22 February 2009

Cemetery Ranches

I spent a little time this weekend looking through the cemeteries in Erath County, TX for some of my ancestors on my Dad's side of the family. Many of them lived and were born in Erath County. I found a few of the Jenkins, but I have yet to find the Grahams, Swofords and possibly Woolsey's from that area.

As I was browsing through the different cemeteries on Find-A-Grave I started to notice a trend in the appearance of the cemeteries. They all reminded me of cattle ranches. Notice the entrances. Even some of them have the cattle entrances to prevent cattle from going into the cemetery. Talk about blending your cemeteries into the surrounding area. I'm sure their are many ranchers buried in these cemeteries. I guess that one way to lay them to rest in the way they lived, on the ranch. In many parts of the country you see cemeteries that look like parks, but not in TX or even OK. They die like they lived and are very practical. Now don't get me wrong, some of the big cemeteries in the big cities of TX and OK do look like parks, but the simple ones in the simple little towns sure fit. I love it really.




Allard Cemetery Contributed by Ken Jones

Corinth Cemetery Contributed by Rick Lewis

Thurber Cemetery Contributed by Connie McCarthy

Lingville East End Cemetery Contributed by Kristen Littlejohn Dunn

Bowman Cemetery Contributed by Ken Jones

Round Grove Cemetery Contributed by P J New

Russell Cemetery Contributed by Sandra Miller

O
ld Valley Grove Cemetery Contributed by Ken Jones

4 comments:

Greta Koehl said...

Oh my, you're right - and I kept wondering why cemetery pictures from my part of Texas kept reminding me of something, but I couldn't figure out what it was! Well observed!

Judith Richards Shubert said...

Hi Amy! So were you here in Texas from your home in Idaho? I was excited to see the picture of East End Cemetery in Lingleville, Erath Co., Texas. That is where my Dad and step-mother are buried. It is just on the east side of the little community where my sister still lives. I like your analogy of the ranches and the gates.

Untangled Family Roots said...

No ladies. I didn't visit Texas. I so badly want to since both my husband and I have many ancestor buried throughout TX, OK and MO. Which is why I was searching through these cemeteries. I think I was look for some of my Grandmother's (Jenkins) family. The photos came from various people who contributed to Find a Grave.com.

With the economy the way it is who can afford to travel very far from home? But I will some day.

Unknown said...

A superb set of photos.

You're right about Texas rural cemeteries. They tend to be maintained by the families using them, and I think their gates do reflect their heritage; a pertinent observation.

By law, all Texas cemeteries must have public access. It's the only state I know that has such a law, though there could be many more I simply don't know about.

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