TX Hayman, Laurel Hill, Oakwood, Butler and Squier Cemeteries, San Jacinto County 2/27/2021

Capt. Zeph Turner Ross, Co. B, 13th VA Infantry. I definitely researched this soldier before my visit there. 78 pages of fold3 records. 33 pages of Company Muster Rolls, Regimental Returns, Inspection Reports and Prisoner Rolls. Enrolled at age 28 on 4/17/61 at Culpeper Court House. Mustered-in as 1st Corporal on May 26,1861 at Harper's Ferry. Present on CMRs and RRs through August 1864. Elected to 1st Sgt. on 10/12/61. Promoted to 1st Lt. on 2/24/63. Doesn't say when he was promoted to Captain. Captured at Winchester, VA on September 19,1864 and spent the rest of the war as a POW at Fort Delaware. Took the Oath Of Allegiance and was released on June 17,1865. 43 pages of Vouchers, Requisitions and Receipts. His daughter submitted a Headstone Application in February 1863. Great pictures on his FindAGrave memorial.



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Pvt. Andrew J. Love, Co. G, 40th Alabama Infantry. Definitely researched this soldier too. My most direct CW ancestor was in the 40th Alabama Infantry. 11 pages of fold3 records and kind of a strange read. One Index Card and 1 Company Muster Roll. The CMR is from 7/1-12/31/63 and it say he enlisted in Texas on February 4,1862 for 3 years or the war and "transferred from 2nd Texas Infy. to take effect Oct. 1 63". The rest of his records are 2 Receipt Rolls for clothing in 1864 and POW Rolls that say he was captured at Big Shanty, Georgia on 6/15/64, sent to Louisville first then to Rock Island Barracks on 6/22/64. While at Rock Island he enlisted in the US Army for frontier service on 10/31/64. He died in 1867 at age 27-28, probably 27, and never married apparently. He has 2 brothers who were CW veterans that are also buried in Oakwood Cemetery. I looked for, but could not find a Headstone Application. His gravestone was partially obscured by a big ant bed which I cleared away with a big stick of wood.



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3rd Corp. H.O. Love, Co. G, 40th Alabama Infantry. 4 pages of fold3 records. 1 Index Card. 1 Company Muster Roll from 7/1-12/31/63 that says he enlisted in Texas on 8/13/61 for 3 years or the war and "Transferred from 2nd Texas on 1st Oct. Promoted from Private 10 of Nov...." On a List, dated 5/25/65 of Men paroled at Macon, Miss. during the month of May,1865. There's an 1864 Receipt Roll for clothing too. After pouring over a lot of records in fold3, I am convinced that the description of his military service on his FindAGrave memorial is wrong. I hosed the face of his civilian stone with my D2/water mix before I left.



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Pvt. Robert Love, Co. B, 1st Texas Infantry. Andrew and Henry's older brother. 34 pages of fold3 records. Some CMRs say he enlisted on April 29, 1861, some say May 16,1861, in Livingston,TX for 1 year. The July/August 1862 CMR lists him "Absent. Wounded at Malvern Hill on July 1,1862." A casualty Report says it was a foot wound. He is absent on all CMRs and Regimental Returns through July/August 1864 as on furlough because of the Malvern Hill wound. He was discharged on a Surgeon's Certificate of Disability on 2/26/64. A Register of General Hospital No. 13, Richmond,VA dated 7/2/62 says his Post Office is in Cold Spring. I knew I had the right soldier when I saw that. I looked for but didn't find a Pension Application.


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I snapped a few more pictures and ate a snack before I rolled out. Coldspring Community Cemetery is on the other side of the fence on the down slope of Oakwood Cemetery. There are no Civil War veterans buried there that I know of.

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The last cemetery I visited in Coldspring was Butler Cemetery . It's only 2-3 minutes from Oakwood Cemetery and is at the end of Cemetery Road. It is a small, private family cemetery on private property but the landowners don't restrict access. They live close enough that they can dang sure see anything going on there though. They saw me but went on about their business.



