert. #1199

01 Jul 1906

Sex M, Single Birth, Race W, Leg. L, Stillborn

Father: Charlie ASTON

Residence: Granbury

Date Filed: 02 Jul 1906

ASTON, C. R.

Cert. #274

08 Jun 1911

Sex M, Single Birth, Race W, Leg L., Alive

Father: E. C. ASTON (a farmer)

Mother: Ada BEVELL

Residence: Granbury

Date Filed: 12 Jun 1911

ASTON, Iva 3

Cert. # -

14 Feb 1907

Sex F, Single Birth, Race W, Leg L., Alive

Father: Tom ASTON, Age 34, Born AL

Mother: Lizzie BEASLEY, Age 26, Born TX

Residence: Granbury

Date Filed: 04 Mar 1907

ASTON, Mildred Newton

Cert. #250

01 Apr 1911

Sex M, Single Birth, Race W, Leg. L, Alive

Father: Thomas ASTON, Age 38, Born AL

Mother: Lizzie BEASLEY, Age 30, Born TX

Residence: Tolar

Date Filed: 11 Apr 1911

ASTON, Nettie

Cert. #335

13 Oct 1911

Sex F, Single Birth, Race W, Leg. L, Alive

Father: Hugh ASTON

Mother: Gay BELT

Residence: Granbury

Date Filed: 16 Oct. 1911

ASTON, Oda B.

Cert. #1264

14 Aug 1906

Sex F, Single Birth, Race W, Leg. L, Alive

Father: R. C. ASTON

Mother: Florence WEEK

Residence: Tolar

Date Filed: 01 Sep 1906

ASTON, Roy Lee

Cert. #1322

29 Aug 1906

Sex M, Single Birth, Race W, Leg. L, Alive

Father: Hugh ASTON, Age 33, Born TX

Mother: Eyla Gazzie, Age 22, Born TX

Residence: HC

Date Filed: 02 Oct. 1906

ASTON, Travis Hayden

Cert. #94

24 Jul 1918

Sex M, Single Birth, Race W, Leg. L, Alive

Father: Bernie ASTON, Age 22, Born TX

Mother: Myrtle NASH, Age 18, Born TX

Date Filed: 25 Jul 1918

*The LEG heading I assume to mean legitimate, as there are some that are filed “N” and the parents either have different last names or the father is not listed.

Sources:

Hood County Genealogical Society

Louisa J. Eddleman and David Eddleman

2009-02-28T14:39:00.000-08:00

Louisa J. Scarborough has a small, almost child-like face in the photograph that Debbie Blanton posted a few days ago at Blanton Family Roots and Branches. I was so pleased to see the picture because Debbie and I had discussed her several days before that. Debbie told me where she was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, and since I've been going there recently to take pictures and research some of the family names found in that old Hood County Cemetery, I went again to take another picture of her and her husband, David Eddleman's gravestones. David's gravestone appears in my post, Hood County Texas CSA Veterans and I wasn't pleased with my efforts the first time I photographed it.

David Eddleman

Co. C
10 TEX INF
C S A

In an effort to read Louisa's stone, I played with the settings in my photograph editing program.

L. J. wife of
D. H. Eddleman

Dec. 6, 1840

Aug. 11, 1911

(I still could not read the epitaph.)

I'm not sure I made much of a difference in being able to read the engraving, but Louisa's is a beautiful monument with a closed book on the top. It has the open gates symbol with "Come Ye Blessed" on the front as well.

Blanton Family Roots and Branches
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Tolar, Hood County, Texas
Photographs made by Judith Richards Shubert February 2009 (c)

A Second Look at the Unknown Child of Tuesday

2009-02-27T11:26:00.000-08:00

In my post of Tombstone Tuesday - February 10 I wrote a little bit about the grave of an unknown child. Day before yesterday I made another trip to the Mount Pleasant Cemetery near Tolar in Hood County and looked closer at that little plot that is surrounded by a rock fence which is only about 8 or 10 inches high.

I took the time to clear away some of the weeds that hid the bottom of the headstone and took more pictures. When I downloaded them and enlarged the photos I was able to identify the child.

Above is the photo in the original post that I took first and below are the new pictures taken on Wednesday. Now I know the identity of this beloved child.

Bula A.
Dau. of
J. F. & L. B. Stevens
Born Oct. 27, 1897
Died Dec. 13, 1897

Even though the initials of the parents are a little hard to read, there is a J. F. Stevens listed in the 1896-1903 Hood County Assessor's Abstract, page 498 and on the Commissioners' Court Road Orders, page 127.

J. F. Stevens does not appear in the 1900 Hood County census, however. Maybe the family decided to move from the area after the death of their 2-month old baby. If you have information on this family, I would love to hear from you.

Photographs taken by Judith Richards Shubert 2009 (c)

Kreative Blogger Award for "Texas Ties"

2009-02-22T08:25:00.000-08:00

My dear friend, Janice Tracy who writes Mississippi Memories has just given my blog, Cemeteries with Texas Ties, the wonderful Kreativ Blogger Award. I appreciate it so much. Janice is also the author of Everything Blues and Cemeteries of Dancing Rabbit Creek. She is a prolific writer and dedicated researcher, and like the other Geneabloggers I've met, loves genealogy. Please visit her and take the time to read her very interesting posts.

This afternoon I also received the nicest compliment. Andrea Christman, author of Family Tales has also awarded my Texas Ties blog with the Kreativ Blogger Award! A fellow Texan who has been living away from her home state but enjoys keeping up with Texas and Texans, she blogs about her genealogy searches and sometimes posts a thing or two not related to genealogy. You'll also want to visit Andrea's blog and get to know her.

My other blogs, Genealogy Traces, Cemeteries of the Covered Bridges, Tennessee Memories, and Food Gratitude have all received this neat award. Thanks to all of you have been reading my blogs.

