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Brushy Cemetery
A Publication of the Brushy Memorial Association
2002 Edition
SECTIONS
I.
II.
Honoring The Departed
Family Stories, Photos
III.
Bylaws
IV.
Cemetery Map
V.
VI.
Census, including Inscriptions and Notes
Friends of Brushy Listing
I. Honoring The Departed
Honoring our dead is an ancient ritual. Fifty-thousand years ago cave dwellers buried theirs in caves,
wrapped in animal skins and accompanied by their stone tools.
The royalty of various civilizations have built monuments to themselves in the form of mausoleums,
temples, gardens and pyramids.
Since ancient times various Asian cultures have cremated their dead, placed the ashes in shrines, and
paid homage to them with chants and incense. Even today, a corporate executive wearing a suit and tie
during the day, competing globally in a high-tech job, may take a high speed train home from his job in
downtown Tokyo, don ceremonial robes and pray to the ashes of his ancestors, kept in a gold-leafed
shrine.
Other cultures have practiced mummification, preserving remains with chemicals or smoke.
Other unusual burial procedures dependent upon specific climatic
or physical conditions are burial in permafrost, which preserves
the body by freezing, and burial in tannin-rich soil conditions,
which also naturally preserves the body.
Some American Indian tribes wrapped their dead in robes and
placed them high atop poles, where they were exposed to the sun,
air, and predators from the sky to hasten the decomposition of the
flesh, after which the bones were collected and preserved in a safe
place.
Island cultures in the Pacific once placed bodies in boats, covered
them with flowers, then sent them out to sea on the tide.
Since the 1880’s, Texans have been burying their fathers and sons, mothers and daughters four miles
south of Buffalo, a mile east of US 75, and a mile southeast of FM 831, beneath the cedars and oaks atop
a small hill. From horse-drawn wagons to air-conditioned hearses, the funeral processions have
brought Yarboroughs, Raines, Parkers, Hills, Neals and Davises to this quiet spot amid the deep woods
and pastures of Leon County.
In the following pages we will list the dearly departed for whom
Brushy serves as final resting place. We will also repeat here, for the
generations to come, some of the stories that are told about Brushy
and its residents. II. Family Stories
Brushy Community
– by Lois Moore –
Wade Hampton Yarborough was born May 9, 1835
in South Carolina to George Washington
Yarborough (b. 1805, South Carolina) and
Elizabeth Moore (b. 1814, South Carolina). He
had four brothers, James Wylie, Samuel Moore,
William Burns, and Robert Thompson, and two
sisters, Mary Jane and Martha Caroline.
Some time during the mid 1800’s, Wade and
William (born 1840) journeyed from South
Carolina, through Alabama and eventually to Texas. They settled in Leon County. After serving in the
Confederacy during the Civil War, they returned to Leon County and bought land in the Brushy
Community.
Wade Hampton became ill and was advised by his doctor to move to another climate, which he did.
William Burns remained and worked hard to pay off the land by himself. Later, when the property was
divided, the brother shared in it equally.
Wade was a Primitive (Hardshell) Baptist minister. He donated three acres of land from the northeast
corner of his property (the Joseph A. Ferguson Survey) to start a church and cemetery. The one-room
building which was erected for a church also served the community as a school building. Wade isn’t
buried at Brushy Cemetery but he has a Confederate marker in memory of him since he served in the
Civil War.
The oldest marker in the cemetery is that of Sarah A. (Dodson) Yerby. She was born March 4, 1828, and
died May 18, 1887. The Yerby family helped to get the church and cemetery organized.
The following letter was written in 1896 for the son and daughter-in-law of James Franklin and Sarah
A. (Dodson) Yerby.
Nancy Ruth and Franklin Monroe Yerby, Buffalo, Texas.
“This is to certify that sister Nancy Yerby is a member in full fellowship with us. At her request dismist (sic)
from us when she joined so some other church of the same faith and order. Done by order of Brushy Prairie
Church of the Regular Predstinaren (sic) Baptist faith and order. This in conference on Saturday before the
second Sunday in December, 1896.”
W. H. Yarborough, Moderator
W. C. Yarborough, C. C.
The little church did not conduct services every Sunday.
Transportation was by wagon, buggy, horseback or on foot.
Nevertheless the people were hungry to hear the gospel.
When there were services all the family went to listen. The
mother went prepared to give her child a tea-cake if it got
hungry, or a drink of water from a fruit jar if it got thirsty. A
quilt was placed on the floor for the children to sleep on. If
the preacher preached until one o’clock everyone just stayed
and enjoyed the preaching while they had the opportunity.
Esther Campbell, wife of John Wesley Campbell, born Feb. 5, 1847 and died Jan. 28, 1901, is buried in
the Brushy Cemetery. Soon after she died, Sunday Church services fell on a very cold day. Only three
members, all men, assembled for the service. They were John Wesley Campbell, William Burns and
Wade Hampton Yarborough. Wade was the preacher. They decided that according to scripture, “When
two or more are gathered together in my name,” they should have preaching service. Although John
Wesley did not have a good singing voice, he was chosen to lead the singing. As the three were laboring
to sing a hymn, a lady’s beautiful voice joined in; it sounded like that of his dead wife. One of the other
men went to the window to see if anyone could be seen. They concluded that God’s angel had come to
help with the singing and they continued with the service.
The first plan to care for the cemetery grounds was for the interested people to meet on Friday before
the first Sunday in August. They brought tools and cleaned the cemetery, had an 11:00 AM preaching
service, lunch and a business meeting.
Years later the people hired a caretaker but continued to meet for services and business meetings. They
took a free-will offering for cemetery expenses. This policy was derived from the feeling that if a
member of the association could afford to make a donation, he would.
Sometime in the 1920’s, three little girls, Willie Mae, Bernadene and Irene Davis decided to hunt some
sweetgum. As they walked through the woods , they noticed a small fire but weren’t very concerned
about it. After getting their sweetgum they started home. On the way they noticed the Brushy Church
had just caught on fire. Willie Mae ran as fast as she could to get help at the home of Delbert and Jewel
Davis. Delbert’s father was visiting and he grabbed a bucket of water and ran to the church, but the fire
was out of control. However, Mr. Davis and the girls did manage to save most of the contents of the
building.
Names of the first committeemen for the Brushy Memorial Association are not recorded. Those that
were recorded later include: George Yarborough, Will Yarborough, Oss Hill, L. Allen Neal, Auther P.
Davis, Haney Raines, Otis Carruth, Lee Kilgore James O. Hill, James Clifton Neal, Alma L. Phillips,
Donnie Raines, Irene Jones, Barney Garland, A. M. Moore, J. T. Neal, J. L. Yarborough, Adell (Neal)
Pettigrew, Eddy Parker, S. W. Davis and A. D. Davis.
Confederate Veterans buried at Brushy are: John Wesley Campbell, Daniel L. Cameron, Bryan Whitfield
Bailey, Henry French, William S. Neal and William B. Yarborough. There is a memorial marker for
Starling Hill and we hope that someday there will be one for John C. Hill.
BRUSHY MEMORIAL 1997
Left-to-right: Merril Moore, Billie Marie Moore,
Betty Jo Haley Crawford, Bessie Robinson, Linda
Robinson (Bessie's daughter-in-law), Hattie
Yarborough, Buster Yarborough, Jerri Sue
Hammett, Charles Marian Knight, Patricia
Morrow (Buster's daughter), Angela Robinson,
Lori Robinson (daughters of Linda and J. W.),
Duncan Morrow (Buster's grandson).
Taken @ Brushy Memorial by Larry Lynch
Wade & William Yarborough, More Detail
George Washington and Elizabeth moved their family to Texas between 1850 and 1860. The 1860
census shows them living in Navarro County, Texas.
Wade Hampton married Ann M. Radford on August 14, 1855. They had four children, George
Washington, William Obediah, Mary Elizabeth and Lucy Ann.
Wade served in the Civil War as a lieutenant. His two sons were born before he entered the service,
Mary and Lucy were born after his return. Ann and the two boys nearly starved during the Civil War
and she never did recover her health. Ann died April 26, 1873. After her death Wade took his children
and moved from near Oakwood to Brushy. He married again to Mary Lane (Molly) Haskins and they
had four children, James Wade, Martha Carolyn (Mattie), Mary Ellen, and Joseph Samuel.
Wade and his brother William Burns bought some land in the Brushy Community in the early 1880’s.
Wade became ill and William worked hard to pay off the land. Later they divided the land and Wade
donated the three acres to start a church and cemetery at Brushy. Wade, a Hardshell Baptist, served as
the preacher at the church. The church was close to where the picnic tables are now. It burned down
sometime in the 1920’s. Wade died around 1910-11. Although he isn’t buried at Brushy, Wade has a
Confederate marker in his memory at Brushy. The date of birth on the marker is 5/9/1862, but he was
actually born 5/9/1835.
We are all very thankful to Wade and William for our cemetery; it is one of the prettiest in Leon
County, a very quiet, peaceful spot among the cedars and oak trees where our loved ones are buried.
William Burns Yarborough
William Burns was born March 29, 1840 in South Carolina. He was the son of George Washington
Yarborough (b. 1805, South Carolina) and Elizabeth Moore (b. 1814, South Carolina). William Burns
had four brothers, James Wylie, Wade Hampton, Samuel Moore and Robert Thompson. He also had
two sisters, Mary Jane and Martha Caroline.
The Yarborough family moved from South Carolina to Georgia 1835-6. In the 1850 census they lived in
Alabama. By the time of the 1860 census they were living in Navarro County, Texas.
All five of the brothers were in the Civil War. William Burns enlisted April, 1861 at the age of 22. He
served in Company A, 13th Texas Cavalry, under Captain Harvey Yarbrough, Captain A. M. Maddux,
and Captain J. N. Black. He was elected 4 Corporal May 24, 1862. His Muster-in Roll listed his horse
valued at $150.00 and his equipment at $25.00. He served until close-of-war.
Sometime after the war William Burns married Isabell V. Moore (b. 3/29/1845, d. 12/12/1898). They
had six children; Pearl, Carrie, George Washington, Ida Jane, William Burns, and Henry Leffette. Pearl
married Joseph Rigdon Hill, Carrie married W. W. (Pomp) Martin, George Washington married Mary
Elizabeth (Betty) French, Ida Jane married Tom W. Bowers (a minister), William Burns married Celia
Rebecca Barnes, and Henry Leffette married Mary Jane Avary.
After Isabell died William Burns married again to Sally A. (Burleson) Beshears.
In 1903 William Burns applied for a Confederate Pension and received it. After his death February 5,
1913, his widow, S. A. Yarborough, received a pension until her death in 1929.
William Burns Yarborough is buried beside Isabell in Brushy Cemetery.
George Washington Yarborough
George Washington Yarborough was born August 21, 1875 in Brushy Community. His parents were
William Burns Yarborough (b. 3/29/1840, d. 2/5/1913) and Isabell Moore (b. 3/29/1845, d. 12/12/1898).
George was named after his grandfather, George Washington Yarborough, who was born in 1805.
George had two brothers, William Burns and Henry Leffette, and three sisters, Pearl, Carrie, and Ida
Jane.
George married Mary Elizabeth (Bettie) French on May 10, 1894. To this union ten children were born.
They were: Louis Guy, George Lee, William Isabelle, Carrie Ida Pearl, Ruby, Mary Kate, Woodrow
Wilson, Ona, Lenard, and infant son. Three of the little boys died in infancy. They are buried at Brushy
Cemetery.
George owned and operated a cotton gin and grist mill in the Flo Community for about thirty years. He
worked two farms most of the time and raised cattle. He loved to grow fine watermelons for his family
and friends. George also owned and operated a sawmill on Pine Branch for many years.
George died December 10, 1925 and Bettie died February 25, 1955. They are both buried at Brushy
Cemetery.
Mary Elizabeth (Bettie) was born November 5, 1874 to William French and Elizabeth (Easley) French.
Bettie had two sisters, Minnie and Veda, and she had four brothers: Tom Pink, Fred, and Earnest.
Her grandparents were Henry and Lizzie French; they are buried at Brushy Cemetery in unmarked
graves #48 and #49.
William Burns Yarborough, Jr.
William Burns Yarborough was born December 1, 1881. His parents were William Burns Yarborough
(b. 3/29/1840, d. 2/5/1913) and Isabell V. Moore (b. 3/29/1845, d. 12/12/1898). He had two brothers:
George Washington and Henry Leffette, and three sisters: Pearl, Carrie, and Ida Jane.
William Burns married Celia Rebecca Barnes September 28, 1902. Celia was born June 11, 1884. They
had seven children: Willar, Jewell, George W., Rubie, Bessie, James Luther (Cookie), and W. L. (Buster).
