TX Post Oak Cemetery - Freestone County, 5/15/2026

[bdtex]

I traveled solo to Lake Whitney in Hill County the weekend of 5/15/2026 - 5/17/2026. I took Friday 5/15 off from work. Post Oak Cemetery is in rural Freestone County 1-2 miles southeast of the county seat, Fairfield, TX, and not terribly far off my beaten path. Post Oak Cemetery had been on my list 6-8 months but Friday 5/15 was my first chance. The cemetery is a 2.5 hour drive from my house. Sunrise was around 6:30 am but I needed sleep the night before. I left pretty early and got there at 7:30am. It was cloudy that morning upon arrival and very pleasant.

 

[bdtex]

Post Oak Cemetery is on County Road 494 about 1.5 miles east of TX 75. I have traveled TX 75 between Centerville and Fairfield maybe 3-4 times the past few years. There are a number of cemeteries closeby that I have visited. There are currently 232 memorials on the FindAGrave page of Post Oak Cemetery. I was able to identify 4 Confederate veterans buried there. Two of the Confederate veterans have military gravestones and 2 have civilian gravestones. I left that morning with my usual veterans lists, cleaning supplies, landscaping implements, grave marker flags and Roundup. I had a good cellphone signal which was helpful quickly finding the civilian gravestones. The cemetery arch in the picture above faces north. There are vehicle gates at the east and west side of the front of the cemetery and a pedestrian gate at the center arch. The gravestones on the east side of the cemetery face west and the gravestones on the west side face east. The cemetery appeared to be mostly well maintained.

Post Oak Cemetery in Fairfield, Texas - Find a Grave Cemetery

Find 233 memorial records at the Post Oak Cemetery cemetery in Fairfield, Texas. Add a memorial, flowers or photo.

www.findagrave.com

 

[bdtex]

Pvt. William W. Riley, Co. A, 4th Alabama Volunteer Militia and Co. H, 38th Alabama Infantry. A combined total of 31 fold3 pages. He enlisted on March 18,1862 in the 4th Alabama Volunteer Militia in Wilcox County for 90 days and was "Present" on the March - May 1862 Company Muster Rolls. He was discharged on May 23, 1862 due to enlistment in Confederate service. I had a great, grandfather in the same militia regiment during the same time frame. It is quite possible that they knew each other. His 38th Alabama Infantry records are mostly POW records. He was captured at Resaca on May 15,1864 and ended up at Camp Douglas. Must have been exchanged at some point. A May 28,1865 POW Roll says he was captured at a Richmond hospital on April 3,1865 and sent to Point Lookout on May 9,1865. He took the Oath Of Allegiance and was released from Point Lookout on June 26, 1865. He's on several Hospital Rolls in Richmond. One says he was admitted for Scurvy, another for Chronic Diarrhea. In the 1880 Census, he was a married farmer with 3 kids in Freestone. He died in 1895. His wife died in 1925. His wife and 3 of their children are buried there also.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22468683/william-wesley-riley

I spotted his gravestone in the west half of the cemetery before I made it through the pedestrian gate.

 

[bdtex]

I didn't put my hands on Pvt. Riley's big civilian gravestone. I did spray the inscription area a couple of times with Wet & Forget.

 

[bdtex]

Pvt. Elbert Lindsey, Co. D, 20th Alabama Infantry and Co. A, Camp Of Instruction, Talladega, Ala. 8 combined fold3 pages. He enlisted in the 20th AL Infantry on October 12,1861 in Bibb County, AL for the war. On the Sept. 9 - Dec. 1, 1861 Company Muster Roll he was "Present. In confinement on charge of desertion. Absent without leave from the 15 to the 28 October." December 1861 CMR says " Dishonorably discharged Dec.1861 by order of Genl. Whitlow." Then there are 2 fold3 pages in Co. A, Camp Of Instruction, Talladega, Ala...an Index Card and a Receipt Roll for clothing issued on September 12,1864. I guess he was conscripted or allowed to re-enlist late in the war. In the 1880 Census, he was a married(1867) farmer with 4 kids and a stepson in Freestone County. In the 1900 and 1910 Census he was a married farmer in Freestone County. His wife died in 1913 and he died in 1917. His wife and 2 kids are buried there also. He had 2 brothers who were veterans in Alabama regiments. One brother died at Camp Chase in 1863 and is buried at Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/97510892/elbert-charles-lindsey

Using the picture of his civilian gravestone on FindAGrave, it was easy to spot at the cemetery.