Tombstone Tuesday - February 17, 2009 - The Unique

2009-02-17T21:51:00.000-08:00

Henry Taylor Webber

10 - 17 - 1952
02-15-2005

This photograph is a back view of the memorial. It appears to be cut from concrete and painted this bronze color. You can see the grey color of concrete under the peeling paint. Can anyone identify the symbol placed before the date of birth and the symbol that is attached to the base concrete on the left side (1st picture)? I haven't yet learned the meaning of this grave marker so if you have an idea as to what it represents, I'd love to hear your comments.

Veales Creek Cemetery

Stephens County, Texas

You can see this unique memorial to Mr. Webber in the distance in this last picture. Then looking further into the distance you see the road leading up to State Highway 1148 that takes you to Graham or to Caddo.

Photographs taken by Judith Richards Shubert,
Veales Creek Cemetery,
December 2008 Copyright

Tombstone Tuesday - February 10, 2009 - Unknown Child

2009-02-10T21:25:00.000-08:00

This tiny grave with its unreadable stone is located in the older part of the Mount Pleasant Cemetery near Tolar in Hood County, Texas. The baby or child was obviously loved and the grave meant to be protected against erosion and some animals, if not all. The enclosure was built from large native rock indigenous to the area in this part of north Texas.

Picture taken by Judith Richards Shubert, December 2008

John S. & Elizabeth Aston and their Son, T. H. "Hugh" Aston

2009-02-04T12:59:00.000-08:00

In 1900 Elizabeth Aston was a widow and living with her 27-year-old son, Hugh, in the west part of Hood County near Granbury, Texas. There was also a 50-year-old gentleman living there, listed on the census as a boarder. His name was William H. Pennington.

__ __ / Memory of
__ Bettie
Wife of J. S. Aston
Born __ 1829
Died __ 1902

I couldn't read all of this gravestone, but I was able to discern that it was Elizabeth Aston, wife of John S. Aston. She rests beside her husband and Andy C. Aston.

1900 Hood Co. Texas U. S. Census
Page 222A, Sheet 13, Precinct No: west part of 1, Enumerated 16th June 1900 by J. W. Duvall

House 227 Line #8 Aston, Elizabeth
Head of Household
White Female
Born September 1829
70-year-old Widow
Number of Children: 7
Number of Children Living: 5
Birthplace: Mississippi
Father's Birthplace: Georgia
Mother's Birthplace: Unknown
Occupation: Farmer
Months Unemployed: 0
Can read, write, and speak English.
Owns home/Farm

Line #9 Aston, Hugh
Son of Head of Household
White Male
Born February 1873
27-year-old, Single
Birthplace: Texas
Father's Birthplace: Unknown
Mother's Birthplace: Mississippi
Occupation: Farmer
Month's Unemployed: 0
Can read, write, and speak English
Rents home/Farm

T. H. Aston

Born Feb. 27, 1873
Died Sept. 2, 1938
"Asleep in Jesus"
Woodmen of the World Tree Monument

Line #10 Pennington, Wm. H.
Boarder
White male
Born February 1850
50-year-old, Single
Birthplace: Texas
Father's Birthplace: North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace: South Carolina

Occupation: Farmer
Months Unemployed: 0
Can read, write, and speak English
Rents home/Farm

John S. Aston
Born June 15, 18_5
Died Sep. 30, 18_4
"He shall rise again in the resurrection at (of) the last day."

Sources:
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Tolar, Hood County, Texas
1900 Hood Co. Texas U. S. Census
Hood County Genealogical Society

All photographs taken by Judith Richards Shubert, 2008
Mount Pleasant Cemetery

Family of Minerva C. Aston

2009-02-04T07:17:00.000-08:00

In a large fenced-in family plot located on the north edge of Mount Pleasant Cemetery there stands three large gravemarkers with the name Aston. The plot shows some wear and the weeds are high but it was winter when I found them and I imagine the spring and summer months will bring caretakers to the cemetery to care for these beloved members of the Aston family.

Minerva, husband R. Y. Aston, and 19-year-old son, Jerome, are buried there. The 1900 U. S. Census shows a widowed Minerva with an 11-year-old Jerome and her other children. I have transcribed that census as it is enumerated on the original census.

1900 Hood Co. Texas U. S. Census
Page 222A, Sheet 13, Precinct No: west part of 1, Enumerated 16th June 1900 by J. W. Duvall

House 226
Line #1
Aston, Manervia
Head of Household
White Female
Born June 1867
32 year-old widow
4 children
4 children living
Birthplace: Texas
Father's Birthplace: North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace: Mississippi
Occupation: Farmer
Can read, write, and speak English
Rents her home/farm

Minerva C. Aston

wife of R. Y. Aston
Born June 5, 1867
Died Aug. 1, 1904
"Sweet be thy peace,
Thy sufferings are o'er."

R. Y. Aston
Born Dec. 1, 1859
Died Feb. 16, 1898

Line #2
Aston, Gerome
Son of Head of Household
White Male
Born October 1888
11-year-old
Birthplace: Texas
Father's Birthplace: Texas
Mother's Birthplace: Texas
Farm Laborer
Months Unemployed: 5
Months in School: 5
Can read, write, and speak English

"Hope"

Jerome Aston
Born Oct. 5, 1888
Died Oct. 5, 1907
(Jerome died on his 19th birthday.)