Cookie and Buster were twins.
George W. Jr. is buried at Brushy Cemetery. He was born May 26, 1907 and died January 26, 1922; he
was only fifteen years old.
Cookie, twin to Buster, is also buried at Brushy. He was born November 12, 1911 and died March 24,
1982.
In the last years of his life William and Celia lived near the Trinity River between Oakwood and
Palestine. He was badly crippled with arthritis and was not able to work but he had the job of gauging
the Trinity River at the bridge near his home.
William Burns died November 18, 1944 and Celia died May 7, 1964 and both are buried at Brushy
Cemetery.
Henry Leffette Yarborough
Henry Leffette Yarborough was born June 21, 1884. He was the youngest son of William Burns
Yarborough and Isabell V. Moore. He had two brothers: George Washington and William Burns, and
three sisters: Pearl, Carrie, and Ida.
Henry married Mary Jane Avary on May 6, 1906. Mary Jane was born April 29, 1888, to Wiley Avary
and Alice Barnett. They had four children: Willie, Ivan, Lindel, and Lionel. Willie was born January 1,
1909 and died November 11, 1910. He was almost two years old and is buried at Brushy Cemetery.
Henry died September 4, 1954 and Mary Jane died July 30, 1976; both are buried at Brushy.
More Memories; The Yarboroughs & Brushy
– by Mary (Yarborough) Bain –
My grandfather, William Yarborough, and his brother, Wade, owned the land around there. My
grandfather lived up on the hill, before you go in the cemetery. They decided to give the land for the
cemetery. That was more than a hundred years ago. My grandmother Yarborough was buried there in
1898. My brother Bill was born the day she died and my father named him William Isabelle for this
grandfather and grandmother.
As the years went by they couldn’t keep the cemetery clean, so my father, George Yarborough, decided
to get some people together and make up money to have it worked. As far as I know that is the way we
still do it.
They decided to set a day for this. So they decided on the first Friday in August after the crops were
laid by. In later years they changed the date, as it was so hot that time of year. The date we go now is
the 4th Sunday in June. We have always carried our lunch.
In later years they needed a secretary. Willar Yarborough, my cousin, was the secretary for years. She
got tired and gave it up, and I think Lois Moore took it until last year and now we have a new one.
There was a church on the cemetery grounds. It was a Primitive Baptist Church. The older
Yarboroughs were of that faith. Wade Yarborough was a minister. They were the Baptists that washed
feet. I remember my father telling about having his feet washed in that church. The building sat close
to where the tables are now. I can remember the building being there when I was a child. It was torn
down some time after I was 14 years old. Of course you younger people can’t remember the church.
Memories of the Yarborough Family
By William Lorraine Yarborough (Buster or Buck) in his own words
– As told to Sue Hammett, June 27, 1999 –
The Yarboroughs came to Texas from Coosa Co Alabama in 1850. They landed at Magnolia Ferry in
Anderson Co on the Trinity River. They were there in 1850. Wade and Eli Yarborough donated the
land, 10 acres, for the Brushy cemetery. They were our first cousins, I believe they all had the same
Daddy. They came out of the Civil War and bought 142 acres and settled there. They farmed and ran
cattle, ranching. One moved to somewhere and the other one stayed and paid for the land. Don’t know
who the land was sold to or passed to when they died. I never knew Papa’s mother or daddy and don’t
know where they lived. Papa never fought in a war.
All the Yarboroughs I know about are buried in Brushy Cemetery. Mama’s folks are buried around
Corsicana. Mama Celia Rebecca Barnes Yarborough lived there too, they married young. They had 7
children: Maggie, Jewel, Little Sonny, Ruby & Bess. Then they had Buster and Cookie, twin boys.
Little Sonny was about 14 when he got polio. The doctor’s didn’t know what was wrong so Mama took
him to Temple but he got real sick on the train. Mama couldn’t get anyone to help, couldn’t get a room,
until she gave the Masonic sign. Then she got all the help she needed. Sonny was born crippled,* all
humped over. He walked OK and he had an old dog that went everywhere with him. That dog sat
when he sat, walked when he walked and never left him. Sonny was about 14 when he died.
Mama had the same bad temper as Papa but she was a good woman and helped everybody she could.
She never was mean, if she was she would of killed me and Shorty because we did as we pleased. Rube
rode a horse standing up, did things most boys couldn’t do. Bess couldn’t ride because she never would
let go of the pole on the porch. We had a long porch with posts every 10 feet and we would ride up and
let her get on behind us but when we rode off she kept hold of the pole. Us kids were pretty well
controlled. We had too much to do to be too mean.
Mama had two brothers, Luther and Odie. Uncle Odie worked at the ship channel during the war but
wouldn’t fight because he was a Jehovah’s Witness. The government put all of them in a camp they had
for prisoners for awhile. Luther was not a Jehovah’s Witness then. He came out of the Army and moved
in with us. Don’t remember when Odie came.
Papa was a county Commissioner for about two years then he got beat out by Ben Tubbs. Papa ran a
store for about 5 years in the Flo Community sometime in 1800’s. We were well off compared to the
rest of the community. We gardened, grew our own food, we lived good for the time. Papa went busted
in the store because so many people bought stuff then didn’t pay their bill. The government gave some
old government slips to folks instead of cash and they could trade the slips for food. The government
didn’t have no cash to give. Papa ran cattle and hogs on the open range. He didn’t have no brand, just
earmarked them but I don’t remember the earmark. Papa drove a stagecoach from Gatesville on a 40-80
route* to San Antonio. He did anything he could to make a little money to feed us.
Papa had 142-6 acres at Brushy, sold it in 1924 and moved us all to Oakwood. We had to move because
Papa was determined we had to have an education. Flo didn’t have a school big enough to educate us.
We farmed 20 acres of the blackland prairie on the old Ludwig place near Oakwood. Trav’s daddy
farmed there too. We didn’t make but enough to feed us. Flo was in Leon Co. We moved to Long Lake
in Anderson County later. Papa was determined the girls would get an education so he sent Maggie to
Sam Houston to become a teacher. After she finished school he sent Jewel and she became a teacher
too.
Papa bought a Model T Ford touring car in 1920-21. He parked it in the shed between two log barns
but he forgot there were logs sticking out at the top. He took out of there one morning and the logs
caught it and just took the whole top off, windshield and all. Made a convertible out of it. He took it to
town and they put a new windshield and top on it. Later he drove it into Keechi Creek under the
railroad track and got it stuck. He come walking into the house just mad as a cat and didn’t want to tell
where the car was. Later he got the mules and pulled it out but it never was much good after it got that
sand in the motor.
One day an old mule got on the railroad track and got killed so Papa called the Railroad folks at Long
Lake and they sent an appraiser out. The appraiser asked Papa, “Mr. Yarborough, just how long had the
buzzards been following that mule before you put him on the railroad track.” That man had on a tie
and Papa grabbed the tie and commenced to choke him until his eyeballs was sticking out. I like to of
never got him off that man, I thought Papa was going to kill him. Papa didn’t get mad often but it was
Hell when he did. I don’t think the man ever said anything like that to anyone else after that.
I didn’t know Jerry Hammett until he and Rube married. Jerry had his truck rigged so it would shock
you. Trav was standing there whittling and he put his foot on the running board. Jerry hit the shock
button and Trav’s arm went back with the knife and cut Jerry pretty bad in the leg. He almost ruined
Jerry right there. Jerry always played pranks on people.
I married Mable Frances Elizabeth Billings and we went to Combs in the Valley and rented land and
started farming. We moved to outside San Benito in 1943 and farmed there. The first land we bought
was in 1947. Forty acres with an old frame house and an old dried up orange and grapefruit orchard.
We bought 32 acres across the road that was in cotton, then 85 acres in back of it and farmed that too.
We rented land and farmed all the way from Harlingen to Brownsville at one time. We quit farming in
1970. Cookie and Hattie Mae Warnell came to the Valley in 1947 and farmed until about 1952.***
Footnote from Sue Hammett in 1999:
Buster is alive and although he uses a cane, he drives his pickup truck to town daily to have coffee at
the local coffee shop with his friends. In retirement he has not followed any occupation but he never
misses his soap operas. His mind is agile and his wit is terrific. His wife, Mable, lives with him in
Benito, TX. He has one beautiful daughter, Patricia, and three grandchildren. His oldest grandson was
born with cerebral palsy and died at age 14. He was able to attend the Brushy Memorial in 1996 along
with daughter, son in law, and grandchildren. I believe Buster is
87. Bessie drives, sews, does whatever she wants. She herded
cows when they got loose up until about 2 years ago when we all
convinced her to call the foreman instead. Buster is, and always
has been, a true character, not afraid to call a spade a spade nor to
point out the elephant in the living room.
* I questioned that and Buster said he was born crippled and also
got polio later.
**The 40-80 is some sort of route designation they had then.
***Cookie died in the late 80’s and his widow, Hattie lives in
Palestine. She drives to Houston almost every week to visit and to
Shreveport regularly to play the slot machines.
Bessie, Buster, and Rubye
in about 1993
Billy Marie (Haley) Moore
1947
Charles Marvin Knight
and Jerry Sue Hammett
Celia Rebecca (Barnes) Yarborough,
William Edward Yarborough
Photos courtesy of
Ms Jerry Sue Hammett
Back: Celia Rebecca Barnes,
Lela Barnes, Sally Barnes;
Seated: Henry Tuck Barnes,
Odie Barnes
William Burns Yarborough,
Celia R (Barnes) Yarborough
Joyce Wayne Robinson
Betty Jo (Haley) Crawford
and Jerry Sue Hammett
1947
Left to right top row--Bess (Yarborough) Robinson; Rubye
(Yarborough) Hammett; Mama Yarborough; Corelle Hammett;
Jewell (Yarborough) Haley holding Jerry Sue Hammett
Front row--JW Robinson; Billy Marie Haley; Betty Jo Haley
Bowers Children
The children of Tom W. and Ida (Yarborough) Bowers. Ida was the youngest daughter of William Burns
and E. V. (Moore) Yarborough (the Oakwood Moore’s). Tom was a Baptist minister. And they were
living in the Brushy area at this time. The markers read:
Bowers, Our Boy
Son of T. W. and Ida Bowers
Born Sept 16, 1902 -D- July 19, 1915
Bowers, Mama’s Baby
dau. of T. W. and Ida Bowers
B Jan 18, 1911 -D- Dec 18, 1913
Both children are buried at Brushy Cemetery.
Harvey J. B. Suttle
Harvey J. B. Suttle was born on October 17, 1913 in the Nineveh Community. His parents were William
(Billy) and Ida Hill Suttle; he had one sister, Lula Mae Suttle Parker. Growing up he helped his father
on their farm and with the livestock. When Harvey was old enough to attend dances and go to parties,
he met a girl named Hattie Bell Lummus. They started dating, fell in love, and were married July 5,
1935. They made their home in Fort Worth, Texas for a while. Harvey worked at an airport making
mechanical parts for the airplanes. After some years, they moved back to the Nineveh Community to be
around their families. Harvey farmed and worked at a sawmill. He served in the Army in World War II
and came home to stay in 1945. Harvey worked for the prison system and after 20 years he retired.
Harvey and Hattie Bell were proud parents of four children, Harvey, Starlene, Floyd, and Silvia. Harvey
B. Suttle died July 14, 1978.
The Hill Family
Joseph Rigdon Hill
— by Pearl Yarborough —
Joseph Rigdon (Joe) Hill was born April 29, 1860 in Freestone near Bonners Ferry. His parents were
Orsamus Hill and Louisa Whitley. His father,Orsamus, was found dead in 1866 beside a trail in
Freestone County near Oakwood, Texas. He was so decomposed they wrapped him in a sheet and
buried him there.
Joe left home at an early age (about 16) and made his way working on ranches. He was an expert at
breaking and training wild horses. He came back to Leon county in 1878 looking for his sister Diana I.
(Bell) Hill Caylor. Joe swam his horse across the Trinity River and stopped at the first log house south
of Oakwood. He called from the front gate. A woman came to the door. He told her he was looking for
his sister Bell Caylor. She replied, “Well, you’ve found her.” Thus he was reunited with his sister and
her family.
Later Joe was captured by Jesse James and kept overnight. Jesse James questioned Joe but since he was
so young he let him go the next day, telling him not to talk to anyone about being captured for a few
days.
Oakwood is where Joe met and later married Pearl Yarborough. Joe was a tall man, about 6’4” and Pearl
was 5’ and a small woman. Pearl was born February 22, 1868 to William Burns Yarborough and Isabell
Moore. They were married December 20, 1883. They were devout members of the Primitive Baptist
Church.
