CEMETERY RESTORATION
The following article was ran in
the Caldwell Paper March 25, 1998 and I have been asked to put it on this
web site so that more people can be made aware of this project. I
had the pleasure to visit the Allbright Cemetery for myself a few years ago on my first visit to Texas. It is located in a very beautiful
spot but as the article below states is in a sad state at this time.
There have been a few people who have been trying to get the area cleaned
up and the cemetery transcribed. They have been going out there
cleaning up the cemetery and putting readable markers down on the graves
of their ancestors next to the old faded and almost unreadable ones there.
Now these graves that would have become lost because of the stones wearing
down will be able to be found for a few more hundred years.
Relatives being sought to help with cemetery restoration
There is a nearly abandoned
cemetery located near the Harmony community.
The markers date
back to the 1800's but for the most part, no recent graves can be found.
The cemetery was
know as the Allbright Cemetery and is located on the right, just off County
Road 119 approximately three miles from the Harmony Baptist Church, which
is on Highway 36 south of Caldwell.
Some of the family
names on the markers we have found include Daniel, Allbright, Bird, Weston,
Sell, Sexton, Brooks, and many others.
Records from the
county courthouse relates that Sarah Denton Bird, widow of Texas Ranger
Captain John Bird, who was killed in a battle with Indians in 1839, married
William I. Allbright. Sarah and William are buried there.
Also, George M. Weston, a Confederate veteran, is buried there. The records
show there are approximately 65-70 graves in the cemetery. Marie
Schoeneman's grandparents, the Sextons, are among those buried there.
"My mother, Mrs. Thelma Fick, my sister, Ann Schoeneman; and I are interested
in trying to start a restoration project," said Marie Schoeneman.
We are searching
for other relatives or friends who would be interested in restoring the
cemetery area. Since there is currently no road access to the cemetery,
we will also be seeking a way to obtain a passage to the cemetery.
If you are interested in helping restore the Allbright Cemetery near the
Harmony Community, please contact Marie Fick Schoeneman at (409)272-8655.
Either call in the evening or leave a message.
Also, if you know
of persons who may have relatives buried in the Allbright Cemetery, please
share this information with them. Once we identify some interested
parties, we will meet to discuss specific plans.
I believe that the date of May 18, 1998 has been chosen for when they will be working at this cemetery. I don't recall the time but will contact one of the people I know is going to be there and find it out. As the article states there is no road going into the cemetery but it is a short walk through a field and there is a path. The gate where you enter from the road has been flagged. I hope that many of you show up to help and all of the graves in there can be found and recorded. I have a list of the ones that have so far been identifyed and they can be accessed by clicking on the Allbright Cemetery from the cemetery list. As more graves are identified I will be adding them to the list.
I visited many cemeteries while on my trip to Texas and was saddened by the condition of many of them. There are many that are overgrown and graves hard to find, and since sandstone was used to mark many of them you can no longer read what is written on them. Many that you can now read soon will also wear away. If you live near a cemetery where you ancestors are buried get in there and get it cleaned up. Plant flowers, and make it the pretty place it probably once was, and if there are markers that are hard to read record them now for the future seekers. Put your list together in a way that someone looking for the grave can find it easily. That way if the name fades away before they can visit the cemetery they can locate it by looking for a readable marker and counting. Find ways to read the ones that are badly faded, (chalk in the lines can sometimes help you read very faded stones). If you don't live near enough to your ancestors graves to clean their cemeteries find ones in your area that you can do. That is what I am doing. I am starting this week to record and clean up cemeterys in my area and getting them on line so that the researchers who live far away can hopefully locate their ancestors in my area. If we all get involved in this and get busy there will be someone, somewhere who will be doing the cemetery where the graves you have been searching for are located. If none of the cemeteries in your area need to be cleaned up just record them and get them submitted to the Tombstone Transcription Project, or the county coordniator for the proper county and get them on line. The URL for the Tombstone Transcription Project is http://www.rootsweb.com/~cemetery/ .
Another cemetery in Burleson county that is in the process of being cleaned up is the Old City Cemetery in Caldwell. Linda Houck has been very busy getting it cleaned up and transcribed. If you know of any others please let me know and I will post it and maybe some will see and come out and help.
Please find a cemetery and help.
Lets get all cemetery's on line.
Last Update Monday, 07-May-2018 17:57:27 CDT
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County Coordinator:
Gayle Triller
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