Line #3
Aston, Madie
Daughter of Head of Household
White Female
Born September 1890
9-year-old
Months in School: 5
Birthplace: Texas
Father's Birthplace: Texas
Mother's Birthplace: Texas

Line #4
Aston, Andy
Son of Head of Household
White Male
Born June 1895
4-year-old
Birthplace: Texas
Father's Birthplace: Texas
Mother's Birthplace: Texas

Line #5
Aston, Robert
Son of Head of Household
White Male
Born February 1898
2-year-old
Birthplace: Texas
Father's Birthplace: Texas
Mother's Birthplace: Texas

Line #6
Gifford, Mary A.
Sister of Head of Household
White Female
Born August 1857
47-year-old, Single
Birthplace: Arkansas
Father's Birthplace: North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace: Texas
Can read, write, and speak English

Line #7
Aston, Marry
Boarder in House 226
White Male
Born October 1875
24-year-old, Single
Birthplace: Alabama
Father's Birthplace: Alabama
Mother's Birthplace: Alabama

Hood County Marriages, Book C, Page 171, by (41) *
Aston, R. Y. to Gifford, M. C., 5 January 1888

*Indicates Clergy or Officiating Officer's number.

Sources:
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Tolar, Hood County, Texas
1900 Hood Co. Texas U. S. Census
Hood County Marriages
Hood County Genealogical Society

All photographs taken by Judith Richards Shubert, 2008
Mount Pleasant Cemetery

Andy C. Aston Family in Granbury Town

2009-02-03T08:48:00.000-08:00

In my previous post about Andy Aston I shared his wife's name, Dollie L. Ficklin. By the time the Hood County Texas Census was taken in 1900 they had one child, Herman J. Aston, born in 1897.

1900 Hood Co. U. S. Census - Enumeration District 92
Enumerated the 8th Day of June 1900 by Frank Gaston

Sheet #9B, Page 248B, Precinct No. 1, Granbury Town
HS #163
Line #59, ASTON, Andrew
Head of Household
White
Married
Born Oct. 1857
Age 42
4 yrs married
Andy Born Texas
Father born Georgia
Mother born Missouri
Occupation: Saloon Owner

Line #60
ASTON, Dollie L.
Wife
White
Married
Born Nov. 1875
Age 24
4 yrs married
1 Child
Dollie Born Texas
Father born Unknown
Mother born Texas

Line #61
ASTON, Herman J.
Son
White
Single
Born Jan. 1897
Age 3
Born Texas
Father born Texas
Mother born Texas

Hood County Marriages, Book D, Page 200, by (40) *
Aston, A. C. to Ficklin, Dollie L., 30 Jan. 1896
Hood County Marriages, Book B, Page 289, by (13) *
Aston, Andy C. to Parker, I. D., 15 Feb. 1883

I wonder if I. D. Parker was Andy Aston's first wife and what happened to their marriage? Death or Divorce? So far, I have not found another Andy C. or A. C. Aston the correct age for this to be another individual. Andy is found in the 1880 census in household with brothers. The 1890 census was largely destroyed by fire and is not available. I will need to investigate further.

* Indicates Clergy or Officiating Officer

Andy C. Aston of Granbury, Texas

2009-01-26T14:17:00.000-08:00

Andy C. Aston’s gravestone is found with others just outside of a fenced plot that contains the graves of three of his family members. The Astons are in an area where there are older markers, some dated, some not.

It was winter when I visited the country cemetery, so the grass was brown and the fields bare. Mount Pleasant is in Hood County near the town of Granbury where they played such a prominent role in the life of the town.

I don’t know if there are Aston descendants still in the area, but there are believers that Andy’s wife, Dollie Ficklin, still visits their home on Bridge Street, even though she is reported to have died in 1961.

The Aston family plot and surrounding fence have fallen into disrepair and the weeds are high and the buffalo grass is thick.

When thirty-nine year-old Andy Aston asked young Dollie Ficklin to marry him she was twenty-one. He promised that if she would say yes to his proposal, he would build her one of the finest homes to be found. She agreed. Their marriage is recorded in Book D/page 200 of Hood County Marriages as having taken place on the 30^th of January in 1896. The famed Aston House still stands at 221 E. Bridge Street in Granbury, Texas. It has been designated an historical landmark by the Texas Historical Commission. Andy had the gifted designer and builder, E. J. Holderness erect the ornate Queen Ann style house in 1905.

Andy Aston and his partner, George Landers, owned and operated a saloon at 113 Bridge Street close to the square. They had it erected in 1893.of native stone with a patented iron front. There is an account of a 1901 duel taking place there that badly injured a non-participating horseman on the square. In 1892 both Aston and Landers were having financial difficulties and maybe that is why they started the business of operating a very lucrative business of the day ~ a saloon.

Carrie Nation visited Granbury in 1905, and in 1906 the local voters approved prohibition. Ms. Nation’s efforts in outlawing liquor succeeded. Aston and Landers “sold every drop of liquor in the saloon; taking in over $100 the night before prohibition took effect.” Aston later had the building converted into a harness and buggy shop.

Andy C. Aston

Oct. 8, 1857 – Aug. 19, 1917

ASTON

“The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.”

Sources:
Hood County Texas Genealogical Society
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Tolar, Hood County, Texas

All photographs were taken by me, Judith Richards Shubert
2008 Mount Pleasant Cemetery

Announcement of a New Cemetery Blog

2009-01-25T00:35:00.000-08:00

Effective today, posts previously published on The Graveyard Rabbit of the Covered Bridges can be read here on my new blog, Cemeteries with Texas Ties.

At Cemeteries with Texas Ties I will depict small country cemeteries in North Texas with occasional posts about larger, city cemeteries found wherever my travels take me in my home state of Texas.

My focus will be photographs of these cemeteries and the area surrounding them, pictures of unusual gravestones and the not-so-unusual, and the information transcribed on them. I will also write an occasional story about some of the individuals buried there.

If you have an ancestor buried in one of these old cemeteries, I would be more than happy to publish your photos and information about that individual, citing you as the source, in the hopes that you may connect with a distant relative. Your comments and suggestions will always be welcome.

My blog about my family lines of Shubert and Richards and their extended lines can still be found at Genealogy Traces.

Please join me here in the Cemeteries with Texas Ties.