Joe and Pearl had nine children: Isabell, Orsamus, Jody, Caudia, William Hampton (Bill), Ida, Eva,
Adelle, and Starling.
Left-to-right: Eva (Hill) Moore, Jay Oliver, Ida Mae (Hill) Suttle Oliver (Wife of Jay Oliver, buried at
Brushy), Caudia (Hill) Nichols, Starling Hill, Adelle (Hill) Lee (buried at Brushy), Oss Hill (who passed
away the day after this photo was taken, buried at Brushy) Photo made at Brushy Cemetery March 1961
There was always music and singing in their home. Joe had a special dance which he did alone called
“Knocking the Backstep.” Oss played the fiddle and Bill picked the guitar and mandolin. Their sisters
played the organ, guitar and violin. Caudia, Ida, Eva and Adelle made up a good quartet. Eva sang
bass, Adelle alto, Iva soprano, and Caudia tenor.
Joe was a farmer and carried the US mail for twelve years (1922-34) from Eunice to Ninevah for $18.00
a month. He rode horseback on a horse he called “Old Grey Buck.”
Joe was blind for the last five years of his life.
Joe and Pearl celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary on December 20, 1941. On February 15, 1942
Joe died and is buried at Brushy Cemetery. Pearl died August 9, 1947 and is buried beside Joe.
In Memory of Starling J. Hill & John C. Hill
Starling and John were sons of Orsamus Hill and Nancy Corley. The family came to Texas by wagon
train about 1857. They settled in Freestone County at Bonners Ferry. Starling was seventeen-years-old
when they came to Texas. John, born in 1845 in Alabama, was twelve-years-old when they came to
Texas. They both fought in the Civil War. Starling was twenty-one and John was sixteen when they
enlisted.
From the military records:
Name & Rank: Hill, S. J. Pvt.
Comm. Off.: Gardiner, James W., Capt.
Organ.: Texas Buck Hunters, Vol. Cav. Co., Anderson Co., 11th Brig., Brigadier General J. L. Hogg
Commdg., TM (Sibley’s Brigade, CSA)
Enlist: July, 1861
Remarks: R & F 94, 96; En. Off. Ino. G. Stuart; election certificate with roll; co. comm. Au. 26, 1861;
co. equipped as required in call of Gov. for Sibley’s Brig.; 2 MR, 1 certified to Au. 6, 1861, the other
undtd. name appears only on undtd. roll.
Name & Rank: Hill, J. C. Pvt.
Comm. Off.: Matthews, M. W., Capt.
Organ.: Lone Star Guards, Burnet Co., Cav., 27th Brig., TM
Enlist: June 8, 1861 at J. Bunions Spring 3 miles NW of Burnet
Remarks: R & F 116; Co. Org. under Acts of F 15-58 & F. 14-60; Co. Comm Au. 23-1861; elec. certif.
with roll; 1 MR
Name & Rank: Hill, J.C. Pvt.
Comm. Off.: Clayton, J. A., Capt.
Organ.: Reserve Co., Pr. No. 2, Navarro Co., 19th Brig. TM
Enlist: Sept 15, 1861
Remarks: R & F 76, election certificate with roll; Navarro, Ellis, Freestone and Limestone Counties
compose 19th Brig.; 1 MR
Starling and John were killed in the Civil War, both in the Galveston area.
We have a memorial marker for Starling and we hope that someday there will be one for John C. Hill.
O. Hill & Katie Shaw Hill
— by Ms Billie Jo Harris —
On Sunday, December 23, 1906, in Leon County, Orsamus Hill and Margaret Catherine Shaw were
united in marriage. The older I have become the more pride I have in being a member of the O. Hill
and Katie Shaw Hill family.
Oss Hill was the second child of nine children born to
Joseph Rigdon and Pearl Yarborough Hill. Oss was
born March 14, 1886, in the Brushy community, near
Brushy Cemetery.
Kate Shaw Hill was born May 10, 1889, in the Flow
community. Harry Shaw married Sarah Lewis Slatter.
Harry and Sarah had six children. Sarah died when
Fannie Pearl was about three-months-old. Fannie
Pearl died shortly after. Approximately two years
later a well caved in while Harry was cleaning it and
he was killed. Katie was five. The Shaw children
were given to neighbors. These children were: James
Alfred, Thomas Samuel, Emma (Beshears), Evaline
(Moore) and Katie.
Oss Hill’s siblings were: Bell (Pate), Cordia (Nichols),
Ida (Suttles), Bill, Eva (Moore), Adelle (Lee), Starling
and Jody.
Oss and Katie had ten children: Fannie (Parker),
Raymond, Fay (Ward), Lois (Moore), Lydia
Orsamus and Margaret Catherine (Shaw) Hill
(Gresham), Nona Jo (Coleman), Wanda (Craig), James
and Kathryn (Langley). One daughter died at birth.
The love Oss and Kate had for their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren was felt by all.
There was a most strong family tie, binding us with all our aunts, uncles, great-aunts and great-uncles.
I could never just say “my aunt.” I had so many on all side they were always named. Our cousins are
like brothers and sisters. What an inheritance!
Jody Hill
Son of Joseph Rigdon (Joe) and Pearl (Yarborough) Hill. Born October 7, 1888 in Leon County. Lived
to be seven-years-old, died October 27, 1895 and is buried in Brushy Cemetery.
Raymond W. Hill
Raymond W. Hill was born in Leon County (Flo community) September 2, 1909.
He grew up there and married Frankie Taylor. They had four children, the oldest of whom died at two
years of age.
Raymond spent most of his life in Houston, Texas where he worked as a Night Superintendent at the
Gulf Building. During World War II he worked at a Houston shipbuilding company. Raymond was a
good man and a very hard worker. He died November 2, 1977 at age sixty-eight.
Infant Hill
Daughter of Oss and Katie Hill
She was a pretty black-headed baby
Born and died November 26, 1921
Buried at Brushy Cemetery in Leon County.
Johnnie Wade Hill
Johnnie Wade was born December 15, 1939 and died January 16, 1940. He was only one month old.
His parents were Starling and Willie Mae (Davis) Hill. His grandparents were Joseph Rigdon and Pearl
(Yarborough) Hill.
Herbert Lane Gresham
Herbert Lane Gresham was born May 30, 1915 at Brownwood, Texas. He was the oldest of six children
born to Mr. and Mrs. Bert Gresham. He grew up at Centerville, Texas, attended Sam Houston State
College and married Lydia Hill May 21, 1938. They had two daughters, Margaret Lynn and Nona Jo.
Herbert worked in the aircraft industry for forty years. He was employed at North American Aviation,
Temco, and Chance-Temco-Vought, all at Grand Prairie, Texas. Later he was employed by Bell
Helicopter of Hurst, Texas, where he worked until retirement.
Herbert died at home October 13, 1988 at age seventy-three.
Sherrell Wayne Hill
– Reprinted from newspaper clippings July 1932 –
One of the saddest deaths ever to occur in the Flo community, happened there last Sunday
morning, when Sherrell Wayne Hill, two-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Hill, died from the
effects of poison accidentally eaten in some candy.
Little Sherrell Wayne had gone into a store with his grandfather, O. Hill and while Mr. Hill was
busy picked up some candy on the floor that had been poisoned for the purpose of killing rats. The
little fellow became violently ill and Dr. Brown, of Keechi, who was attending church at Flo, did
everything possible for him to save his life, but Sherrell Wayne died within 35 or 40 minutes from the
time of eating the poisoned candy.
It is said the little boy broke the piece of candy in two and gave half to another little fellow, who
dropped his in the dirt and it was thrown away.
The body of little Sherrell Wayne was laid to rest in the Brushy Cemetery Monday afternoon at 1
o'clock. The family had the sincere sympathy of the entire community in the sudden and untimely
death of their little son.
***
On July 31st, God in his infinite mercy and wisdom saw fit to take away little Sherrell Wayne Hill
)June 3, 1930 - July 31, 1932), son of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Hill, age two years, one month and
twenty-eight days. His death, which was a sad and unexpected shock to our entire community came as
a result of accidental poisoning. His little body was laid to rest in the Brushy Cemetery Monday
afternoon with many friends and relatives present. Rev. Cadenhead conducted the last sad rites.
We will miss little Sherrell Wayne it is true, but let us find solace and comfort in knowing that he
is safe in the arms of Jesus, safe on his gentle breast. Let him remain in our minds a sweet memory, too
precious to stay in this world of sorrow and strife so God called him to a better home, where all is one
bright eternal day. We will miss his dear little footsteps and precious voice that is forever stilled, but
Thy Will Oh God be done, and we are to remember that life is not made of roses, but of roses and
thorns, and when a thorn tears the flesh we must be brave and look ever to Jesus for did he not say,
“Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted.” In this dark hour we realize we cannot bring
him back, but we can go to him. Let Jesus always be our refuge, keep our trust firm on the rock of ages
and someday the mysteries of life will be explained and we will understand.
Not now, but in the coming years
It may be in the better land,
We'll read the meaning of our tears
And there, sometimes we'll understand,
God knows the way, he holds the key,
He guides us with unerring hand
Sometime with tearless eyes we'll see
Yes, there up there we'll understand.
An angel marks Sherrell’s grave.
***
Card of Thanks
We wish to take this method of expressing our most heartfelt thanks to each and everyone for
their help, kindness and sympathy during that trying hour and the death of our little one.
Again we would thank those who were so thoughtful and comforting and for the expressions of
your love in the beautiful floral offering.
Should such a tragedy every befall you, we pray God in his great mercy will see fit to comfort and
reward you in that great beyond for your kindness.
Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Hill, Mr. and Mrs. O. Hill, and Mrs. Mary Taylor
Remembrances of Parents and Grandparents
— by Mable Geneva Robeson —
My paternal grandparents were George and Mary Spence Lee. They
had a large family of four boys and three girls. The boys were Bud,
Bill, Benjamin (my Father) and George. The girls married names
were Laura Smith, Lena Haskins, and Addie Redding. My
Grandfather was a very strict father as was the custom of that time.
Cards, dominoes or any games were not allowed in their home. He
taught them the Ten Commandments. They were all honest,
upright good citizens and well respected in the community.
My Mother’s parents were Joe and Pearl Yarborough Hill. They also
had a large family of three boys and four girls. The boy’s names
were Oss, Bill, and Starling. The girls married names were Caudia
Joseph Rigdon &
Nichols, Eva Moore, Ida Suttle Oliver, and Adelle Lee (my Mother).
Pearl (Yarborough) Hill
Aunt Caudia and Aunt Eva both had vibrant red hair, with Aunt Ida
having brown hair and Adelle having black hair. They were a very loving, affectionate family. They all
had natural musical abilities and most could sing or play instruments well without any training. I
remember many times they were together playing music and singing along, it was a happy time and
enjoyed by everyone. My grandfather was what was then called a Hard-Shell Baptist. He knew the Bible
very well and could tell anyone what he believed, he was known to stand up in church at times and
argue with the pastor if he disagreed with what he said.
My Father was born on October 16, 1896 in Leon County, near the Flo community, where he spent most
of his life. He was called into the army in World War I (1917-1918) but never had to leave the United
States. He was active in the Masonic Lodge. He married my Mother, Adelle Hill in April of 1920.
Times were very hard for them during the early years. They farmed and grew most of what they ate.
There was not electricity or any modern conveniences that we have today. In 1946 my Father ran for
Sheriff and won the election. This job at that time was very difficult due to much lawlessness,
bootlegging, fights and family abuse in the county. He had no deputies or any help during the early
years. Family members would help out when he needed a driver or we felt he was in danger by himself.
Later he had two highway patrolmen from Mexia that helped him out on the weekends. They were very
nice and became like a part of the family, visiting in our homes on their time off from work. During the
1950’s, the Navy Department awarded my Father a Certificate of Appreciation for outstanding efforts
with recruiting for World War II. In the late 1950’s, he received a certificate for outstanding detective
work from the Mutual Broadcasting System for solving a bank robbery in Oakwood. In 1963, he
resigned from the Sheriff’s Department due to poor health. He served as Sheriff for 17 years. He had
very poor health until he entered Eternal Rest on September 14, 1967.