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Pvt. Almarine H. Butler, Co. H, 5th Texas Infantry. That's the main reason I went to Butler Cemetery. 13 pages of fold3 records. He enlisted on April 17, 1863 for the war. Present on Company Muster Rolls for July-October 1863. We know what that stretch was like for Hood's Texas Brigade. Absent sick on all other CMRs for 1863. Present on all CMRs for 1864. His last record has him on a List of ANV POWs who surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9,1865. No Pension or Headstone Application in his records which was kinda disappointing.



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I scraped and hosed Pvt. Butler's gravestone with my D2/water mix after the 1st round of pictures.

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One other thing about Butler Cemetery piqued my curiosity. If you look at the Cemetery pictures on the FindAGrave page, you can see a monument in one of them that has a couple of US grave marker flags. When I went through the pages of the individual burials at the cemetery, none of the gravestones looked like that monument. So I researched the cemetery a bit and found that a Revolutionary War veteran had been buried there but was disinterred in the 1930s and reinterred at the State Cemetery in Austin. The monument to him is still in Butler Cemetery.


https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMYKX7_Lt_Robert_Rankin_Butler_Cemetery_Coldspring_TX



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I rolled out of Coldspring at about 12:30pm for the return leg home. I took the same route out as I did in and stopped at Hayman Cemetery again to get a few more pictures.

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The last stop of the day was Squier Cemetery in San Jacinto County. FindAGrave says it is in Coldspring but it's closer to Cleveland, Texas and right on the Liberty County/San Jacinto County line. I actually passed it early that morning on the run into Coldspring but it was already scheduled to be the last stop so I kept going. No historical marker there and the cemetery is nothing fancy. A lot of "Squiers" are buried there and I imagine it started out as a family cemetery and the patriarch of the family donated the land and opened it up for other burials.



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Corp. James W. Howard, Co. G, 25th Texas Cavalry. The only CW veteran in Squier Cemetery that I know of. 20 pages of fold3 records. Enlisted at age 24 on March 20,1862. Mostly present on all Company Muster Rolls and Regimental Returns through March 1865. Captured at Arkansas Post on January 11, 1863 but the records don't say where he was sent or for how long. Detailed to Ordinance Dept. in Houston in January 1865. Transferred to Invalid Corps on March 24,1865. He submitted a Pension Application in August 1899 which was rejected in October 1899. It was determined that he had "too much property".



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Pvt. Howard's gravestone after I hosed it with my Wet& Forget/water 50-50 mix.

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Pvt. Howard's gravestone is right in the middle of the picture in the background. Lotta burial spaces left at Squier Cemetery. Last picture I took. It was 1:30pm. Rolled out and headed home after that. It was a great day. Thanks for coming along. Stuff that I found while researching the soldiers at Coldspring inspired the first episode of Cemetery Sunday which was filmed today. New thread soon. :D

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Pvt. Almarine H. Butler, Co. H, 5th Texas Infantry. No Pension or Headstone Application in his records which was kinda disappointing.
Update... With my new and improved Headstone Application search tool, I found his Headstone Application. It was submitted my his son in December 1941.

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The other soldier I found there was Pvt. Robert P. Brown, Co E, 20th Texas Infantry. 17 pages of fold3 records. He enlisted on July 30,1862 for 3 years. Present on all Company Muster Rolls and Regimental Returns through December 1864 except one. The Jan.- Feb. 1864 CMR says he was absent and "Sent to Regimental Hospital at Dickerson Bayou Feb 26 1863". His last record is a Register of General Hospital, Houston, Texas which says he was admitted on February 28,1863 for bronchitis and furloughed for 30 days on March 5,1863.




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So the first time I visited Hayman Cemetery on February 27th it was an unscheduled stop and I ran out of extra flags. Took the above picture and just sprayed it afterwards with a Wet&Forget/water mix. Passed by the cemetery again last Saturday, April 3rd. I stopped to put a flag on it. Took this picture then sprayed it again before I left. It looks better than it did in February.

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