BACK IN THE CEMETERY WHERE IT BELONGS
Brenda Kellow
July 8, 2012
Jim Cullen of the Hayes County Historical Commission (HCHC) reported that Mary Hayes tombstone had been missing off its base in Alexander Cemetery located outside Weston for many years. Cullen says a Texas State University (TSU) student’s father discovered it in December lying face up in a vacant lot adjacent to the TSU campus in San Marcos, Texas. He reported it to the local county officials. University police determined it was theirs to find the owner since it was on TSU property. They contacted HCHC and asked them to return it to where it belonged.
TSU knew about the missing stone, and determined it was from North Texas, long before HCHC became involved. University Archivist and Records Manager Kris Toma lead the research after employees at TSU’s Swinney House spotted the stone last November. Kris then reached Richard Hollis, who was instrumental in determining the stone’s original site—when it finally included Joy Gough, Historical Marker and Cemetery Chair for the Collin County Historical Commission, a.k.a. the “cemetery lady,” in the conversation.
Alexander Cemetery caretaker Carrol Alexander was especially gracious in meeting and guiding the HCHC “contingent” to the cemetery and the family plot where Mary Hayes’ stone had been stolen years ago. One hundred ten years and two months after the young girl’s burial historians replaced the stone fitting it perfectly onto its base.
Thanks to all you heroes for watching over Collin County’s cemeteries.
BOWMAN CEMETERY RESTORATION PROJECT: Bowman Cemetery in Plano is about to receive a much needed restoration effort led by The Plano Conservancy for Historic Preservation. We are trying to locate any photos of the cemetery and its markers before major vandalism took place in 1998. If you can help Candace Fountoulakis locate some of these, it might help solve some mysteries of parts put together in the wrong way or on the wrong base. Her email address is [email protected].
FOUNDING A HISTORIC VOLUNTEER CEMETERY CORPS: Collin County and Plano are fortunate to have an active Historical Society and a Historic Preservation Conservancy to help restore, locate, replace and mark the graves of our pioneers. These people could certainly use extra help in the form of a countywide Historic Volunteer Cemetery Corps that would cover even more or our many historic burial grounds. The members would be adults with time on their hands and teens bored with the long summer months with nothing to do. I got this idea from a newspaper article about the volunteer group in Coos Bay, Oregon sponsored by the Oregon Commission on Historic Cemeteries. Volunteers receive training on caring for and volunteering in their historic cemeteries. The training they receive is online and only takes about an hour to complete. This would be a worthy project for a school to consider if there is a cemetery located near them. In addition, it is a great project for schools named after one of our early settlers. If you would like to have more information on this project, the contact information is www.oregonheritage.org or contact Kuri Gill at [email protected] or call her at 503-986-0685.
EVERYTHING TEXAS: In her recent blog, Carolyn Barkley covers Texas research. She has a nice overview of where records are and a general overview of Texas history. Check it out at www.genealogyfamilyhistory.com.
ANCESTRY UP FOR SALE: I have heard rumors and received emails from readers that Ancestry.com is searching for a buyer. Since I heard this over a week ago, I have not had anything else cross my desk that implies or confirms this.
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].
TSU knew about the missing stone, and determined it was from North Texas, long before HCHC became involved. University Archivist and Records Manager Kris Toma lead the research after employees at TSU’s Swinney House spotted the stone last November. Kris then reached Richard Hollis, who was instrumental in determining the stone’s original site—when it finally included Joy Gough, Historical Marker and Cemetery Chair for the Collin County Historical Commission, a.k.a. the “cemetery lady,” in the conversation.
Alexander Cemetery caretaker Carrol Alexander was especially gracious in meeting and guiding the HCHC “contingent” to the cemetery and the family plot where Mary Hayes’ stone had been stolen years ago. One hundred ten years and two months after the young girl’s burial historians replaced the stone fitting it perfectly onto its base.
Thanks to all you heroes for watching over Collin County’s cemeteries.
BOWMAN CEMETERY RESTORATION PROJECT: Bowman Cemetery in Plano is about to receive a much needed restoration effort led by The Plano Conservancy for Historic Preservation. We are trying to locate any photos of the cemetery and its markers before major vandalism took place in 1998. If you can help Candace Fountoulakis locate some of these, it might help solve some mysteries of parts put together in the wrong way or on the wrong base. Her email address is [email protected].
FOUNDING A HISTORIC VOLUNTEER CEMETERY CORPS: Collin County and Plano are fortunate to have an active Historical Society and a Historic Preservation Conservancy to help restore, locate, replace and mark the graves of our pioneers. These people could certainly use extra help in the form of a countywide Historic Volunteer Cemetery Corps that would cover even more or our many historic burial grounds. The members would be adults with time on their hands and teens bored with the long summer months with nothing to do. I got this idea from a newspaper article about the volunteer group in Coos Bay, Oregon sponsored by the Oregon Commission on Historic Cemeteries. Volunteers receive training on caring for and volunteering in their historic cemeteries. The training they receive is online and only takes about an hour to complete. This would be a worthy project for a school to consider if there is a cemetery located near them. In addition, it is a great project for schools named after one of our early settlers. If you would like to have more information on this project, the contact information is www.oregonheritage.org or contact Kuri Gill at [email protected] or call her at 503-986-0685.
EVERYTHING TEXAS: In her recent blog, Carolyn Barkley covers Texas research. She has a nice overview of where records are and a general overview of Texas history. Check it out at www.genealogyfamilyhistory.com.
ANCESTRY UP FOR SALE: I have heard rumors and received emails from readers that Ancestry.com is searching for a buyer. Since I heard this over a week ago, I have not had anything else cross my desk that implies or confirms this.
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].