My Mother, Adelle Hill Lee was born to Joe and Pearl Yarborough Hill on September 19, 1903 in the Flo
Community of Leon County. She was the youngest of the four girls. She was very ill in her young years
with pneumonia. She lost all of her hair and it came back very curly. All the family said they spoiled
her while she was so sick and my Father continued, always making her feel special. She was a
wonderful cook and housekeeper. She loved crocheting, knitting, all crafts, and sewing. She also
enjoyed gardening and loved flowers very much. She made many Afghans for members of the family
and other people. After my Father passed away, she moved to Centerville where she enjoyed being
closer to her friends and became a member of the Eastern Star Chapter #1002. My parents were
members of the Methodist Church. To this union was born three children. Harley Bob Lee, Bennie Dale
Kaim, and Mable Geneva Robeson. They had seven Grandchildren.
Robbie Edward Parker
Robbie was born in Madison County, in the Greenbrier Community, near Madisonville, Texas on
November 27, 1900 and lived his entire life in Texas. His parents were Caiaphus Parker and Mary
Permelia Ware Parker. Robbie was the third child born to his parents. His siblings were Clarence
Parker, Earl Caiaphus Parker, Lucy Dale Parker Todd, Nettie Leola Parker, Thomas Riley Parker and
Alma Neal Parker Phillips. His father died when he was 10 years old and he was unable to complete his
education because he had to work to help support his family, as did his older brothers.
Robbie Edward Parker
Robbie married Fannie Evalena Hill on January 28, 1928 in the Flo
Community near Buffalo. Their wedding ceremony was performed
by Bro. E. N. Parrish. Robbie was a farmer and they lived in the
Flo Community until around 1938 when they moved to
Centerville. His two children, Eddy Roger Parker and Peggy Sue
Parker Roberts, were born in the Flo Community. The family lived
in Centerville until 1940 when they moved to Patroon, then to San
Augustine, where Robbie worked in sawmills. In January, 1942,
the family moved to Grand Prairie, where Robbie and Fannie
worked at North American Aviation during World War II. After the
war, he went to work for Temco, then Chance Vought Aircraft,
where he was a carpenter in the maintenance department. These
two companies merged with Ling Company to make Ling-TemcoVought, where he was working when he died April 11, 1964 in
Methodist Hospital in Dallas. His funeral was conducted by Dr.
James Wright at the Moore-Brown Funeral Home in Grand Prairie
with burial in Brushy Cemetery with a Masonic ceremony.
As a young man, Robbie, was an excellent baseball player and dancer. He loved to fox hunt and always
had fox hounds. He loved to fish and spend time at his family farm near Madisonville, where he raised
cattle. He purchased this land from his brothers and sisters, and the farm is still in the family, presently
owned by his children. He had a good mind and could do complicated math in his head. He was very
agile and could still do cartwheels in his sixties.
He was a Master Mason and member of the Sam R. Hamilton Masonic Lodge #1032 in Grand Prairie.
He was Worshipful Master of this lodge in 1949-1950 and was an excellent teacher of Masonic work.
He was a member of the Arlington Chapter #376, R.A.M.
Two of his grandsons, James Robert Parker and Roger Eldon Roberts, are buried in Brushy Cemetery.
His other grandchildren are Laura Lynn Parker Cox, Eddy Roger Parker, Jr., Pamela Sue Roberts Dickens
and Randy Dow Roberts. His great-grandchildren are James Michael Cox, Jacob Riley Cox, Matthew
Elliot Cox, Amanda Meredith Dickens, Emily Elizabeth Dickens, Jared Austin Roberts and Jenna Marie
Roberts.
Fannie Evalena (Hill) Parker
Fannie was born in Leon County, in the Flo Community, Texas, on September 28, 1907 and lived her
entire life in Texas. Her parents were Orsamus Hill and Margaret Catherine Shaw Hill. Fannie was the
oldest of nine children. Her siblings were Raymond Washington Hill, Fay Isabella Hill Elgin Ward, Lois
Edith Hill Moore, Lydia Pearl Hill Gresham, Nona Joe Hill Coleman, Wanda Lea Hill Craig, James
Orsamus Hill and Emma Kathryn Hill Langley.
Fannie married Robbie Edward Parker on January 28, 1928 in the Flo
Community. Their wedding ceremony was performed by Bro. E. N. Parrish.
Robbie was a farmer and they lived in the Flo Community until around 1938
when they moved to Centerville. Their two children, Eddy Roger Parker and
Peggy Sue Parker Roberts, were born in the Flo Community. The family lived
in Centerville until 1940 when they moved to Patroon, then to San Augustine,
where Robbie worked in sawmills. In January, 1942 the family moved to
Grand Prairie, where Robbie and Fannie worked at North American Aviation
during World War II where she made landing lights for airplanes. After the
war, she quit her job and was a homemaker until she went to work for Sanger
Brothers department store in Dallas. This store later merged with A. Harris
and became Sanger-Harris. She worked there until about 1952 and was a
homemaker for the rest of her life.
Fannie Evalena Hill
While living in Flo, Fannie cooked meals for sawmill workers in that community. She was a wonderful
cook and seamstress, making many of her and her children‚s clothes. She made quilts for her family and
beautiful crocheted things and embroidered socks for the babies in the family. She had a great love for
her family and was especially close to her brothers and sisters. Being the oldest child, she was like a
second mother to many of her siblings and nieces and nephews. She was a wonderful Mother and had
a special love for her grandchildren. Fannie was very witty and had a great sense of humor. She was a
very generous person, always thinking of others before her self. She was a charter member of the Leona
Baptist Church.
She had a stroke in December 1991 and was a resident of the Madisonville Nursing Home until her
death on May 8, 1999. Her funeral was conducted by Dr. Bob Kristensen, pastor of Hilltop Lakes
Chapel, at the Green-Walters Funeral Home in Centerville with burial on May 10 in Brushy Cemetery.
Her husband, Robbie, and two of their grandsons, James Robert Parker and Roger Eldon Roberts, are
buried in Brushy Cemetery. Her other grandchildren are Laura Lynn Parker Cox, Eddy Roger Parker, Jr.,
Pamela Sue Roberts Dickens and Randy Dow Roberts. Her great-grandchildren are James Michael Cox,
Jacob Riley Cox, Matthew Elliot Cox, Amanda Meredith Dickens, Emily Elizabeth Dickens, Jared Austin
Roberts and Jenna Marie Roberts.
Roger Eldon Roberts
Roger was born March 16, 1961 at Baylor Hospital in Dallas, Texas and lived in Texas all his life. His
parents are Ray Everrett Roberts and Peggy Sue Parker Roberts. Roger was the youngest child in his
family. His older siblings are Pamela Sue Roberts Dickens and Randy Dow Roberts. The family lived in
Grand Prairie from Roger‚s birth until 1967 when they moved to Odessa. Roger started school in
Odessa. In 1969, the family moved to San Antonio, where Roger attended Sunset Hills Elementary, Pat
Neff Junior High and graduated from Oliver Wendell Holmes High School in 1979. In August, 1979 he
moved to Corpus Christi with his parents. Roger was injured in a motorcycle accident in Corpus
Christi on October 9, 1979 and died on October 14. His funeral service was
conducted by Dr. James Wright at the Cage-Mills Funeral Home in Corpus Christi
on October 16. He was buried in Brushy Cemetery on October 17.
Roger was an outgoing, adventurous young man who loved music. He took guitar
lessons and loved to attend rock concerts. He liked to hunt at the family farm in
Madisonville. He also enjoyed hunting trips to the Big Bend area with his father
and brother. He participated in Little League and Pony League baseball and
freshman football in high school. He was a coin, baseball card and stamp
collector. Roger loved trips to Padre Island, Steanke Falls and Wurstfest in New
Braunfels. He was friendly, kind and had a wonderful sense of humor.
Roger Eldon Roberts
Roger‚s grandfather, Robbie Edward Parker, great-grandparents, Orsamus Hill and Margaret Catherine
Shaw Hill, great-great-grandparents, Joseph Rigdon Hill and Pearl Yarborough Hill, and great-great-great
grandparents, William Burns Yarborough and Isabell V. Moore Yarborough are buried in Brushy
Cemetery.
James Robert Parker
James Robert was born October 20, 1955 at Terrabone Hospital in Houma, Louisiana. His parents are
Eddy Roger Parker and Patricia Ann Sibley Parker. James was the oldest child in his family. His
younger siblings are Laura Lynn Parker Cox and Eddy Roger Parker, Jr. James lived in Louisiana for 16
years. He attended schools in Louisiana and Conroe, Texas and graduated from Conroe High School in
1973. James worked at Luby‚s Cafeteria in Houston and Corpus Christi. In October 1989, he moved to
Hilltop Lakes, Texas with his parents. James died March 4, 1997 in St. Joseph‚s Medical Center in
Madisonville, Texas. His funeral service was conducted by Rev. Bob Kristensen at Hilltop Lakes Chapel
on March 7 with interment in Brushy Cemetery.
James had a wonderful wit and sense of humor. He loved baseball, especially the Houston Astros and
Chicago Cubs. He attended as many Astros‚ games as possible and collected autographed balls, bats and
other memorabilia. He liked to spend time fishing and hunting at the family
farm in Madisonville. Other hobbies were birdwatching, golfing and traveling
to Las Vegas. James was a member of the Hilltop Lakes Men‚s Golf
Association. He was a coin, comic book and baseball card collector. Even
though James had many health problems, he was always cheerful and never
complained.
James Robert Parker
James‚ grandfather Robbie Edward Parker, great-grandparents, Orsamus Hill
and Margaret Catherine Shaw Hill, great-great-grandparents, Joseph Rigdon
Hill and Pearl Yarborough Hill, and great-great-great-grandparents, William
Burns Yarborough and Isabell V. Moore Yarborough are buried in Brushy
Cemetery.
Sarah Wilma (Beshears) Lynch
— from The Buffalo Press —
Sarah Wilma Lynch, 83, of Buffalo, the mother of Waco residents Charles D. Lynch and Douglas L.
Lynch, died Monday at a Waco hospital.
Services will be at 2 p.m. today at Green-Walters Funeral Home in Centerville, the Rev. Wendell
Johnson officiating. Burial will be in Brushy Cemetery in Buffalo.
Mrs. Lynch was born March 9, 1907 in Buffalo, where she lived all her life.
Other survivors include a daughter, Kathy A. Fundala of Austin; a sister, Norene Watson of Buffalo; 12
grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren.
Note from Rean Watson:
Now Wilma married Leon Lynch in the year of 1923, I think it was. Our parents were Art and Emma
(Shaw) Beshears.
Note from Larry Lynch:
My Grandmother Lynch was one of the most
interesting women I’ve ever known. Although I
didn’t get to spend a lot of time with her, she
made a deep impression on me.
She was incredibly self-sufficient. She raised
three children on a sand farm five miles or so off
the end of FM 1618. Divorced in the ‘40’s, the
last of her children left Leon County by 1960
and she spent the last several decades of her life
living by herself. She raised her own beef, pork
and poultry, but she also hunted regularly and
was a crack shot with a shotgun or rifle. She was
Sarah Wilma (Beshears) Lynch shown in front of photo
wearing army fatiques and camouflage with
of her mother, Emma (Shaw) Beshears.
hunting boots every time I saw her. I remember
Photo by Larry Lynch (1972)
eating fried squirrel and a lot of venison in her
kitchen. She liked to show off her larder, which was filled with canned vegetables and meat, including
pickled deer feet. Most impressive to a boy of eight.
Her isolation would have been intolerable to many people, but she seemed to enjoy her own company
and rarely ventured off her farm. One of her few trips to town was unplanned. While tracking a deer
through heavy cover she was bitten on the leg by a copperhead. She managed to crawl to her mailbox
before she lost consciousness, and that’s where the mailman found her the next morning and drove her
to the hospital. I remember admiring her presence of mind at the time. Had she anticipated such an
emergency and planned on what she’d do? I suspect she had.
Hers was not a life many women would choose for their own, but in many ways she was in lockstep
with the feminists of her time. She did not feel she needed a man to survive and she went right on with
her life without any complaint I can remember. She loved her family, but she loved her own space and
worked hard to remain independent even into her eighties. She wasn’t a conventional woman, but I’m
proud to call her Grandmother.
The Raines Family
— From Parthena Van Wey —
William Henry Raines (1884-1937) was the son of Robert Henry Raines and Savannah (Hardy) Raines.
They moved to Leon county from Alabama in 1858.
Eva Lena Bilderback Raines (1890-1944) was the daughter of Reverend E. R. Bilderback and Lillie Nora
Jones Bilderback.
Will and Eva Lena were married July 1909. They lived around the Brushy Cemetery area all their lives.
They had 9 children, seven girls and two boys.
They are both buried at Brushy Cemetery. They had twenty-seven grandchildren. Parthena Parrish Van
Wey, Brushy Secretary & Treasurer, is their granddaughter.
David Raines, who is on the Board of Directors at Brushy, is their great-grandson.
