TX Hogan Cemetery, Limestone County, and Wilson Chapel Cemetery, Freestone County, 1/2/2021

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Cemetery Saturday, 1/2/2021 Edition

This will probably be a short thread. Covid-19 quarantine changed much of our household Christmas plans. On Saturday, 1/2/2021, I made a quick daytrip to Waco to take Christmas presents to my son and grandson and spend a few hours with them. As with most of 2020 and continuing into 2021, on any intrastate roadtrip I look for historic cemeteries to visit. On this particular trip, the planned route took me through Groesbeck in Limestone County, Texas which I have not been through in a number of years. My son is not an early riser and I knew I had time for a quick stop at a cemetery on the way there if I left early. I perused cemeteries in Groesbeck, which is also the county seat of Limestone County, on FindAGrave and found Hogan Cemetery. On the FindAGrave page, there's a picture of the cemetery historical marker that has the names of 6 Civil War veterans buried there. I wrote their names down and checked their FindAGrave memorials to see what kind of gravestone they had. All had military gravestones. 4 of them also have civilian gravestones. The cemetery is actually about 4 miles south of Groesbeck. It's on a gravel road about a mile off a 2 lane blacktop state highway. I rolled out at 6am and got to Hogan Cemetery at 8:45am. It was a pretty drive out in country I hadn't been in before. I love the places and scenery my cemetery visits take me to. As usual, I was the only one out there at that country cemetery. The weather was great, the air was clear and it was quiet. It had rained there probably a coupla days before my visit. The ground was soft which is perfect for placing grave marker flags.
 


The FindAGrave page for Hogan Cemetery has 366 individual memorials. It was the prefect size under the time constraints I had on this daytrip. I didn't have time to wander around a 500+ burials cemetery. There's plenty of additional space on the grounds. It's a well kept cemetery and I guess it could grow to 500+ burials some day.
 
It seems it is a well-kept cemetery. I know you just posted this thread so this comment may turn up as redundant. But I see it also had good records for the soldiers buried early on from the Civil War. As stated in the signage, it was all property owned by families. I was curious about the nearest church proximity, or one maybe that once stood nearby and was lost to time.
Lubliner.
 
I was curious about the nearest church proximity, or one maybe that once stood nearby and was lost to time.
There was no church out there nearby, that I saw. There may have been at one time. There was an area outside the fence that had a fair size gazebo for funeral services I reckon. The gazebo looked fairly new. It could have been the site of a small church in earlier times.
 
There was no church out there nearby, that I saw. There may have been at one time. There was an area outside the fence that had a fair size gazebo for funeral services I reckon. The gazebo looked fairly new. It could have been the site of a small church in earlier times.
So I guess the cemetery records would be kept either at the county courthouse, or the small city of Groesbeck.
Lubliner.
 
Pvt. Jacob J.E. McLelland, Co. K, 7th NC Infantry(State Troops). 23 pages of fold3 records. Enlisted at age 21 on July 11, 1861 for the war. Served as a Regimental Teamster for the entire war. Present on all Company Muster Rolls. The last record is of his appearance on a regimental Roll Of Honor. Hadn't seen one of those in fold3 yet.



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So I guess the cemetery records would be kept either at the county courthouse, or the small city of Groesbeck.
Lubliner.
Always a good question. Other possibilities are a 501c(3) Foundation that oversees the cemetery or a local historical society.
 
Pvt. E.A. Maiden, Co. C, 40th AL Infantry. Going there just to see this one would have been worth it. One of my maternal gg grandfathers was in Co. I, 40th AL Infantry. They may have known each other. 21 pages of fold3 records. Enlisted on 4/22/1862 for 3 years. Present on 5 Company Muster Rolls. A Receipt Roll for clothing in February 1864 is in his records. The rest of his records are POW records. Captured at Vicksburg on 7/4/1863 and paroled on 7/9/1863. His written parole is in the records. He signed by making his mark "X". Captured again near Atlanta on 8/3/1864 and sent to Camp Chase. Paroled at Camp Chase and sent to Point Lookout on 3/18/1865. Ima try to visit his gravesite again in May and clean his gravestone.




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The Confederate Reunion Grounds on Jack's creek [ Texas Tech Special Collections ] are only about 17 miles from Hogan Cemetery [ Google map to CRG ] . Reunions were held during the week of the full moon each August from the 1890s through the early 1920s - I bet the veterans of Hogan cemetery attended.

Here's the 32 page document of the Reunion Grounds in the National Register of Historic places : https://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/NR/pdfs/76002048/76002048.pdf
Excellent map. Thanks.
Lubliner.
 
Sgt. John E. Bates, Co. B, 10th Texas Infantry. 25 pages of fold3 records. Enlisted at age 20 on 10/23/1861 for the war. Listed as present on all Company Muster Rolls but sick in camp on a couple. Captured at Fort Hindman, Arkansas Post on 1/11/1863 and sent to Camp Douglas. Nothing in the records about date of parole/exchange. Wounded at Missionary Ridge and sent to a hospital. Returned to duty on 2/22/1864. Promoted to 2nd Corporal on 3/15/1864. Captured again on 12/17/1864. Held first in Louisville, KY and sent to Camp Chase on 1/25/1865. 6 Prisoner Rolls say he was captured at Franklin, 1 says Nashville. He is listed as a Sgt. in all the POW records but nothing in his fold3 records about the date he was promoted to Sergeant. Paroled on 5/2/1865.



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