Tombstone Tuesday - January 20, 2009

2009-01-20T16:54:00.000-08:00

C. H. TRICE, SR.

Sept. 12, 1835
Aug. 12, 1921

TRICE

Order of Freemasons Symbol

West End Cemetery
Lingleville, Erath County, Texas

Tombstone Tuesday - January 6, 2009

2009-01-06T20:53:00.000-08:00

Dorthy Spencer Emery

"At Rest"
Located in the Ramsey Historical Cemetery
Erath County, Texas

I looked for another marker near her but could find none.

General H. B. Granbury & Southern Cross of Honor

2009-01-04T09:06:00.000-08:00

Granbury is one of the loveliest small towns in the state of Texas. It has a long history dating back to 1866 with many residents of importance. The large Granbury Cemetery is located north of the main courthouse square on Moore Street and Hwy. 51 North. In 2001 the Texas Historical Commission erected an historical marker that reads in part:

“Granbury Cemetery. Part of an original school land survey, this parcel was already known as ‘the cemetery lot’ when deeded to the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in 1855 for use as a public burial ground.”

The thought crossed my mind that maybe it, too, has spirits attending the graves. As I wrote in my post about Ghosts in Lower School Hill Cemetery, if Dave Julian of “The Shadowlands” is to be believed, that “former school sites may have a buildup of psychic energies of emotional events having previously transpired there” and “is an open invitation to spirits”, then it seems to me the Granbury Cemetery would fit in that category nicely.

Some gravemarkers pre-date the 1866 founding of the city, the earliest being the one for John Edwards (1790-1853). At one time the Methodist Church was located on the courthouse square and graves from their churchyard were moved to the new location; it is, therefore, “difficult to know whether some burials were original to the site or were reinterments.”

In 1873, a high school was built on the property which fourteen years later became Granbury College. After the college closed, the church deeded the school land to the city in 1915 and College Hill was allowed full usage as a cemetery.

Today you can still see the Granbury Courthouse in the distance and part of Lake Granbury around which the town is built. The lichgate opens to Moore Street and looks out toward the courthouse.

Many veterans of our wars have their final resting place in Granbury Cemetery. A veteran of the War of 1812, John Bennett Dickson, is at rest here, as well as veterans from the U. S.-Mexico War, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

A Mississippian, Hiram B. Granbury, came to Texas in the early 1850s. He practiced law in the town of Waco, some 95 miles southeast of Granbury, and joined the Confederacy in 1861. He is noted for his command of the combined forces which made up Granbury’s Texas Brigade. He was one of six Confederate Generals killed at Franklin, Tennessee.

With a Southern Cross of Honor placed between the gravemarkers, his wife, Fannie Sims Granbury, is memorialized beside her husband in this cemetery that bears his name. The city’s namesake, Hiram B. Granbury (1831 – 1864) was reinterred here in 1893.

Southern Cross of Honor Symbol

BRIG GEN

HIRAM B GRANBURY

GRANBURY’S TX BRIGADE

CSA

Mar. 1, 1831

Nov. 30, 1864

KIA

Franklin, Tennessee

Wife of

HIRAM B. GRANBURY

FANNIE SIMS GRANBURY

Born 1833

Died Mar.20, 1863

Married 1858

Waco, TX

Buried in an Unmarked Grave

Magnolia Cemetery

Mobile, AL

Thanks to

Rebecca Drake, Historian

Mary E. Johnson, Researcher

Jane Embrose, Family Descendant

This Memorial Stone

Placed by the Hood County

Historical Society

2003

A two-sided, cast iron replica of the medal awarded by the Confederate States of America for loyal and honorable service to the South, it stands atop a metal rod placed into the ground at the veteran’s grave. “It is sometimes referred to as the “Iron Cross of Honor” or “SCV Iron Cross”. It is typically placed on Confederate graves by local chapters of the Sons of Confederate Veterans or by family members or interested parties related to the Confederate Veteran. The iron cross version of the SCH is available for purchase through several SCV chapters as well as several private foundries throughout the United States. The grave of any Confederate Veteran who served honorably is eligible for placement of this symbol.”

Other photos from Granbury Cemetery are below.

As I looked southeast toward the courthouse General Granbury and his wife's graves are in the second curbed plot in this picture.

Sources:

The Texas Historical Commission

Terry Thornton, The Graveyard Rabbit of the Hill Country

Stephanie Lincecum of Southern Graves

"Ghosts in the Graveyard, Texas Cemetery Tales," 2002, Olyve Hallmark Abbott, Accessed 2008, North Richland Hills Public Library.

Granbury Cemetery, Moore Street and Hwy 51, North, Granbury, Texas

Granbury Cemetery, Granbury, Texas

The Proximidade Award

2009-01-03T19:45:00.000-08:00

I received a nice surprise today when Kathryn Doyle of California Genealogical Society and Library and Cheryle Hoover Davis of Surnames and Hernames - A Genealogy Blog awarded my blogs, Genealogy Traces and The Graveyard Rabbit of the Covered Bridges, the Proximidade Award. Thanks so much, Kathryn and Cheryle! I'm honored.

The blogs who receive the Proximidade Award invest and believe in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers, who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

Here are eight blogs I've begun following and on whom I wish to bestow this award:
Bluebonnet Country Genealogy by Ruth Stephens
Gramma's House by Becky Jamison
Obituaries and the Stories They don't Tell by Linda Stienstra
Before My Time by TK Sand
Creative Gene by Jasia Smasha
Spence-Lowry Family History by A. Spence
I Dream of Genea(logy) by Amir Dekel
Amy's Genealogy, etc. Blog by Amy Johnson Crow
Gtownma's Genealogy by Tina Sansone

I'm leaving a note on each of their latest posts. If you haven't discovered these fantastic folks, now's your chance!

Ghosts in School Hill Cemetery?

2008-12-31T11:04:00.000-08:00

I love ghost stories!