 

[bdtex]

Pvt. Lindsey's large civilian gravestone got a double spray with Wet & Forget.

 

[bdtex]

Pvt. William L. Glazener, Co. I, 1st Georgia Cavalry. 10 fold3 pages. He enlisted on April 15, 1864 in Oxford, AL for 3 years or the war. The Nov/Dec 1864 Company Muster Roll says "Absent. Captured by the enemy July 21,1864."...4 months after he enlisted. A POW Roll dated July 29,1864 says he was "captured near Atlanta,Ga." He ended up at Camp Chase and took the Oath of Allegiance on June 6,1865. He was released from prison on June 11,1865. He was 18 at the time. He married in 1868. He and his wife had one child. His wife died in 1870. In the 1870 Census he was a widowed farmer with one daughter in Freestone County. The 1880 Census suggests he was remarried and divorced prior to the 1880 Census - divorced farmer with 3 kids in Freestone County. In the 1990 Census he was living with a son and daughter-in-law in Freestone County. He died in 1904. There are 11 other Glazeners buried there.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/29670886/william-lee-glazner

 

[bdtex]

Pvt. Glazener's civilian gravestone blushed like I have never seen one before after a spray with Wet & Forget.

 

[bdtex]

A Headstone Application for Pvt. Glazener was submitted by a granddaughter, Myrtle G. Bridges, on June 5, 1979.

 

[bayouace]

Another great effort honoring those who went before us. Not many Lake Whitney area cemeteries remaining, or are there?

 

[bdtex]

Another great effort honoring those who went before us. Not many Lake Whitney area cemeteries remaining, or are there?

There are still a few close to HQ at Lake Whitney, but they are big. That's the problem now. Having to venture further away from HQ to find the small ones. There are still plenty on the list to visit enroute to Lake Whitney on a Friday.

 

[lupaglupa]

I had a great, grandfather in the same militia regiment during the same time frame. It is quite possible that they knew each other.

That is so cool!

 

[bdtex]

Pvt. Nelson A. Willard, Co. C, 2nd Tennessee Cavalry. 8 fold3 pages. He enlisted on October 1,1862 in Auburn,TN for 3 years. He was "Present" on the October 1862 - August 1863 Company Muster Rolls. In the Sept. - Dec. 1863 CMRs he was "Absent. Deserted Ovt. 17 1863." His records end there. According to NPS, the regiment saw action at Murfreesboro and Chickamauga. Maybe that was enough for him. In the 1870 Census he was a farmer in Rutherford County, TN.His wife was 37 years younger than him. They were married in 1897. In the 1910 and 1920 Census, he was a married farmer with many kids in Freestone County. He filed a Pension Application in March 1914 which was approved. He died in 1927. His widow filed a Pension Application in April 1931. It was initially rejected but subsequently approved. He came from and had a large family. He had 11 siblings and 6 half-siblings. One half-brother served in the same company and regiment. His wife and one son are buried there also.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/89885020/nelson-alexander-willard

His wife has a Confederate gravestone too that has sunk some. His gravestone was a lot cleaner in the FindAGrave picture.

 

[bdtex]

Scrubbed Pvt. Willard and wife's gravestones first with a brush and water.

 

[bdtex]

Both Pvt. Willard and wife's gravestones got a double spray with Wet & Forget.

 

[bdtex]

A Headstone Application for Pvt. Willard was submitted by his son Bill Willard on Dec. 12,1938.

 

[bdtex]

Took these pictures from the bed of my truck shortly before leaving. I weedeated the curbed plots along the fence in the 3rd picture. Letting curbs get buried is a pet peeve of mine.

 

[bdtex]

The east side vehicle gate:

 

[bdtex]

There are a couple of really big trees by the east side vehicle gate. I was sitting under them in my truck taking some notes when I heard a noise. A deer had crossed the shell road in front of me and I heard the hoof steps. I saw the deer and waited for the trees to get between us and slipped out of my truck for a picture. Unfortunately, a trash pile became the backdrop. I could hear her snorting. In the second picture, she had moved past the trash pile and is just to the left of a tree on the right. I really love the wildlife encounters on my Texas country cemetery visits.

 

[lupaglupa]

I really think you should come visit. The deer in my neighborhood are so unimpressed by the humans that they walk down the middle of the street during the day. When they come in the yard to eat the plants we go out to urge them to leave and they just stare at us. You have to get within a few feet and make a lot of noise to get them to move along. They really don't fit the definition of 'wild' life anymore.