Children: Irene Raines Jones, David Haynie Raines, Ollie Raines Kilgore, Annie Nora Raines Wright, Ruby
Rachel Raines Parrish, Winnie Mae Raines Lamon, Allie Bernice Raines Bennett, Adeen Raines McNeil,
Clinton Alvin (Bill) Raines
Left-to-right, 1st row: Ralph
Audrey Raines, Travor Fillip,
Parthena Parrish Van Wey
2nd row: Natalie Pigeon,
Adeen Raines McNeil, Winnie
Raines Lamon 3rd row: Ruby
Raines Parrish, Madonna
Raines, Glenna Parrish
Ellenberg, Kristi Fillip; 4th
row: Willistine Smith, Tina
Fartenberry, Evelyn Schwab,
Bernice Raines Bennett
Taken @ Brushy Memorial 1997 by
Larry Lynch
Donnis Raines, age 27, son of Haynie
& Marie Raines at Seven Falls, AZ.
(August 20, 1934 — September 7,
1995, President of Brushy Association
1973 to death)
Raines @ Memorial: Bernice, Ollie, Bill, Adeen, Ruby & Winnie
David Haynie Raines (March 8, 1913 to December 9, 1966) & Marie Davis Raines (August 25, 1913 to
December 9, 1996 — her parents are Auther P. Davis and Mary E. Davis)
Haynie and Marie were married September 2, 1933. They moved to Waco, Texas in 1937 where Haynie was
employed by the Supreme Cracker Company. They were members of Faith Tabernacle Church. Haynie was a
member of J. H. Gurley Masonic Lodge 337, A.F. and A.M. the Rebekah Lodge, a Junior Past Patron of
McLennan Order of the Eastern Star of #639, Past Noble Grand of Odd Fellow Lodge #37 and a member of
United Commercial Travelers of America and had served on the official Board of the Brushy Cemetery for
fifteen years. They had one son, Donnis L. Raines, and four grandchildren, Greg, Sandra, David, and Amy
Raines.
Marla, Don and LuClaire Raines @ Greg’s wedding
David, Sondra Lee and Amy Raines
at the old Davis homestead
From
The Raines Family
Scrapbook
Sondra Lee (Raines) Dabney
and Amy Marie Raines
Donnis & Amy Raines, Brushy 1987
Donnis, LuClaire, Marie, David and
Amy Marie Raines Brushy 1972
Donnis and David Raines
Bill Raines
1946
Bill and Darlene Raines
Mr & Mrs W. H. Raines
Ms Eva Lena Raines
Marie, Irene, and Sylvan Davis
Brushy 1986
David Haynie Raines
February 1948
Mary Davis,
sister of Emma Davis
Arthur & Mary. Davis
at the old Davis homestead
A. P. and O. C. Davis
Arthur and Mary Davis (seated)
Brushy 1942
Faces from the Brushy Memorial in 1998
Amalyn (Davis) Phillips, Varnia (LeGalley)
Hatcher, Tina (Johnson) Armstrong, Amanda
Armstrong, Leslee Armstrong, Juanita (Davis)
Johnson visit the graves of their relatives.
Glenna (Parrish) Ellenberg led a quartet including
Ken Cothran. They sang special music “I’ll Fly
Away;” other songs included “Old Rugged Cross,”
“Shall We Gather At The River,” and “Amazing
Grace.”
It was good to see “new” faces at the memorial,
including Mary Jo (Collins) Sewell and her brother,
Sharon Collins (shown here in the center). They
grew up in the Corinth area and enjoyed seeing old
friends again.
S. W. Davis visits with Bill Raines, who delivered
the message, as he has sixteen of the last twenty
years. He spoke of material wealth versus spiritual
abundance.
Winnie Mae Lamons (right) retired from the board.
Earl Hill Moore was elected to replace her.
Former board member Eddie Parker and family get
ready for a picnic.
Board members Claude Moore (left) and S. W. Davis
(right) visit.
A. D. Lamon
Obituary excerpted from a local paper (5/5/96):
Tennessee Colony
Services for Alonzo Daniel “A. D.” Lamon, 79, Tennessee Colony, are scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday at
Bailey & Foster Funeral Home chapel in Palestine with the Revs. Ronnie Harris and C. A. Raines
officiating.
Burial will be in Brushy Cemetery, Leon County.
He was born Nov. 5, 1916, on Long Lake Plantation
in Anderson County to the late Alonzo Daniel Sr.
and Mary Ethel Claybough Lamon. He served in
the U. S. Army during World War II as master
sergeant in the 349th Infantry Division, receiving
the Campaign Medal with five Bronze Stars.
He retired from Knox Glass Containers and was a
member of Long Lake Baptist Church, Independent
Cattleman’s Association, charter member of
Anderson County Youth Association, Dogwood
Sam’s Travel Club and PCR Association.
A. D. & Winnie Mae Lamon
He was preceded in death by two sisters, Ruby Lamon and Lucile Dotson.
Survivors include his wife, Winnie Lamon, Tennessee Colony; daughters, Nell Bills, Hillsboro, Evelyn
Schwab, Centerville, Charlotte Honeycutt and Williestene Smith, both of Palestine; sisters, Lee Lilly,
Whitehouse, and Glen Morrow, Palestine; brother, J. C. Lamon, Brownwood; five grand-daughters;
three grandsons; and two great-grandchildren.
Pallbearers include Keith L. Bills, Kenny Honeycutt, Jake Schwab, Danny Fillip, Ray White, Michael
Fortenberry, and Ray Marton.
Honorary pallbearers are William Dorman, Pace
McDonald, Bob Calloway, Jeff Harris, David
Cormier and John Keeling.
Visitation will be 7-9 p.m. Monday at the funeral
home.
A. D. Lamon & the Moore sisters
Charlotte Honeycutt, Evelyn Schwab, A. D.,
Williestene Smith, and Nell Bills. A. D. helped to
raise these girls after their father was killed in a car
crash.
Winnie Mae was on the Board at Brushy for 20
years; she resigned in ‘98 due to bad health. She
was Winnie Mae Raines, daughter of Willie and
Evalene Raines.
William Leroy “Roy” Waters
—written by Pauline Gore —
William Leroy “Roy” Waters was born in 1891 in Limestone County near Mexia. He was the son of
Wiley Waters and Josephine (Lovelace) Waters. He was a veteran of World War One and served
overseas in France. He was wounded October 7, 1918 and discharged March 14, 1919.
Ray met Eva Catherine Beshears after he returned home and they were married December 7, 1919.
From this marriage came five children: Leroy (born 1920, Pauline (born 1922), Cecil (born 1924),
Doris (born 1927), and Bill (born 1929).
Roy Waters died April 12, 1967, Eva died July 25, 1937, Cecil Waters died April 24, 1990, and Doris
Jean Lindsey died February 27, 1987. All are buried at Brushy Cemetery.
George & Edna (Cotton) Moore
George M. Moore was born August 1st, 1894 in Tennessee. Wanting a
better life, George boarded a train and journeyed to Hillsboro, Texas,
where he had promise of farm work.
Edna was born in Alabama October 29, 1886, she came to Hillsboro
with relatives, where they worked at field work.
George and Edna met and fell in love at Hillsboro, and were married at Hubbard
in 1915. Some of Edna’s relatives moved back to Alabama for they had left much
history.
Edna’s father was a Confederate soldier. He was captured, released back to his
company and was captured again.
Edna and two sisters lived in Texas the remainder of their lives.
Needing someone to help with farming, A.P. “Pincher” Davis learned through a friend that George and
Edna were dedicated workers. Pincher, getting in touch with them, offered the job they accepted,
Pincher helped them move here (to Leon County) in 1918.
To George and Edna were born five children: Lestil (b. 1919), Lola Mae (b. 1920), Dennie (b. 1923),
Claude (b. 1926), James (b. 1928). All were raised in Leon County.
Later, George and Edna owned property and a home in Flo. They lived the rest of their lives in Leon
County.
Edna died November 20, 1959. George died March 24, 1977. Both are buried at Brushy Cemetery.
Dennie, a son, died in 1971 and is buried at Brushy. Lestil, a daughter, and her husband Jesse Neal are
both buried at Brushy. Lola Mae and her husband, Raymond Pate, are buried at Centerville. Henrietta
Carter, Edna’s sister and Henrietta’s son, Ransel Carter, are buried at Brushy. Collie Ann, George’s sister,
is also buried at Brushy.
The Yerby Family
— written by Zane East —
James Franklin Yerby was born July 30, 1820 in North Carolina. His parents were Amon Yerby, born
in 1790 in North Carolina and Rachel McMillan, born 1798 in North Carolina. His grandparents were
Everette Yerby, born December 13, 1762 and Sarah McMillian, born December 15, 1766. James
Franklin’s great-grandparents were William Yerby and Francis Margaret McTyre.
The Yerby family moved to Alabama after 1820. In 1844 James Franklin Yerby married Sarah Ann
Dodson, daughter of William Dodson and Sarah Pyles. She was the youngest of fifteen children.
James Franklin and Sarah Ann had nine children: Joel, Willis, John William, Madison, Alvah, Martha
Eveline, Franklin Monrow, Thomas Lee and Fannie. They moved from Alabama to Mississippi and then
came to Texas in 1870-71.
Seven of the nine children lived to be grown and raised families of their own. Madison and Alvah both
died as babies. Their deaths were one day apart and they are buried in Alabama.
James Franklin and Sarah Ann have a daughter-in-law, Essie Arlenia (Jones) Yerby who is buried next to
them in Brushy Cemetery. Their son, Willis Jefferson, married Essie in 1870. She was born August 11,
1851 and died March 16, 1896.
They also have a daughter buried in Brushy Cemetery, Martha Emaline (Mattie) born August 13, 1858.
She married December 29, 1875 to Benjamin Franklin Pounds (b. 11/12/1853, d. 8/27/1948). The 1900
census listed them as having 13 children and two are buried at Brushy. An infant born and died
November 22, 1888 and Robert, born April 1, 1900 and died June 28, 1900.
Sarah Ann Yerby died May 18, 1887 and James Franklin Yerby died November 11, 1899; both are
buried at Brushy Cemetery. Sarah Ann has the oldest marked grave in the cemetery.
Sarah Ann (Dodson) Yerby was born March 4, 1828 in Alabama. Her parents were William Dodson
and Sarah Pyles. They had fifteen children and Sarah Ann was the youngest.
An article written about William Dodson when he was ninety-one years old said he had one of the
largest families in the United States, that he was in perfectly good health, and as spry in action and
cheerful in conversation as many are at fifty. His wife, Sarah (Pyles) Dodson, also lived to a ripe old age.
At the age of ninety-one, Mr. Dodson’s descendants numbered four-hundred-and-eighty-seven living and
sixty-five dead. He had fifty-six grandsons and grandsons-in-law in the Confederate Army.
Essie Arlenia (Jones) Yerby was born August 11,
1851. In 1870 she married Willis Jefferson Yerby.
They had three children: Rupus L., Lillie Rosetta,
and Nettie Cordelia.
Essie died March 16, 1896 and is buried in Brushy
Cemetery next to her father and mother-in-law,
James Franklin and Sarah Ann Yerby.
The Bilderback Family
From The Buffalo Press, Flo Family of Families column:
Eddie came to the Corinth community in the 1800's with his mother, sister Eva, and brother A. J. after
his dad was murdered in the Civil War in Indiana. Eddie and his family came to Leon County in a
covered wagon, along with other families. Eddie was a converted Christian at twelve-years-old, and
was called to preach. He was ordained a Baptist minister in 1905.
Reverend Eddie married Lillie Nora Jones, and they had nine children. Evalena married Willie Henry
Raines; Myrtle married Wiley Lee Balkum, Maude married Joe Bain, Allie married John Henry
Binnicker, Mattie married A. C. Carlisle, John Riley married Louise Edwards, Mary married Eddie Lee
Binnicker, Theodore married Vera Hopper, and Bertha married Burt Miles.
Rev. Bilderback and his family were hard-working people. They farmed, raised fine crops, gardens and
had fine orchards. Rev. Eddie was a very intelligent man. He dug a cellar in their yard where food was
kept cool and preserved, for in those days there weren't any refrigerators. Rev. Eddie dried the fruits
from their orchards for his family, and he always shared with friends and neighbors.
Rev. Eddie preached at Flo Center Point Church, Siloam, Midway and Rehobeth, and held many
revivals. Everyone traveled in wagons to go to the revivals. At one of them, George Peterson had his
dogs tied in his wagon; some young boys put “high-life” on the dogs, turned them loose, and what
barking went on while Rev. Eddie was preaching! Rev. Eddie kept right on with his preaching. Later,
when he found out what happened, he said, “God Bless the young people, they have to have fun.” Rev.