I spent one afternoon before Christmas in the North Richland Hills Library looking for books on Texas Cemeteries, burial customs and traditions. During my search through the digital repository I noticed a title that intrigued me, “Ghosts in the Graveyard, Texas Cemetery Tales.” I decided to check it out with my other selections of cemetery research guides and books on Texas graveyards.

Olyve Hallmark Abbott has written a delightful book filled with ghosts from at least twenty graveyards in North Texas and many more from other sections of our state.

You may have read some of my accounts of my childhood memories in and around the community of Lingleville in Erath County and the cemeteries there. I was so excited to find listed in Ms. Abbott’s section on North Texas graveyards one that is only ten miles northwest of my home in Lingleville.

Her story, “Skip-a-Rope” is an account of apparitions and laughter – the sound of children that are said to have been students in the old school that once stood there. The story is told that the graveyard overlapped the old foundation of the school. Some of the Lingleville residents who went to school there were also buried in this small graveyard called School Hill Cemetery or Upper School Hill Cemetery.

“According to Dave Julian of ‘The Shadowlands’, the theory is that former school sites may have a buildup of psychic energies of emotional events having previously transpired there. This is an open invitation to spirits.”

I decided to go with my sister and sister-in-law to find this little graveyard and take pictures and record any information on tombstones found there. Being stubborn females, we refused to allow my brother to call his friend, Mike, for directions. So we bundled up since it was a bitterly cold day and drove to the area where we remembered School Hill to be located.

There are two School Hill Cemeteries – the Upper School Hill Cemetery and the Lower School Hill Cemetery. The ghosts that Ms. Abbott writes about are found in Upper School Hill. It is a small, unfenced cemetery and has twenty-three marked graves. In “Cemetery Inscriptions, Erath County,” Weldon Hudson in 1970 indexed seventeen marked graves and six graves marked with fieldstones without names or dates. “The earliest tombstone is dated 1884 and it appears the cemetery has not had any burials since approximately 1918.”

Since we refused to ask for directions to the Upper School Hill Cemetery, we only got pictures of the better known (to us, at least) Lower School Hill Church and Cemetery. Newspaper reports from the area records Lower School Hill Church was organized in 1929 and closed its door in the late 1950s.

The day we visited, there was no one around even though the cemetery was obviously well cared for. The abandoned church building was open to the elements with some heavy screens on the windows but open doors.

The building held old church pews that were scattered around and pieces of the ceiling were falling down.

My photo taken in 2008

In 2002 when Charlie Turnbo visited Lower School Hill he found and wrote about a podium sitting on top of some pews. He also posted a picture of that scene at Texaescapes.com. I took a picture of that same pew in 2008 and the pictures look almost identical.

There is a beautiful mural on the wall behind the pulpit where the podium once sat and it also looks virtually the same in the 2002 and 2008 photos. It was painted by Annie Lynn Leatherwood, 1952.

“When indexed in 1970 by Weldon Hudson, there were five marked graves dating back to 1905. There have been more recent burials here not included on Hudson’s index.” My sister recognized some of the names on the gravestones and I have included them here along with my transcriptions and photos of the Church.

Maybe another day I’ll ask my brother’s friend, Mike, for those directions to Upper School Hill where I might be one of the “fortunate” ones to hear the children singing and playing “Skip-a-Rope.”

Lower School Hill Cemetery is on private property.

There is not a curved lichgate but the double gate was unlocked.

You can reach it by turning northeast off Highway 8 onto 397

west of Lingleville going toward Desdemona.

The artist's signature and date can be found in the lower right hand corner.

DAVID GLENN

Apr. 17, 1828

Oct. 18, 1908

There is a closed Bible on top of marker and has the Gates of Heaven symbol inscribed on front.

In the background is a very large cedar tree that is common to this part of Texas.

I could not make out all of the inscription on this stone

but it has the same last name as the taller one just above.

At RootsWeb George and Elayne Gibbons have transcribed the above stone as reading:

Glenn, Mertie infant dau of J. W. & M. A. 3 May 1905

Some of the family names found here are Moon, Elston, Glenn, Sims, and Armstrong.

You can see more of my photographs of Lower School Hill Cemetery here on my Photostream at Flickr.

Sources:

“Ghosts in the Graveyard, Texas Cemetery Tales,” 2002, Olyve Hallmark Abbott, Accessed 2008, North Richland Hills Public Library.

Texasecapes.com, “The Churches of School Hill,” 2002, Charlie Turnbo, Salado, Texas

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pairplace2/lowerschoolhillcem.htm

Lower School Hill Cemetery, Lingleville, Erath County, Texas

Tombstone Tuesday - December 30, 2008

2008-12-30T20:45:00.000-08:00

JAMES R. BEECHER
Born
Aug. 9, 1876
Died
Oct. 30, 1906

"God calls away when
He thinks best."

West End Cemetery
Lingleville, Erath County, Texas

Photograph by Judith Richards Shubert
West End Cemetery, Lingleville, Erath Co., Texas
Copyright 2008

The West Family at Mount Pleasant Cemetery

2008-12-23T13:32:00.000-08:00

While wandering through the country cemetery of Mount Pleasant, located west of Granbury in Hood County off of Hwy. 377 near Tolar, I was struck by the fact that several family names seemed prominent among the gravestones. There were many with the names Swaim, Snider, West, Aston, and Tidwell. I wondered who owned the land and who was buried in the cemetery first.

I have not gone to the courthouse and researched land deeds but while reading the very well done and informative Hood County Texas Genealogical Society website I found answers to several of my questions.

A family named West came to Texas from Kentucky in the year 1854. A friend of Kentucky’s Davy Crockett, Robert Saunders West, settled with his young wife, Maura Pugh West, in the area called Squaw Creek. Robert’s father, Thomas West, followed his son in 1856. Thomas was born in Buckingham County, Virginia, in 1797.

