EARLIEST Dated Headstone in Granbury Cemetery - Granbury, TX
N 32° 27.128 W 097° 47.188
14S E 614062 N 3591202
A 2001 Texas Historical Marker at the Granbury Cemetery notes that the earliest dated headstone in the cemetery belongs to John Edwards, who was buried here in 1853.
Waymark Code: WMYAJ0
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 05/20/2018
Views: 3
Mr. Edwards is buried below a coffin-shaped faux crypt, and given its age, the inscription is difficult to read. At the head of the crypt is a ribbon that reads "John Edwards", and below it is a second ribbon that reads "Born Nov. 1, 1790". The third ribbon appears to read "On Sept 18 1853", and whatever decoration was below the three ribbons has been obscured by time and the elements. It doesn't help that the inscription faces the sky, where the sun and rain water accelerate the degradation.
The historical marker provides some background:
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 1885 for use as a public burial ground. A number of the stones here pre-date the 1866 founding of the city of Granbury, the earliest being that of John Edwards (1790-1853). Graves reportedly moved to this site from the Methodist churchyard on the courthouse square make it difficult to know whether some burials were original to the site or were reinterments. In 1873, church leaders chose this hill as the location for a high school that became Granbury College in 1887. Following its closing, trustees deeded the school land to the city in 1915, allowing for College Hill's full usage as a cemetery. At rest here is War of 1812 veteran John Bennett Dickson (1793-1876), who was wounded in the Battle of New Orleans. He is joined by other veterans from the U.S.-Mexico War, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Brigadier General Hiram B. Granbury (1831-1864), the city's namesake, was reinterred here in 1893; his surname is also recorded as Granberry. This cemetery chronicles the pioneers and generations of families who are the Granbury area's rich heritage.
FIRST - Classification Variable: Person or Group
Date of FIRST: 09/18/1853
More Information - Web URL: [Web Link]
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