Eddie bought a Model T Ford car and would take the young ones for rides.
He had two other wives, Minnie Selman and Ora Reed. Rev. Eddie and Lillie are buried at Brushy
Cemetery in the Midway-Flo area. The Rev. Eddie Bilderback family brought prosperity to the Flo
community by being a loving, dedicated preacher and a family of good morals; hard-working people,
who helped settle our area with love for others.
Obituary, December 1940:
Reverend R. E. Bilderback was born in Indiana July 23, 1868. After his father was murdered in 1871 his
mother and her three small children moved to Buffalo, Texas.
In 1880 Brother Bilderback was converted and joined the Baptist Church. In 1889 he was called to
preach and was ordained. For forty-six years he was a pastor or missionary in some part of the State. In
1935 his health failed and he gave up regular work, but he continued to lead men in the way of the
Lord.
In young manhood he married Miss Lillie Nora Jones. They had ten children: eight daughters and two
sons. In 1918 his wife passed on leaving Brother Ed and nine children. He married Mrs. Homer Selman
October 24, 1920. She died in 1923, leaving also her three children in his care. June 2, 1926 he
married Mrs. Ora Reed, who survives him.
Brother Bilderback was honest, loyal and faithful. He suffered much and will reap a rich reward.
He died December 21, 1940 leaving to mourn his departure his widow, nine children, twenty-eight
grandchildren, other relatives and many friends.
His funeral was conducted by Reverend J. D. Herrington.
A footnote:
Reverend R. E. Bilderback had a baby daughter named Maple. She was born August 12, 1896 and
passed away August 25, 1899…from eating green peanuts.
The Bilderbacks: Evalena, Maude, Allie, Mattie, John, Mary,
Ted, Bertha and Reverend R. E. Bilderback
The Pounds Family
— From Rosie Pounds Pruitt —
Martha Emaline and Benjamine Franklin Pounds, better known as Aunt Mat and Uncle Ben, were my
grandparents. My daddy, Randolph Pounds, was one of their sons.
My Grandpa told me when I was a kid that his parents came from Tuscaloosa, Alabama by ship when he
was five-years-old. He was dressed in a suit with knee pants, dress shoes, white shirt and bow tie, and a
stovepipe hat. When they were crossing the gangplank off the ship his hat blew off into the channel.
He wanted his mother to get it but she told him she couldn't, that it was gone. He said he cried and
cried for his hat.
They raised five of their kids: Cassie, Billy, Randolph, Jewel and Jimmy.
Martha and Benjamine were married at Brewer, Texas, now known as Teague, and they were buried at
Brushy Cemetery.
I have the census from Victoria, Texas when they came inland. My grandpa's daddy (B. T. Pounds) had
a thousand dollars in his savings and a hundred dollars in his pocket. He was a wagon maker.
They were married in 1875 and they lived most of their lives in Leon County. They lived for awhile in
Oklahoma but moved back to Texas and lived out their lives.
The Bailey Family
— From Ms Leslie N. (Timmons) McClerkin —
Bryan Whitfield Bailey was born in the country of Ireland June 24, 1837. Family sources indicate that
he came to the United States on a freighter. It is not known at this time where or when he arrived. The
first documented date of his being in Texas is October 25, 1857, when at the age of twenty he married
Frances Price in Angelina County. Frances was born June 27, 1841 in Sumpter County, South Carolina,
the oldest of eleven children born to Elizabeth and Willis Price. Frances moved to Nacogdoches
County, Texas (later named Angelina County) when she was three years old.
Frances and Bryan had eight children. They were Mary Rosena, Georgia, Ida, Missouri, Dora, Charlie,
Oliver and Pink. According to Frances' application for a widow's pension December 7, 1911 and
approved March 1, 1912 they lived in Angelina County until about 1887 when they moved to Waller
County.
According to Texas Veterans records and archives, Texas State Library
in Austin, Bryan enlisted in the Confederate Army in April 1862 and
was mustered into service at Jefferson, Texas. He served as a
Confederate soldier in Captain J. B. McKnight's company, Company
“F” of Colonel Ochiltrees' 18th Texas Infantry Regiment and Colonel
Taylor's 17th Infantry Regiment He served in Arkansas, was captured,
and after ninety days went into the Army under General Bragg. He
was discharged at Richmond, Texas May 18, 1865. Affidavits of his company officers, Captain
McKnight and 1st Lieutenant Moffit of his company state he made a good soldier.
On June 24, 1899 records show that Bryan Bailey applied for a Confederate pension in Panola County,
Clayton, Texas and it was approved February 15, 1900. His application stated that he was physically
disabled and unable to work or support himself. Dr. George Turner, a reputable physician, stated on his
application that Bryan suffered from a dislocated wrist joint, nervous shock that caused neuralgia and a
fracture of a hip joint. These injuries caused him to be utterly unable to do any vigorous labor or
support himself.
With the exception of his military pension application and his death certificate in Leon County, there is
little known record of Bryan's life. Family sources say that he was a church organist and that he traveled
to different churches to play for the congregations. Records show that he had moved to Clayton, Panola
County in 1899. He wife Frances remained in Hempstead with her daughter, Ida Sanders, until her
death in 1924. Bryant often traveled to Flo to visit with his daughter, Mary Rosena Bailey Timmons and
other relatives in the area.
On September 29, 1911 Bryan was found dead under a tree beside an area road.
His death certificate, signed by Dr. Taylor, states he was a victim of suffocation.
He was seventy-four-years-old at the time of his death. He is buried in the
Brushy Cemetery. A Confederate marker has been placed on his grave to
commemorate his service in the Confederate Army.
— Ms Leslie N. (Timmons) McClerkin is the great-granddaughter of Bryan Bailey —
The Neal Family
William Stewart Neal and Martha Alice (Manning) Neal
— Excerpted from Shirley Clark Pylant’s Cartwright Family Chronicles —
Northwestern Arkansas was the birthplace of John Neal around 1775. A minister, he moved to Bedford
County, Tennessee, where his son, Jimmie Neal, was born in 1813. When he was twenty-four, Jimmie
was a captain on a wagon train used during the forced removal of the Cherokees to Indian Territory.
Apparently, he settled among the Indians there (in what is now Oklahoma), and married Mary Martha
Stewart, who was half-Cherokee. In 1851, when he was 38 years old, Jimmie was kicked in the head by
his horse and was buried in the area of Boggy River, Oklahoma.
According to his application for military pension, William Stewart Neal, son of Mary Martha and
Jimmie, was born in Indian Territory on February 27, 1842; however, he later confided to his grandson,
Ira “Shorty” Cartwright (1912-1987), that he had run away from home on a wagon train bound for
Texas when he was around 13 years old and never knew for sure what his birth date actually was. He
enlisted in the Confederate Army when was 21 (in 1863) serving in Company C, Douglas Company,
Hoxie Battalion of Cavalry, later transferring to Company I, Davis Company, Bradford’s Regiment of
Confederate States Cavalry. He served until May 1865 when he was discharged at Harrisburg, Texas.
Leon County, Texas was where William took sixteen-year-old Martha Alice Manning to be his bride on
June 10th, 1869. She was the daughter of George and Sarah
Earnest Manning and she was one-half Cherokee
Indian. William and Martha settled in Leon
County where he farmed the land next to
the Manning farm at Middleton. Later
they moved to Lexington, Lee County,
Texas, where they stayed until
approximately 1883 when they moved
back to Leon County, living first at
Middleton and then the Corinth
community. William and Martha had nine
children during their 24 years of marriage but
lost four of them in infancy, including their first two
William Stewart Neal children. Martha gave birth to twins in 1874 — James Martha Alice Manning
Matthew (1874-1940) and Frances Elizabeth (18741853-1893
1842-1923
1931), followed by Nora Bell (1876-1953), Rosa Lee
(1879-1880), John Thomas (1883-1950), Luther Allen (1886-1963), and Emma Mae (1891-1892).
Martha Alice Manning Neal died in 1893 at the age of 40.
Some three years later, William married 21-year-old Lillie Dell Crim (1875-1962) at Centerville, Leon
County, Texas, and Lillie bore William seven additional children — Laura Camelia (1897), Annie Lee
(1899-1921), Betty Lucille (1901), Joseph Welford (1901), Lester Theodore (1907), Fannie T. (1910)
and Harvey Fisher (1913). William Stewart Neal died on May 5, 1923 at the age of 81. Lillie Dell Crim
died in 1962 at the age of 87 and they are buried at Brushy Cemetery.
Clifford, Jessie and Lennerd Neal
Sons of Tom and Lillie Neal
by Alta Griffin Thorpe,
Granddaughter of Tom and Lillie Neal, daughter of Theresa Beatrice Neal, Griffin
John Thomas “Tom”
Neal was born in
Middleton, Leon
County, Texas on
Sunday,
3
September 1882 the
seventh child of
William Stewart
Neal and Martha
Alice
Manning.
Martha
Alice
Manning, Neal died
in 1894 and is
buried near Leona,
Texas in the Braden
Cemetery, which is
now abandoned.
John Thomas died
in Houston, Harris
County, Texas on
Sunday, 31 August 1950, and was buried 3 September 1950 in the Cleveland Municipal Cemetery in
Liberty County, Texas, on his 68th birthday. He was a beloved grandfather known to his grandchildren
as “Big Daddy.”
Lillie Belle Praytor was born in Milam County, Texas on Sunday, 15 January 1888 to William Franklin
Praytor and Annie Jane Wood, the sixth of nine children and the only daughter to live to adulthood. She
married John Thomas Neal in Leon County, Texas on 29 April 1903. Lillie died in Hemet, Riverside
County, California, 9 January 1972 and was buried next to her husband, John Thomas Neal in
Cleveland Cemetery, Cleveland, Liberty County, Texas on 14 January 1972, the birthday of her daughter,
Theresa Beatrice. Lillie was a beloved grandmother known to her grandchildren as “Mama Neal.”
John Thomas “Tom” Neal and Lillie Belle Praytor were the parents of 10 children. Three of these
children died in infancy and childhood, and are buried in Brushy Cemetery near the grave of their
grandfather, William Stewart Neal, the father of Tom Neal. Their graves lie side-by-side and are marked
with small tombstones that have their names and the years of their births and deaths. How little those
small stones tell of the suffering and the grief felt by the family that buried those little boys. The first
Neal son to be buried in Brushy was Clifford, the second child of Tom and Lillie. He was born 13
February 1907 and died 21 May 1910. Clifford became sick and died after eating some berries from a
tree in the yard of the family home in Flo, Texas.
The second little boy to buried by Tom and Lillie was Jessie Elma, born 27 December 1917. Also born
on that day was his twin sister, Bessie Alma. Tom and Lillie were proud of their twins, and Tom shared
in the responsibility of their care. Tom and
Lillie didn’t own any of the items of baby care
that we now deem necessary, and so the
parents slept on their backs, each holding a
baby on their chest to ensure the warmth of
the babies during a cold Texas winter. Because
Bessie was the stronger of the two, she became
Tom’s baby and slept on his chest. Jessie, who
was frail from birth, was Lillie’s baby.
Theresa Beatrice, the oldest daughter of Tom
and Lillie was almost seven years old when the
twins were born. Because Lillie was very ill
after the births of the twins, Theresa provided
much of their care. She rocked them;
comforted them, changed diapers and
mothered them in countless ways. She never
forgot the grief that the family experienced
when their little Jessie, still frail despite all
that Lillie could do, died on the 5th of June
1918. She remembered his little body being
prepared for burial, a coffin being built and
lined with fabric, and the trip by wagon to
Brushy Cemetery. Before the coffin was closed
Lillie wanted Theresa to kiss her little brother
goodbye. Theresa did not want to kiss the
dead baby, nor did she want to displease her
mother, so she kissed her little brother goodbye, and then saw his coffin lowered into the ground and
covered with dirt. It was the custom of the time for the family and friends to remain at the grave until
the grave was covered. The family then returned to their home.
Theresa remembered the wagon trip back home. Her mother’s grief was apparent, but contained until
Lillie reached the steps of the front porch of the family home in Flo. Theresa remembered that her
mother collapsed and sank to her knees, and a cry that came from the depths of her soul tore through
the air. Lillie remained on the steps for some time unable to go inside her home and face the emptiness
of the home without baby Jessie. Somehow life did go on, but we are left to wonder how.
Bessie became even dearer to her family after the death of Jessie, as they all knew how quickly a child
could become sick and die.