The land where Mount Pleasant resides was given to the people of the community by Thomas West, the father who followed his son to Texas. Robert and Maura remained on the land they originally settled for the rest of their lives. It stayed in the West family for 90 to 100 years.

During those early years there was a lot of trouble with Comanche Indian raids. In fact, one of Robert’s sons, Owen Collin West, was captured by a raiding party when he was only 8 years old. I imagine an urgent call went out among the settlers around Squaw Creek for volunteers to find young Owen. In any event, he was rescued within a few hours. During his lifetime, Owen was known throughout the territory as an expert on Comanche lore and for his Indian stories.

In Owen’s obituary found in an October 13, 1938 Dallas, Texas, newspaper his father was identified as “Robert West, old-time Indian fighter, early Hood County settler and friend of Davy Crockett.”

When Shubert and I walked the cemetery for the second time in as many weeks we noticed some gravestones toward the back of the property that we had not seen the first time. As we got closer I was surprised to see a group of coffin-shaped false crypts. I personally had never seen anything like that in a Texas cemetery before; however, I know that they are scattered about in Texas cemeteries, but I wonder how common the coffin shape is and how many times they appear in such number for one family.

You can imagine my excitement when I discovered the family name West on the false crypts. I don’t know the reason the West family chose this form of burial, but it could have been to protect them from animals, vandals, or the elements or it could have been a tradition that they brought with them from Virginia and Kentucky.

I also wonder if the names and dates were inscribed at a later date because several of them – at least 6 – had “Child or Grandchild of Benjamin West” on the top of the crypt. Benjamin was another son of Thomas and Robert’s brother. I did not photograph gravestones for or remember if Benjamin and Owen were buried nearby. If I discover them at a later date I will update this posting.

I think you’ll find the photos as intriguing as I found the false crypts.

In the above three pictures are false crypts that may belong to other families. They were close to but not with the group of West family members, and I could not find any inscription on them.

Thomas N. West

1797 – 1870

Robert Sanders West

1818 – 1878

Maura Rebecca Pugh West

1836 – 1881

Emoline L.

Dau. of / R & M R West

Born / ? ? 1858 / Died / Mar. 1. 1864

This stone appears to rest in an area cut out for its placement (notice the niche at the bottom where it rests. Emoline’s father’s probably was made the same way, although I did not get a picture of the bottom of the small stone on his crypt.

This is top of Emoline’s (Emmaline) crypt. I believe the two spellings of the first name may indicate they were done at different times. Which came first? And which way did she spell her name?

You can see Robert A. West’s crypt on upper row in photo, second from the left.

I wonder where the smaller stone laying on top of the crypt was originally.

All of the crypts in the lower row on right in the photograph are smaller and except for the last one which is Emoline’s carry the inscription found in the next photo.

Child or Grandchild

Of Benjamin T West

I will continue to watch for these unusual crypts in the small country cemeteries I find myself in.

Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Tolar, Hood County, Texas

Sources:

Hood County Texas Genealogical Society

Dallas, Texas Newspaper October 13, 1938

Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Tolar, Hood County, Texas

Roses Abound in Texas Cemeteries

2008-12-19T06:20:00.000-08:00

In my short time as a graveyard rabbit, I have taken several photos of tombstones adorned with images of flowers. The rose appears over and over in our Texas country cemeteries. In researching this and other symbols I came across the great resource, “Texas Graveyards, a Cultural Legacy,” by Terry G. Jordan. At the time of its publication in 1982 Jordan was a professor of cultural geography at North Texas State University.

According to Jordon the rose is an ancient symbol of the Magna Mater (the great Mediterranean mother goddess). Frequently appearing on markers commemorating mothers, roses often with thorny stems attached, can be found on very early commercial stones as well as those made at the present time. “Clearly, the inspiration for this symbol came most directly from the Southern and British folk custom of planting roses in graveyards.”

Ruth dau. of / A. L. & Katie Sloan

Born Jan 22, 1897

Died Aug 12, 1900

“Our darling one hath gone before

To greet us on the blissful / shore."

West End Cemetery, Lingleville, Erath Co., Texas

Belvin R. / Son of

H. E.(?) & F. M. / POWELL

Born / Mar 25, 1899

Died / July 29, 1899

“Sleep on sweet babe

And take thy rest,

God calls away when

He thinks best.”

Ramsey Cemetery, Lingleville, Erath Co., Texas

Lela Ann

TAYLOR

Dec. 29, 1903 / Dec. 19, 1978

Ramsey Cemetery, Lingleville, Erath Co., Texas

W. G. (Buster) Tidwell

Oct. 9, 1908 - Apr. 5 1959

Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Tolar, Hood Co., Texas

HENSLEE

Ray

Aug. 28, 1913 / Mar. 19, 1990

Father

Tommy

Oct. 4, 1919 / May 26, 1993

Mother

West End Cemetery, Lingleville, Erath Co., Texas

SNIDER

Bertha “Bertie”

Oct. 4, 1894 / Dec. 20, 1907

Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Tolar, Hood Co., Texas

DeAnna Rene Noland

Oct 28, 1964 / Feb. 13, 1992

“Love Lives”

West End Cemetery, Lingleville, Erath Co., Texas

Found at the foot of a grave in
Mount Pleasant Cemetery
Tolar, Hood Co., Texas

RICHARDS

Willie Laura

June 21, 1894 / Nov. 2, 1966

John Robert

July 17, 1890 / Jan. 24, 1975

Whitt Cemetery, Parker Co., Texas

This is my father’s parents, my grandparents. They lived the last several years of their lives in Lingleville in Erath Co., Texas close to my father and step-mother.

