TX Oak Grove Cemetery,Whitney,Texas

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My family went on a 4 day weekend trip to Lake Whitney for July 4th. On Saturday after a late breakfast in the nearby town of Whitney, I paid a short visit to Oak Grove Cemetery on the rural outskirts of Whitney. The little metal sign on top of the gate to the cemetery is the only signage there.

 
The cemetery is kinda small and sits on top of a small hill. Can't really see it until you get to the top of the hill. You can see a Confederate gravestone in the center of the second picture along the treeline in the back of the cemetery.

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Only 1 CS grave?
 
I had done a little research on the Cemetery before I went. According to the FindAGrave page there are 4 Confederate veterans buried there. I verified their service through a combination of fold3,Ancestry and NPS. Hard to know how many people are actually buried there. It is believed there are a number of people buried there in unmarked graves. I personally believe the treeline/brushline along the back of the cemetery may have advanced inward somewhat and some graves have been claimed by Mother Nature. I saw evidence of one such grave. Just to the right at the end of the road going into the cemetery and along that tree/brush line is this Confederate veteran. That's my truck in the upper right parked in the shade under a tree. I had a few grave marker flags with me too.

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According to FindAGrave, his wife and half of his children are believed to be buried there too in unmarked graves. His name is misspelled on his gravestone because it was misspelled in Confederate records. The records have him as "Owen, S." at NPS and fold3.

 
The Confederate gravestone you might can see in the second picture of post #3 is this soldier:

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No information on his Confederate service at FindAGrave. There are a lot of records of his Confederate service on fold3 and Ancestry. His Confederate service from May 1861-at least October 1863 was in Co. B, 8th Mississippi Infantry. A Company Muster Roll for Jan.-Feb. 1864 showed him being transferred to Co. I,46th MS Infantry. He is listed as "Pader Sessums" in 2 muster records for the 46th MS Infantry. According to a pension application return from the Adjutant General in 1918,his "Company deserted on the approach of the enemy at Meridian", he was "Absent without leave since Feb. 8,1864" and "No record of capture or parole found". The pension application was submitted by his widow. She believed and a witness said that he had been transferred to the 39th MS Infantry but the Adjutant General found no record of that and neither did I.
 
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No information on his Confederate service on FindAGrave. I confirmed his Confederate service with pension applications,a headstone application and death certificate accessed through Ancestry. He applied for a pension in April 1930 which was approved and died in August 1931. Confirmed that with his death certificate. One of the witnesses on his Application was also a Confederate pensioner. In his application,he said he enlisted in September 1864 in "Co. D, General Dee's Brigade" and "entered as cavalry but company was dismounted and transferred as infantry company" and was "discharged at the end of the war". His widow filed for a Widow's Pension and Mortuary Warrant in September 1931 which was approved in October 1931. The same 2 witnesses in his application were witnesses on her application. Apparently neither he nor her knew how to read or write and someone else filled out their applications. Both signed by making their mark. She didn't survive him very long. She died in January 1932. Their son submitted the application for his headstone in 1939 which was approved. Information found in Ancestry is sometimes suspect but it's really nice when there are multiple official documents that are cross-referenced and the information therein matches.
 
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When I scrolled through the burials on FindAGrave I found this man with some indication that he was a Confederate veteran. I confirmed that in fold3. His Confederate records are under the name Willis S. "Curbow". On April 6,1861, he enlisted for 12 months in Capt. Milton M. Boggess' Co., 1st Regiment Texas Volunteers. In May of 1862 he enlisted in Co. B, Morgan's Regt., Texas Cavalry for 3 years or the war. Lot of fold3 muster records for this soldier and was "present" on most of them and away on furlough on a couple as I recall. He,his parents and 8 siblings were from Tennessee and moved to Texas. Most of them and many of their descendants and in-laws are buried in Oak Grove Cemetery.

I used Bonnie Blue Flags for the 2 gravesites closest to the road.
 
The Confederate gravestone you might can see in the second picture of post #3 is this soldier:

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No information on his Confederate service at FindAGrave. There are a lot of records of his Confederate service on fold3 and Ancestry. His Confederate service from May 1861-at least October 1863 was in Co. B, 8th Mississippi Infantry. A Compnany Muster Roll for Jan.-Feb. 1864 showed him being transferred to Co. I,46th MS Infantry. He is listed as "Pader Sessums" in 2 muster records for the 46th MS Infantry. According to a pension application return from the Adjutant General in 1918,his "Company deserted on the approach of the enemy at Meridian", he was "Absent without leave since Feb. 8,1864" and "No record of capture or parole found". The pension application was submitted by his widow. She believed and a witness said that he had been transferred to the 39th MS Infantry but the Adjutant General found no record of that and neither did I.
He was in the same infantry as my g, g grandfather, Alfred Phillips.
 
Only 1 CS grave?
4 total but 1 would have been enough to pay a visit there. Now that I renewed my fold3 subscription, these threads/posts take me longer to do because I'm not just posting pictures. I really enjoy reading through those old muster, pension and headstone application records too.
 
There is cemetery here in Ocala we have cleaned. I need to research some of the soldiers. There are many Confederates buried there.
Evergreen Cemetery?
 
Yes it is Evergreen. One buried there is General Robert Bullock. My UDC chapter is named after him.
Just now seeing this reply. I scrolled through all the cemeteries in Ocala and found Evergreen. I'd like to visit it some day.
 
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My wife and I spent this weekend at Lake Whitney. We got there early Friday afternoon and she decided she wanted to get her nails done in Whitney. I didn't have a problem with that. Oak Grove Cemetery is about 3 miles from the nail salon. :D My first visit there was in July 2020 before I started cleaning gravestones at all the cemeteries I visit. The flag I put out at Corp. Owen's gravestone in 2020 was tattered but still there. I scrubbed his gravestone with water and a brush, rinsed it, sprayed it with Wet & Forget and put a new flag at his gravesite. According to fold3, he enlisted and Mustered-in in Fayette Co., TN on February 13, 1863 for 3 years. There were only 2 pages of records for him in fold3.

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The flag I put out at Pvt. Sessums' gravestone in 2020 was gone. I also scrubbed his gravestone with water and a brush, rinsed it, sprayed it with Wet & Forget and put a new flag at his gravesite. Found a lot of stuff for him in fold3 in 2020 and already posted it. Can't wait to go back there later this year maybe and see what his gravestone looks like then.

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The flag I put out at Pvt.  Cupp's gravestone in 2020 was also gone. I scraped his gravestone with a plastic scraper first. I then scrubbed his gravestone with water and a brush, rinsed it, sprayed it with Wet & Forget and put a new flag at his gravesite. I found nothing but a Pension Application, death certificate and Headstone Application for him in 2020. I looked again in fold3 and NPS tonight and and found nothing again. His Pension Application said he enlisted in September 1864. The stains in his gravestone were stubborn. Probably need to spray it again on my next visit.

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