The third little son of Tom and Lillie to be buried at Brushy was Lennerd who was stillborn on 22nd of
January 1922. At the time of his birth the family was living at Malvern, Texas, but made the trip back to
bury Lennerd next to his brothers. The following year in May 1923, Tom returned to bury his father
William Stewart Neal.
Before her death in 1973 Lillie would bury her husband Tom, and two more children. Her firstborn
child, William Franklin, died 27 Dec 1957 on the 40th anniversary of the births of Jessie and Bessie. In
February of 1966 Bessie died.
Children of John Thomas and Lillie Belle Praytor, Neal:
William Franklin 19 Dec 1904 - 27 Dec 1957, buried Cleveland, Texas
Clifford
13 Feb 1907 – 21 May 1910, buried Brushy Cemetery
Thomas Allen
11 Feb 1908 – 20 Dec 1978, buried San Pedro, California
Theresa Beatrice 14 Jan 1911 – 28 July 1996, buried San Jacinto, California
Quanah Sylvester 8 Oct 1914 – 14 Jan 1989, cremated
Bessie Alma
27 Dec 1917 – 11 Feb 1966, buried Old Waverly, Texas
Jessie Elma
27 Dec 1917 - 5 June 1918, buried Brushy Cemetery
Opal Lee
8 Aug 1919 – 7 Dec 1997, buried Cleveland, Texas
Lennerd
22 Jan 1922 – stillborn, buried Brushy Cemetery
Lela Mae AKA:“Our Precious Darlin’ Aunt Lela.” 14 July 1925 - Living
Luther Allen and Mable Neal
— by Larry Lynch —
In the spring of 1963, a driver’s education course earned me a license at the tender age of fifteen, and
my maternal granddad loaned me the money to buy a car. His terms were simple. I was to spend the
summer with him as his driver.
Grandma and Granddad Neal lived on three acres beside
Highway 75, just north of the FM 1618
crossroads, about halfway between Buffalo
and Centerville. They had moved
there when I was a year old,
dismantling their house on “the
Old Place” to build the new
one. I had spent most
weekends and part of every
summer there with them
since before I could
remember. Their little farm
house had been the scene of
many Thanksgivings and
Christmases with Uncles
Clifton and J. T., Aunts Mable
and Nita, cousins Fran’ and Glenda,
Janetha and Bonita. My mom, Adell
Neal Lynch (now Dell Pettigrew) and dad
(Douglas Leon Lynch) had been
Luther Allen Neal
Mable Effie (Rose) Neal
reared in Leon County, and their
1886-1963
1895-1985
roots ran deep. They had to go to
Waco for work after World War II, but their hearts were still in the country. It was in the sand yard just
off Hwy. 75 that my brother, Rodney Neal Lynch, and I used Grandma’s soup spoons to dig tunnels and
build corrals for imaginary herds of cattle. We had ridden the butane tank beside Grandma’s little
garden a thousand miles in pursuit of cattle rustlers and buffalo. On the two creeks that separated the
orchard and truck patch from the pasture and woods, we used Granddad’s shovels and hoes to build a
hundred dams, once actually catching enough water to make a good swimming hole for most of a
summer. It was in this house early on a cold winter morning that my then nine-year-old sister, Pamela
Denice, backed up to a gas space heater and set her new nightgown afire, burning herself badly as she
raced down the hall in a flannel torch. My brother and I learned to fish on the “first branch,” the one
that ran behind the little house and through Clarence Thornton’s woods. With a sassafras sapling for
pole, cotton twine from a feed sack, a safety pin hook, a fence staple weight, and a cork from a dye
bottle stopper, we caught pumpkinseed, goggle-eye and mud cats. My Grandma, Mable Effie (Rose)
Neal, fed me more peas and cornbread in that little house than I have eaten in all the years since. It was
here that I learned to play dominos, then 42. The “rattle of the rocks” being shuffled lulled me to sleep
many nights as my uncles played “just one more set” to determine the “real” winners. This little house
held more memories for me than any other place at that point in my life, and I was honored to spend
the summer being chauffeur to my beloved Granddad.
Luther Allen Neal was seventy-eight years old that summer. He was not a well man. Tuberculosis had
claimed a lung when he was young and he had suffered ever since. With every cold he would develop a
terrible cough, and the sound of him gasping for breath during the wee hours of the morning haunts
me still.
Granddad was a diabetic, and I winced watching him squeeze the skin on his thigh to administer
insulin shots to himself.
He had managed to escape the odds by being fit and by keeping a positive attitude. He was fascinated
by people and never tired of good conversation. I can remember sitting on feed sacks in Layton Waters’
feed store and listening to him talk for hours with whoever came in. We once picked up a hitchhiking
sailor and drove miles out of our way so that Granddad could hear his entire life’s story. He wound up
loaning the kid $5. He told me his own boys had hitched all over the country and he thought of them
whenever he saw a young fellow with his thumb out on the open road.
He dreaded winter, and he hadn’t been expected to live through as many as he had. In the summer of
’63 he knew that time was running out on him. Our mission, he informed me, was to look up as many
old friends and relatives as we could find.
I soon realized that the folks we were going to be visiting were mostly “beyond the fence.” He had
outlived a lot of people, and we found them at Siloam, Antioch, Buffalo, Brushy, and in various little
plots on private property. The ritual was the same wherever we went. We would walk among the rows
of graves and stones silently, until he found the marker he was looking for. Then we would sit, and he
would tell me about the person buried there. His stories were sometimes humorous, other times
scandalous, and occasionally tragic. His reminiscences were a tribute, really, because he obviously had
cared enough about each of them to follow and file away details of their lives that were astonishing. He
was a walking encyclopedia of verbal biographies.
I have forgotten most of what he told me. Oh, an occasional snippet of some tale will drift back to me
as I am driving to or from some stock pond for a day’s fishing and will try to remember the name, or the
grave, of the featured player in this particular drama. I rarely can. Thirty years may be a blink in the
great scheme of things, but it is a big chunk of most lives, and has proven more than sufficient to erase
or at least muddle most of Granddad’s stories.
That August he became seriously ill. What began as a bad summer cold became pneumonia. I drove
him to the hospital in Fairfield. The family gathered. In the end he asked to go to our home in Waco
for his last few days.
Granddad and I spent several afternoons at Brushy that summer, where his and Grandma’s marker
already stood in anticipation of their arrival. He credited many people with making Brushy a reality,
and proud man that he was, never spoke of the work he had done to see that Brushy Cemetery became
more than a tangled, forgotten plot in the back of someone’s pasture.
I cannot recall the stories clearly, but with the help of other families I will now begin to record some of
them so that the generations to come will have some history of this place and these people who chose
Brushy Cemetery as their final resting place.
Granddad Neal was a proud man. He couldn’t read or write and died with only a few dollars in the
bank, but he didn’t owe anyone and he tried to tell the truth always. He loved his family and his
friends, trusted in the goodness of human nature, and once told me that his body was like an old coach
that had worn out, while his mind, the passenger inside, was still eager to travel on, curious about what
might be over the next hill, or around the next bend. I hope that I can feel the same at seventy-eight.
Gordon DeReese Neal
– Adelle (Neal) Pettigrew –
My brother, Clifton Neal, and his wife, Mable (Davis), were living in a small town in Louisiana when
their first male child was born prematurely. The
hospital where Mable delivered did not have an
incubator, or the child could have been saved.
Clifton and our older brother, Leo, placed the baby’s
body in a small white coffin and began the drive to
Leon County. At the state line they were stopped and
told that they could not remove the body from
Louisiana without giving it a name. They named it
on the spot, Gordon DeReese.
I was just a kid, but I still remember my big brothers
showing up at the door, with tears in their eyes, and Andrea, Lucas & Leo Lynch with Grandma Adell in
Clifton saying, “Mama, we have a corpse in the car.” the Neal plot.
He is buried at Brushy Cemetery.
Taken @ Brushy Memorial 1997 by Larry Lynch
My Neal Uncles: Luther Leo Neal (9/17/1911 — 10/21/1943)
– Larry Lynch –
I never met my Uncle Leo, but I heard so many stories about him I thought I had when I was young.
He was scared of snakes, won money with his strength, and was tight with a
dollar. When someone would invite him for a drink, he’d reply, “Your nickel
or mine?” And if it was to be his nickel he was usually too busy. He was a
loving brother who gave his job to little brother Uncle Dick (James Clifton)
when jobs were hard to come by in the oil patch. My granddad sometimes
slipped and called me Leo when I was young, and my grandma never spoke
of him without getting tears in her eyes.
On the night he died in San Diego, my grandmother woke up twice.
Granddad told me she had sat up in bed and was talking to someone in the
hall, “What is it, honey? Is something the matter?” When he asked her who
it was she told him it was Leo who’d come to the door, putting his hands at
the top of the frame and hanging his head. Later that night she awoke to see
him again, and this time when she asked what the matter was, he said, “I
just had to come say goodby.” The next morning they received the visit
Uncle Leo as a military
from the Navy to inform them of his death the night before.
man, 1942
I remember sleeping under a quilt made from the flag they had used to cover his coffin and had
presented to them. Grandmother never wasted a scrap of cloth and she knew a good piece of wool
when she saw one. There is undoubtedly a regulation somewhere against making quilts out of flags, but
I thought it a nice touch to make something useful from a family tragedy.
Andrea and I named our first-born after this uncle I only knew from stories handed down so that he
might get to live a full life.
John Thomas Neal (12/31/1918 — 7/16/1978)
John Thomas Neal (12/31/1918-7/6/1978)
Photo 1972 by Larry Lynch
Uncle J. T. was a nurse at the Veterans Administration in Fort Worth when I was a kid, and he had lots
of stories about his patients, many of them heroin addicts. Peter Lorre was one who had to come to
town to kick his heroin addiction before a big picture in order to satisfy the producers that he would be
reliable. Uncle J. T. told how, after a week, Mr. Lorre was still greeting him in the morning with a big
smile and a hello. That didn’t seem right to this nurse who’d seen so many addicts go through cold
sweats when they were forced off their heroin, so he decided to do some investigating. Sure enough, the
next food tray that came up from the kitchen contained a tiny kit in the milk carton. Uncle J. T.
removed it, and Mr. Lorre cursed him for an hour. He was not so cheerful for the next few weeks, but
he did get his certification to start a new motion picture project.
Uncle J. T. was a wonderful story-teller and had the Irish politician’s way with people. But he was very
cynical, too, after dealing with junkies for much of his adult life. I remember several very nice people
he brought to the country over the years to hunt or fish and be around a loving family. When we would
ask years later how so-and-so was doing he would usually just shake his head. I asked him once if he
thought there was a cure for heroin addiction. He said, “Dying.”
My dad and Uncle Clifton loved to fish and Uncle J. T. finally got the bug after years of acting as if it
was a waste of time. I remember fishing with him one day at Owl Hoot Creek above Lake Belton when
he caught fish-after-fish on his Zebco and a little H & H spinnerbait. He whooped and hollered every
time a bass struck his lure; I never saw him have so much fun.
When he retired he set about creating the perfect lake on his share of the Old Place, our name for the
Neal homestead. He carefully stocked and re-stocked the lake, cut down just the right number of trees,
created a picture postcard of a fishing pond, and got ready for years of enjoyment. He and my mother
would have coffee every morning; his and Aunt Nita’s house was just down the hill. They were having a
great time in retirement.
Then he was diagnosed with lung cancer and passed away within months. It was a terrible blow to all
who loved him, of course, but it was also a great lesson. He had really delayed his pleasure until his
retirement, almost never taken a vacation. And we aren’t guaranteed those years, or any.
The picture above was taken in Grandma Neal’s kitchen. He was having coffee with us and telling a
story. I’ll always remember him like that.
James Clifton Neal (6/19/1913 — 1/6/1983)
Every kid should be lucky enough to have an uncle like
my Uncle Dick (Grandmother called him “Dickie Boy
until he died). He was the only person I ever knew who
loved to fish as much as my dad, and he lived in Wood
County, where there seemed to be a bass pond over every
hill. Uncle Dick worked for Shell Oil and drove all over
the county checking on oil wells every day. Often we’d
drive up to some dairy farmer’s or rancher’s house along
the way to ask if we could come back to fish after work.
The answer was always yes, and I learned why. Uncle
Dick usually caught fish, and he would clean a mess for
his hosts. Uncle Dick was also the unofficial camp cook
for Shell, where they liked their fish fries. He kept a big
black iron pot there which he’d fill with lard and his
hush puppies and fried fish were
always a big hit.