Sources:

Texas Graveyards, Terry G. Jordan, 1982 by the University of Texas Press

Accessed from North Richland Hills Public Library, December 2008

Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Hood Co., Texas

Ramsey Historical Cemetery, Erath Co., Texas

West End Cemetery, Erath Co., Texas

Whitt Cemetery, Parker Co., Texas

Tombstone Tuesday - December 16, 2008

2008-12-16T20:37:00.000-08:00

Photograph taken by Judith Richards Shubert
Buena Vista Cemetery, Shelby County, Texas
Copyright 2001

Hood County Texas: C.S.A. Veterans & Southern Cross of Honor Symbol

2008-12-16T05:36:00.000-08:00

Recently I was able to locate gravestones of thirteen Civil War veterans buried in the Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Hood County, near Tolar, Texas. According to the Hood County Texas Genealogical Society website there are at least fifteen brave men laid to rest in this north Texas cemetery.

Terry Thornton of The Association of Graveyard Rabbits asked me to be on the lookout for the use of the Southern Cross of Honor symbol as he is interested in how various members of the United Confederate Veterans used that symbol in our Texas cemeteries. Terry's post, "Grave Marker Symbols: The Southern Cross of Honor and UCV ," gives a brief description and examples of the Southern Cross of Honor symbol often found on grave markers in the United States.

I was surprised to find so many at Mount Pleasant did not have their Civil War service memorialized with the Confederate Southern Cross. There were some, but the majority of the number I picture here had no mention of their service at all. There are at least two others listed at the Hood County Texas Genealogical Society, researched by Virginia Hale, that I have not located as yet. When and if I do, I will update this post.

BELT

William H. Belt

PVT CO C 24 TENN INF
Confederate States Army
1829 - 1904

W. H. Belt also is found on the hand carved limestone marker pictured below.

W. H. & S. H. Belt
Father and Son
Gone but not forgotten.
(If there were dates or other information on the marker, it was unreadable.)

CASEY

Aaron A. Casey
CO I
19 MISS. INF
C. S. A.

EDDLEMAN

David Eddleman
CO. C
10 TEX. INF.
(Born 03/10/1845 - Died 08/22/1918)

GIFFORD

Levi Gifford
Born Apr. 9, 1839
Died Nov. 1, 1916

Martha Gifford
Born Jan. 2, 1841
Died Nov. 25, 1916
"Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal."

There is a Freemason symbol at the top of grave marker but no indication of his Civil War service.

HARGROVE

J. H. Hargrove
July 18, 1847
Apr. 27, 1932
"At Rest"

KINSON

E. A. Kinson
Born
July 4, 1835
Died
June 7, 1922
"Gone to rest."

LEWIS

Z. Lewis
Born
Nov. 28, 1843
Died
Mar. 27, 1916
Aged 72 yrs. 4 mo., 4 days
"Remember as you pass by, that you must die as well as I."

MITCHELL

J. S. Mitchell
Jan. 20, 1833
Feb. 7, 1905

McINROE

James D. McInroe
Feb. 8, 1847
Nov. 6, 1917

PERRY

F. M. Perry
Born
Dec. 15, 1839
Died
Mar. 5, 1916

"Dearest darling, do not weep
When in the lonely grave I sleep."

SNIDER

E. H. Snider
PVT.
31 VA. INF. C. S. A.
Aug. 24, 1841 - Nov. 24, 1917

SWAIM

T. J. Swaim
Nov. 17, 1844
Nov. 25, 1922
"Gone but not forgotten."

(Freemason symbol at top of marker.)

TIDWELL

Dallas Tidwell
CO. A
GOOD'S TEX. CAV.
C. S. A.
June 13, 1845
Jan. 3, 1913

Sources:
Hood County Texas Genealogical Society
Terry Thornton's Graveyard Rabbit of the Hill Country
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Tolar, Hood County, Texas

All photographs taken by Judith Richards Shubert
of these Confederate States of America (C. S. A.) veterans
at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Tolar, Hood Co., Texas Copyright 2008

Tombstone Tuesday - December 9, 2008

2008-12-09T16:17:00.000-08:00

PVT
CHARLES M P HAMPTON

CO F
5 ALA CAV
CSA

JULY 9, 1837
NOV 9, 1909

Gravestone with a Southern Cross of Honor above Pvt. Hampton's name. Grave located in the Ramsey Historical Cemetery in Erath County, Texas, between the towns of Stephenville and Lingleville on FM 8.

Photograph taken by Judith Richards Shubert November 27, 2008
Ramsey Historical Cemetery, Erath County near Lingleville, Texas
Copyright 2008

Tradition of Scraping the Earth / Rocks Placed on Graves

2008-12-08T08:34:00.000-08:00

The traditions found in the burial customs in rural Southern cemeteries are varied. There is a crossover of ethnic and religious backgrounds found often in the same cemetery. Customs such as “scraping” the earth is still found in many Texas cemeteries, but many that I have visited have only two or three sections or graves that are treated in this manner, or none at all. Since I have become a member of the Graveyard Rabbit Association and have begun to earnestly research the practices and traditions of this area, I realize that there are many things I have overlooked in my visits to graveyards of my childhood. I had not even noticed, except perhaps in my sub-conscience, that there were a lot of graves that were cared for differently than the others.

The tradition of removing all grass from the cemetery and leaving only the bare earth is falling by the wayside in many Texas cemeteries. The tradition speaks to the respect family members have for the deceased. But whether it is the fact that now there is oftentimes one person paid to take care of the cemetery or it simply takes too much of the family’s time to keep the grass off of the grave, our cemeteries are changing.

Another custom that seems to go along with the “scraping” of graveyards is the one of adding rocks, pebbles, ornaments, glass shards, and other items to a loved one’s grave.

In the little cemetery beside my childhood home in Lingleville, Texas I found only five or six graves that were covered with rock and none that were racked or scraped. But the rocks were placed there to keep out the encroaching grass, I’m sure.

In the picture above you can see two family plots that have white rock and gravel covering the graves. A close-up is in the next picture. Notice the angel statues that are lovingly placed there.

