Miller Creek Cemetery - Texas

On a recent trip to Austin, Texas, I was driving out in the hill country west of Austin and ran across a couple of cemeteries. Fortunately, Texas actually has road signs pointing one towards various cemeteries (they never tell you how far down the road the cemetery is, however). So without further ado, I give you "Miller Creek Cemetery", a "Family" cemetery.



I also saw some Longhorns driving down the country road to reach the cemetery. Moooooo! (I write that since this particular Longhorn gave me a long, steady, somewhat penetrating look (I'm glad a fence was there) before moving off and bellowing Moooooooo quite loudly).



This is a picture further downstream (or upstream) of where the Longhorn was - many of the roads in this area are named for Creeks (or Cricks if you wish to give it one pronunciation that is in the dictionary - no joke, it is) that run through the area. Water is very, very important down thar.



See, told ya, family cemetery! (What one does if one's not "family" is a question for another time).



Okay, one of the more interesting finds (well, actually, the most interesting find IMHO) was this one.



They "was murdered by indians" and "only Eliza was scalped". There's actually a historical marker to commemorate this event.



And, to my surprise, another headstone to mark the Felps' life.



Someone, or something, must have felt the need to vent some frustration on this particular headstone which, I assume, was the original. I also wonder why (no offense to Thomas or Eliza) there is a historical marker there? The fact they were killed by indians (in a raid, I presume) is interesting, but to put a new headstone and historical marker on the spot?

There are also several signs around the area (4 to be exact) that I found interesting enough to take pictures of. So here they are, in no particular order.

"peaceful"



"Prayer" (as Mark Twain Says, "Nothing fails like prayer")



"Hope" (this one gave me a chuckle)



And, sigh, "Faith" (which is defined as "believing what you know ain't so" - again, thanks to M. Twain).



Okay, to round this out I'll just post the rest of the pictures I took with little to no commentary. The first two are of the cemetery in general, the rest are of specific graves/head stones.













"Woodmen of the World". Missouri, Texas, they're here, there, everywhere!



How much money to some people spend on headstones? (rhetorical question)



I wonder if the overgrown nature of this plot was planned, or if nature simply won?



And again, we find where all those plastic flowers end up (you'd think they could at least put them out of sight, out of mind).

Selmore Cemetery

[this post is being updated periodically so please be patient - assuming of course anyone actually looks at this site]

Another cemetery I spotted on the way back from an amusement park with the family unit. I woke up this morning and realized it was overcast so a good day to take pictures and for light skinned people (like moi) to be outside. I also had to run an errand on the east side of town which was a good jumping off point to find this place. So off I went.

Cemetery is about 10 miles south of Ozark, MO, and can be seen from Highway 65. It is named Selmore Cemetery and has a Baptist church next to it named "Selmore" and a Disciples of Christ Church across the street from it named...interestingly enough, "Selmore.

Military Markers

When I was at the cemetery posted below (Non-endowed) I noticed that there were several different types of markers for military veterans. Also, it seemed that, within this small data set, the types depended on what era they were from.

For example, these are typical of those I've seen from the civil war era and WWI.






This one is dated from the 1970s






And I've noticed many of these types of bronzed markers, mostly dated from the past few years (regardless of when the person served).



A quick search of the oh so wonderful internet provided an answer:

Flat bronze, flat granite, flat marble and upright marble types are available to mark the grave of a veteran or dependent in the style consistent with existing monuments at the place of burial. Niche markers also are available to mark columbaria used for the inurnment of cremated remains.

It all depends on what type of marker the family/survivor wishes (or what type the cemetery allows if it's a National Cemetery), the date of service and/or death does not matter. My original hypothesis was wrong but inquiring minds now know.

Non-Endowed Cemetery

Perhaps the most intriguing thing about this particular cemetery was a sign posted on the (locked?) fence.



Of course, the fence didn't stop me since one could simply walk around the fence and past a building and then up the hill. A closeup of the sign reveals this:



Non-endowed cemetery? Hmmm, what does that mean? I know what I think it means (or I think I know what it means) but what does it really mean?

A quick web search et voila

SENATE BILL NO. 495 : [(24)] (25) "Nonendowed care cemetery", or "nonendowed cemetery", a cemetery or a section of a cemetery for which no endowed care fund has been established in accordance with sections 214.270 to 214.410;

But why the sign? Hmmm, perhaps the answer is out there also?

Missouri Revised Statutes: Nonendowed cemetery to post signs and give notice of its character.

Only in Missouri.

Anyway, this particular plot of land is south of Nixa (again) about 10 miles (roughly, very very roughly) on the west side of the main road going from Nixa to Branson. It is just south of a baptist church and an abandoned gas station.



and another general picture of the place



The cemetery (for the most part) is on top of a hill with dates ranging from the late 1800s to the present. A bit larger than the cemetery in the last post (Perspective).

The following picture appears to be of the older part of the cemetery (though of course, several generations of some families are buried near one another in various parts of the cemetery).



I'll comment on the gravestone/site in the upper right hand corner later for now gotta go.

Okay, I'm back. The thing that struck me about this particular monument was the stone on the top.




Apparently, someone went to a great deal of expense to have a new monument prepared and installed. The rock on top appears to have been the original (Theodore Jones is etched on the face).

And another "Woodmen of the World" - they do get around




I found the next "find" rather interesting. Not a religious statement per se and perhaps that's why I found it enjoyable.




This seems to actually indicate they'll remember the person and that he/she made an impact on lives. Much more profound than any religious statement (such as "he's in heaven; at the feet of God; etc) could ever be. A picture of the grave site where the plaque was is...drum roll please...




I'm going to post the next series in order with little to no comment. These are merely pictures I've taken of the place for one reason or another - something about them struck me of interest at the time - see if you can figure out why.



















Gasp, a sense of humor??!!?? Isn't that, like, sacrilegious? Oh wait...




Hope springs eternal







Culvert near the cemetery




~Mark

Perspective

On the way to an amusment park with my family last week I saw a small cemetery on the east side of a road, so today being Sunday and me being an Atheist I decided to get up early and check it out. Fortunately, I was able to find it again. There was very little of interest at this particular cemetery but I did find couple of things. Here's one of the things:



Now perspective is everything. One might think this was an over-run cemetery, and the next picture does nothing to alleviate that impression.



But, in fact, the cemetery overall looks thus:



It is located South of Nixa, Missouri (USA) on Campbell avenue (the name of the street going through Springfield towards Nixa...I think it is Highway 160 if you're into numbers). It is about 15 miles south of Nixa (roughly, very very roughly) on the east side of the road, next to a farm field. In fact, one wonders why there is a cemetery there at all. Most of the internments appear to be recent (past 10 years) but a few date from the late 1800s (one or two - a headstone appeared to be from the civil war area so possibly two). It took about 20 minutes to make a thorough inspection.

This one was rather interesting as it appeared "Hand" inscribed. I can only imagine the work it must have taken to etch out even these faint letters and dates.



Pretty Standard eh?



But let's take a closer look.



Wifes???!!!??? Now, I have no problems with someone re-marrying, and I admire the second wife for being secure enough in her marriage to be buried near the first wife...but perhaps er...they should learn to spell correctly. But in all fairness, this may have been the style in that day and time.

Okay, now for the next one. Civil War perhaps? Inquiring minds want to know.



And last but not least, what does happen to all those "flowers"?