TWO COUNTY CEMETERIES ON THE MOVE
Brenda Kellow
April 21, 2013
Brenda Kellow
April 21, 2013
Collin County has many cemeteries that require attention from family and residents. Many dedicated individuals donate their time, their backbreaking work and financial help to maintain these historic burial grounds. The following concerns two such graveyards, Bear Creek and Young Cemetery.
The Bear Creek Cemetery Foundation in Nevada, a Texas Historical Cemetery, invites you to attend a reception Saturday, April 27, 2013, from 2-4 p.m. to celebrate the completion of new improvements to the cemetery.
Bear Creek Cemetery received four grants from the Collin County Historical Commission since August
2010. With the grant money, they installed an iron fence on the front with walk-through and drive-through gates on the east side of the cemetery. In 2011, after holding a marker restoration workshop for its supporters, the cemetery received two additional grants to fence the south side of the cemetery and to
level and repair 23 of the larger neglected grave markers in danger of falling. The fourth grant allowed further marker repair and restoration thanks to the help of Shawn Sutherland, David Stanfield, Joel Summers, Jeff Graham and Ed Engebretsen from Empire Masonic Lodge 586 for leveling markers and to Texas Restoration LLC for repairing markers, mostly belonging to deceased Harless and Robinson families. These two families donated the land in the 1800s for the Bear Creek Methodist Church and
Cemetery.
No cemetery restoration would be complete without the help of the Scouts. Nevada’s Boy Scout
Troop 1814 spent countless hours cleaning the majority of the cemetery. The leaders and boys contributing are: Gary Chappell Sr., Richard Caldwell, Claude Michael, Gary Chappell Jr., Walter Barr, Hayden Caldwell, James McDaniel, Holden Michael, John Underwood, and Jacob Anderson.
To date, the Foundation mapped the cemetery and photographed all of the grave markers. Future
projects include fencing the west and north sides of the cemetery, repairing more grave markers, using ground penetrating radar to locate unmarked graves, leveling the dirt where graves have collapsed and where animals have dug holes, improving the driveway, pruning trees and installing a flag pole. They also plan to publish a book about the historic cemetery and ask the public for any pictures or information on people buried there to be sent Becky Sander-Cederlof at [email protected] or call 972-463-7523.
YOUNG FAMILY CEMETERY ASSOCIATION BOOKS AND CD: The Young Family Cemetery Association
published the second editions of Joy Gough’s two printed publications and one CD titled Young Cemetery of Collin County and Old Farm Home, featuring pioneer Gladys Young. Many extra pictures are in the digital version on LightScribe CD with both the book and a slideshow in PDF format. These books
have received more than just a facelift from their first printing in the 1990s. Each includes updated information, photos of each headstone in the cemetery history and of course the ability to read and examine the photos on your computer. All proceeds benefit the Young Family Cemetery Association for the preservation and protection of the cemetery. Those wishing to support the Association by purchasing these items may call Candace Fountoulakis at 972-697-7041, [email protected] or send an inquiry to her at 1501 Iowa Drive, Plano. Be sure to include a return address
ST. AUGUSTINE PARISH REGISTER FROM 1594 DIGITIZED: Thanks to graduate students at the University of South Florida for helping Florida celebrate its 500th anniversary by digitizing over 6,000 pages of Spanish colonial parish records that include births, marriages and deaths housed in a Catholic convent. Some are from as early as 1594 and as late as the 1700s. Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon
mistakenly landed in Florida on April 2, 1513 searching for The Fountain of Youth long before Jamestown was discovered in 1607. There is no date as to when the records will go online. Read more on this at
http://news.yahoo.com/under-way-digitize-1500s-fla-records-120316543.html.
Brenda Kellow has a bachelor's degree in history, teaches, and lectures on genealogy.
Before retiring to publish her family’s histories in 2007, Brenda held certification as a Certified Genealogist and as a Certified Genealogical Instructor. Send reunion announcements, books to review, and genealogy queries to: [email protected].
The Bear Creek Cemetery Foundation in Nevada, a Texas Historical Cemetery, invites you to attend a reception Saturday, April 27, 2013, from 2-4 p.m. to celebrate the completion of new improvements to the cemetery.
Bear Creek Cemetery received four grants from the Collin County Historical Commission since August
2010. With the grant money, they installed an iron fence on the front with walk-through and drive-through gates on the east side of the cemetery. In 2011, after holding a marker restoration workshop for its supporters, the cemetery received two additional grants to fence the south side of the cemetery and to
level and repair 23 of the larger neglected grave markers in danger of falling. The fourth grant allowed further marker repair and restoration thanks to the help of Shawn Sutherland, David Stanfield, Joel Summers, Jeff Graham and Ed Engebretsen from Empire Masonic Lodge 586 for leveling markers and to Texas Restoration LLC for repairing markers, mostly belonging to deceased Harless and Robinson families. These two families donated the land in the 1800s for the Bear Creek Methodist Church and
Cemetery.
No cemetery restoration would be complete without the help of the Scouts. Nevada’s Boy Scout
Troop 1814 spent countless hours cleaning the majority of the cemetery. The leaders and boys contributing are: Gary Chappell Sr., Richard Caldwell, Claude Michael, Gary Chappell Jr., Walter Barr, Hayden Caldwell, James McDaniel, Holden Michael, John Underwood, and Jacob Anderson.
To date, the Foundation mapped the cemetery and photographed all of the grave markers. Future
projects include fencing the west and north sides of the cemetery, repairing more grave markers, using ground penetrating radar to locate unmarked graves, leveling the dirt where graves have collapsed and where animals have dug holes, improving the driveway, pruning trees and installing a flag pole. They also plan to publish a book about the historic cemetery and ask the public for any pictures or information on people buried there to be sent Becky Sander-Cederlof at [email protected] or call 972-463-7523.
YOUNG FAMILY CEMETERY ASSOCIATION BOOKS AND CD: The Young Family Cemetery Association
published the second editions of Joy Gough’s two printed publications and one CD titled Young Cemetery of Collin County and Old Farm Home, featuring pioneer Gladys Young. Many extra pictures are in the digital version on LightScribe CD with both the book and a slideshow in PDF format. These books
have received more than just a facelift from their first printing in the 1990s. Each includes updated information, photos of each headstone in the cemetery history and of course the ability to read and examine the photos on your computer. All proceeds benefit the Young Family Cemetery Association for the preservation and protection of the cemetery. Those wishing to support the Association by purchasing these items may call Candace Fountoulakis at 972-697-7041, [email protected] or send an inquiry to her at 1501 Iowa Drive, Plano. Be sure to include a return address
ST. AUGUSTINE PARISH REGISTER FROM 1594 DIGITIZED: Thanks to graduate students at the University of South Florida for helping Florida celebrate its 500th anniversary by digitizing over 6,000 pages of Spanish colonial parish records that include births, marriages and deaths housed in a Catholic convent. Some are from as early as 1594 and as late as the 1700s. Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon
mistakenly landed in Florida on April 2, 1513 searching for The Fountain of Youth long before Jamestown was discovered in 1607. There is no date as to when the records will go online. Read more on this at
http://news.yahoo.com/under-way-digitize-1500s-fla-records-120316543.html.
Brenda Kellow has a bachelor's degree in history, teaches, and lectures on genealogy.
Before retiring to publish her family’s histories in 2007, Brenda held certification as a Certified Genealogist and as a Certified Genealogical Instructor. Send reunion announcements, books to review, and genealogy queries to: [email protected].