I will now be more observant and record with my camera the graves that are cared for in this manner.

In “Texas Graveyards, A Cultural Legacy,” Terry G. Jordan states that “rarely does one encounter scraping outside the Gulf states and South Atlantic coastal plains” and that it is unknown or very rare that you find it in North Carolina and Middle Tennessee.

According to Mr. Jordan the origins of most of our traditions in Southern Folk cemeteries are too ancient to even be in our memory. But he believes archival evidence points to the West African slave coast. There were bare-earth cemeteries found there that were nearly the same as those you find here in the South. He also states that the "barren" graveyard could have spread to Texas through Moorish Spain and Mexico as the majority of traditional Mexican cemeteries are without grass.

All photographs taken by Judy Richards Shubert
at West End Cemetery, Lingleville, Erath Co., Texas Copyright 2008

Sources: Texas Graveyards, Terry G. Jordan, 1982 by the University of Texas Press
Accessed from North Richland Hills Public Library, December 2008

Digging for Family Roots

2008-12-07T05:49:00.000-08:00

I decided to republish a post that I first placed on my Genealogy Traces blog back in April. I wanted it to appear on my Graveyard Rabbit. Hope you enjoy it.

My uncle was a diligent record-keeper and he was very eager for me to help him locate the burial place of his great-grandfather. He knew he was in Texas and had the names of a few places where he thought he might have lived at the end of his life, so we started "digging" a little deeper looking for that elusive clue.

About ten years ago I started searching for a way to safely store the genealogy information that he and others in my family had been collecting over the years. I not only needed a way to store it but a way to quickly calculate relationships and print family group pages and reports. I decided to invest in Family Tree Maker. I say invest because since then I have purchased one update after another. But I feel it was money well spent. Since my first introduction to the Family Tree Maker format my list of names has doubled, tripled, even quadrupled.

My uncle had names and dates as far back as 1817 and he knew that his great-grandfather Stone was born in Missouri. He also had all of his great-grandfather's brothers and sisters' names and years of birth. So we had a great starting point. I cannot say enough about the Internet and how it has helped me in my genealogy research over the years. I was thrilled when I found this family online at the USGenWeb Project in Galena, Stone County, Missouri. Stone County was named for Great-grandfather Stone's father, William Tilford Stone.

An excerpt from "History of Stone County Missouri" published by Stone County Historical Society 1989, pages 645-647:

The William T. Stone Family

Stone County, Missouri, can look back with pride on the pioneer whose name it bears. Old records show that William T. Stone was a native of Maryland. He left that state at the age of seventeen, migrating to Virginia. Here he lived for a time, and moved to Tennessee where on 15 March 1811, he married Martha Hailey: b. 15 March 1791, Tennessee; d. 16 July 1878, Galena, Missouri; buried Galena, Missouri Cemetery. 11 children.

In 1833 the family left Tennessee and moved to Polk County (now Christian County), Missouri. Shortly after this he moved his family into a wilderness frontier, took up residence on a farm where the town of Galena now stands. He entered upon the government land, which was then located in what was known as Taney County, Missouri. Two additions to the family were born here bringing the total to eleven children. William T. Stone died on March 31, 1846, and was buried in the Galena Cemetery.

When Stone County was organized in 1851 (from a part of Taney County), it was named in his honor. Old records state that he was a man of much importance in his day, well and favorable known throughout the Southwest. He held a number of prominent offices of trust, was a successful tiller of the soil throughout his lifetime, and always supported the Democratic Party (now Republican), being of the Jacksonian type. He was the first representative from the county.

He had served under General Jackson throughout the War of 1812 and was with him at the famous Battle of New Orleans. His death at Galena brought deep regrets by all who knew him. He had been a noted Nimrod of his day, killed numerous bears and deer, and killed one bear in Galena.

My Uncle's Excitement

My uncle was so excited when I found this information. The aforementioned book gave the names of William Tilford Stone's children and my uncle's great-grandfather's name was included! He was thrilled.

I ordered the book from the Stone County Historical Society and presented it to him that summer. He read that book over and over. My uncle was a Deacon in the Church of Christ and it was very natural for him to study a subject until he could teach a group of folks everything he knew about it. He and I spent many hours that summer and several years afterwards learning about and researching his "family roots."

My uncle died a few years ago and I now am the keeper of the "History of Stone County, Missouri." I will one day give all of my research done on his side of my family to one of his grandchildren. He has eight grandchildren and several great-grandchildren. Two or three have expressed their desire to continue their beloved grandfather's interests and pursuit of the fascinating story of their ancestry.

If you have not searched for your ancestors you would be amazed at what you can learn by just "surfing" the net!

You remember that we were trying to find where my uncle's great - grandfather is buried? Well, while at the Usgenweb.com website I placed a query on the discussion board for Stone County. I was pretty excited when I got an email from a young man who claimed to be the great-grandnephew of my uncle's great-grandfather. He had a letter written by his grandmother that included all sorts of names and dates that backed up facts that we knew to be true. His grandmother's maiden name was Stone.

He wanted to meet my uncle and so we planned a visit to my uncle and aunt's on the weekend when the University of Oklahoma played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. They said they always tried to attend the game. So that year we all met one another and shared stories and pictures. They even brought a video of some of the Stones at family picnics.

From their information we learned that my uncle's great-grandfather Stone was buried in Malakoff, Henderson County, Texas. We were very excited to learn this but didn't have the name of the cemetery. One day after our meeting with these distant cousins, my husband and I drove my uncle and aunt to Malakoff to see if we could find his grave. Although we went to several cemeteries we weren't able to locate his headstone, but we spent a wonderful day that fall roaming the countryside and snooping around the cemeteries. I feel sure Great-grandpa Stone is there. One day I'll find him. I promised I would.

All photographs taken by Judy Richards Shubert
Malakoff, Henderson Co., Texas