Uncle Dick, James Clifton Neal (6/19/19131/6/1983) and brother-in-law Douglas Leon
Lynch 97/31/26-12/21/91) showing off their
catch in the early 1950’s
One summer Uncle Dick took me and my brother Rodney down to Padre
Island for some saltwater fishing. He drove a panel truck which he kept loaded
with fishing and camping gear. We drank Nehi grape and Big Red sodas, ate
vienna sausage, jack cheese and crackers for two weeks while we caught
flounder, redfish and speckled trout along the beach. It was a trip I’ll never
forget. On another trip he took us trotlining on Lake o’ the Pines. We slept
outside and the mosquitoes almost carried us away, but we caught big catfish
all night. We went home sunburned, itching and anxious to tell everyone
about our adventure.
Uncle Dick was excited about Lake Fork being built right in his backyard. I
think about him every time I spend a day on the water there. It’s now one of
Uncle Dick and catfish, the most famous big bass lakes in the world, but with my Uncle Dick I fished
about 1960
the creeks and many of
the farm ponds covered by the great lake many
years before it became Lake Fork
The last time I saw him he was in the intensive
care unit at St Luke’s in Houston. He was very
sick with cancer, but he grabbed my hand and
held it with the strength of a younger man. I
think he knew it was goodby, and that I’d have to
do the fishing for both of us after that.
At the ‘99 Brushy Memorial cousin Glenda put a
decoration on Uncle Dick’s grave that included a
boat paddle and the inscription “Gone Fishin’.” I
can’t think of a more appropriate epitaph for this
wonderful uncle who made our childhood much
more special.
Pamela Denice Lynch, Faye Frances Neal, Glenda
Gayle Neal, Rodney Neal Lynch, & Larry Douglas
Lynch at Pontiac Lodge in the Colorado Rockies in the
early 50’s.
Grandma-isms (East Texas Expressions)
Grandmother Mable (Rose) Neal may look very serious in her wedding picture, but she was known in
life for her sense of humor. She had a way of saying things that seemed unique to us, but perhaps
you've heard some of these phrases, as well.
“I do declare.”
“Your foot in a tar bucket.” [Said with incredulity when she found a statement hard to swallow.]
“You don’t say.”
“P-shaw.”
“Well, I swan.” [You’ve gotta be kidding.]
“Well, if that don’t beat all.” [Honey, it’s a funny world, isn’t it.]
“A whistling woman and a cackling hen,
Never came to any good end.” [Try to act like a lady, anyway.]
Grandma Neal
“Can’t never could do nothin’.”
Photo by Larry Lynch
“Up jumped the booger-man.” [Said when she laid the setting domino on a 42 trick.]
“He would tell a lie when the truth made a better story.”
“Stop hangin’ on my coat-tail and go on to your own rat-killin.’”
“I’m feelin’ tolable,” or “I’m feelin’ tolable well.”
“I’ll do it directly.”
“I’m as happy as a dead pig in the sunshine.”
“Well then, you must wear it sometime.” [The reply she
gave to a compliment on some article of clothing she
was wearing.]
“Are you just trying to get my goat?”
“Honey, are you just going to drag around in your coattail all day?”
“Oh, honey, it’s a dose, alright.” Monica Dell Waters & Grandma Mable Effie
(Rose) Neal
Photo by Larry Lynch
Brushy Memorial: What It Meant To A Little Girl in the 30’s
– Adelle (Neal) Pettigrew –
Brushy Association President, 1992 to present
I remember waking way before daylight on a hot August Sunday to the most wonderful smells coming
from our kitchen, chicken & dumplings, my Mother's famous caramel pies and I was just as excited as I
was on Christmas mornings!
My brothers and their families would come and they would all gather in the kitchen, putting the
finishing touches on all their contributions to our dinner at Brushy later in the day. It was Mother's job
to see that everything was just perfect and she never missed a single detail, right down to the perfect
meringue on the pies. Daddy was responsible for seeing to it that all the food made it to the cemetery in
perfect shape for the meal. It had to look just as good as it tasted. He would empty the clothes from the
chest of drawers and place the pies in the drawers and very carefully take the drawers to the trunk of the
car. Then we would drive very slowly and carefully to the cemetery. It was very important to Mom and
Daddy for all Mother's efforts to arrive in beautiful condition!
We always had chocolate cake topped with pecans, angel food cake with white icing and cherries and it
was all so wonderful and elaborate and I feel quite guilty to call my kids now and see what they can buy
to bring for our dinner, with me supplying the paper tablecloths and napkins and Pamela and Andrea
bringing food from the big stores in the Dallas and Tyler.
It sounds like food was so important and it was to a little 9-year old girl! As I have grown older, I still
cherish the memorials at Brushy and the special memories all come back to me in a rush now when I
awaken on the fourth Sunday morning in June. My family was always so proud of our little cemetery
and its wonderful heritage and I know I have passed that along to my children and grandchildren. They
all stop by Brushy and visit their uncles, aunts and grandparents when they come to visit me here in
Buffalo. How we loved those wonderful people who can never be replaced. No wonder we all look so
forward to honoring them and the place where they are buried.
John Lee “JL” Pettigrew, 1/3/30-5/2/01
- Eulogy delivered at his funeral bystepson, Larry Lynch –
A man died in Leon County this week. He was an unconventional man, and today we’re going to
celebrate his life with an unconventional service. What I hope we can take away from here today is a
sense of who this man was to each of us. For the past two days we’ve heard wonderful stories from
many of you, and in honor of JL we ask that you share some of those stories here today. If JL touched
your life, if he made a difference to you, we’d like to hear about that.
John Lee Pettigrew was born here in Leon County on January 3rd, 1930. A big nosed, loud-talking
garrulous man. A man who would talk to a fence post, who was never concerned about being politically
correct, a man who told stories about his past which were sometimes colorful, sometimes incredible,
but always true. He didn’t have to tell a lie, the truth made the better story in JL’s case. He was a man
who invited controversy—reveled in it, really—and who told the truth as he saw it. In fact, I learned to
be careful about asking JL’s opinion about something, because he would give me his unvarnished
version, which wasn’t always what I wanted to hear. I still remember the time I told him Andrea and I
had decided we wanted to have kids. He spent half an hour telling me why we shouldn’t…the cost, the
time, the heartbreak…and then he became the best granddad our two boys could have hoped for. We
named our youngest John in his honor, so John Lucas is our own little JL.
I came to appreciate knowing where I stood with JL Pettigrew. In a world where people will tell you
what they think you want to hear instead of what you need to hear, he was a good man to know—he
helped to keep me centered, and I suspect he did that with lots of other people, as well.
He was absolutely the worst rancher I ever met. He named every one of his cows and cried when he had
to take them to the auction sale. He held a mean grudge against anyone he perceived as being unkind to
animals. He put feeders out for every wild critter on the Old Place, and the day after he died UPS
showed up with a contraption he’d bought to automatically feed a wild cat he’d adopted when he and
mom left in their RV to go on one of their trips.
I got to watch JL go through some big life changes over the past sixteen years. I got to watch him fall in
love with Mom, to marry her, to see him give up alcohol at her request, to watch as he established a
relationship with his children and his grandchildren. I got to see him go from a man who said he’d
rather die than go without whole milk, or bacon and eggs for breakfast every morning, to a man who
watched what he ate and got up in the morning saying how thankful he was for just one more day. He
talked about somehow being aware of having his chest split open and how he’d taken so much for
granted—particularly his health—in his younger days. I really got to see a man come to appreciate his
life at the end of it, come to cherish every day he woke up alive, and to try to preach that sense of
cherishing life to people like me, who tend to forget that this road doesn’t go on forever, and that
stopping to smell the roses along the way is a good idea.
JL taught me another lesson I hope I can remember, and that’s how
to love and keep a marriage fun. I guess the prettiest words I ever
heard JL say were, “I sure do love that mother of yours.” Or, “Me and
your mom are sure having ourselves a good time.” I will always
remember the two of them sitting out in the yard in the morning,
having their coffee, making plans, and talking about friends, kids,
anything. They rarely seemed to tire of each other’s company, but
when Mom did go on the warpath, JL knew how to make himself
scarce until the storm had passed. Just one more important lesson I
got from my step-dad.
Wilbert Earl Neal
Obituary from Buffalo Press: Funeral services for Wilbert Earl Neal, age 62, were held at Memorial
Funeral Home Chapel. Jim Nedbalek and Lee Weiler officiated. Burial was in Brushy Cemetery.
Mr. Neal died January 20, 1998 in Temple, Texas. He was known by friends and family as “Pee Wee.”
He served in the armed forces for four years on active duty and four years in active reserves. He was a
firefighter for 18 years, eight of which he served as captain.
Survivors include his wife, Anna Neal of Oakwood; son, Walter Seamans and Gina of Waxahachie,
Texas; daughters, Virginia Perry and Marie Love of Buffalo; Anita Wilke and Wayne of Quincy, IL.; nine
grandchildren, five great-grandchildren; a sister, Juanita Nowak of Owakka, Ok.
Grave of William Robert Neal (4/28/1936-12/10/1937
taken in 1995. (Shadow by Leo Lynch)
Photo by Larry Lynch
William Robert Neal
– Larry Lynch –
He was just a toddler when he died, so his heartbroken parents placed his toys atop his grave. A little
airplane, a truck and cars survived sixty years atop the small grave at the southeast corner of Brushy.
Over the years many kids, including me and my two sons, wanted to play with the toys, just as William
did back in the thirties. How many parents said, over the years, “Leave the toys alone, those don’t
belong to you.”
It was sad to show up for the memorial in ‘99 and find the toys were gone. They’d been melting away
all these years, but they had become a fixture for many of us.
Perhaps their disappearance will serve to remind all of us that nothing is permanent, not even in death.
III. Bylaws of the Brushy Cemetery Association
(A Non-Profit Association)
Article I - Name
The name of this Association shall be THE BRUSHY CEMETERY ASSOCIATION.
Article II - Offices
The offices of the Association shall be located in LEON COUNTY, TEXAS.
Article III - Membership
Any individual interested in the care, upkeep or having a deceased relative interred in the Brushy
Cemetery may be a member.
Article IV - Meetings of Members
Section 1. [Annual Meetings] An annual meeting of the members shall be held on the fourth
Sunday each June at Brushy Cemetery beginning at eleven o’clock. Eleven to twelve o’clock shall be
designated as the religious hour. Twelve to one o’clock shall be for lunch and fellowship. At one
o’clock, the business session will begin dealing with matters pertaining to Brushy Cemetery.
Section 2. [Special Meetings] Special meetings of the members may be called by the President,
the Board of Directors, or not less than one-tenth of the number of members attending the last annual
meeting.
Section 3. [Notice of Special Meetings] Written notice of special meetings, stating the place, day
and hour of any special meeting shall be published in The Buffalo Press at least ten (10) days prior to
said special meeting.
Section 4. [Order of Business]
(1) Reading and disposal of any unapproved minutes
(2) Financial Report
(3) Annual Report of Officers
(4) Election of Officers and Directors as needed
(5) Unfinished business
(6) New business
(7) Adjournment
Article V - Board of Directors
Section 1. [Management] The affairs of the Association shall be managed by its Board of
Directors. Directors need not be residents of Leon County, Texas.
Section 2. [Number] The number of Directors shall be four (4) in addition to the President.
Section 3. [Special Meetings] Special meetings of the Board of Directors may be called by or at
the request of the President or any two Directors.
Section 4. [Notice] Notice of any special meetings of the Board of directors shall be given at least
seven (7) days previous thereto by written notice delivered personally or sent by mail to each Director
at his address as shown by the records of the Association.
Section 5. [Quorum] A majority of the Board of Directors shall constitute a quorum for the
transaction of business at any meeting of the board.
Section 6. [Vacancies] Any vacancy occurring on the Board of Directors during the year shall be
filled on an interim basis by the Board of Directors if they choose. The vacancy will then be filled at the
scheduled meeting in June, on a permanent basis.
Article VI - Officers
Section 1. [President] The President shall be the principal Officer of the Association and shall,
in general, supervise and control all of the business and affairs of the Association. He shall preside at all
meetings of the members of the Board of Directors and at the annual membership meeting. The
President of the Association shall be elected by the Board of Directors.
Section 2. [Secretary-Treasurer] When a vacancy may occur the Secretary-Treasurer shall be
elected at the annual meeting of the membership and shall be non-voting, and a resident of Leon
County. The duties of the Secretary-Treasurer shall be: keep the minutes of the meetings of the
members and the Board of Directors; see that all notices are duly given; be custodian of the records of
the Association; keep a register of the post office address of each member; receive and deposit all
monies in the name of the Association into the bank or other depository as selected by the Board of
Directors; and, in general, perform all the duties incident to the office of Secretary-Treasurer.
Article VII - Contracts, Checks, Deposits, Funds
Section 1. [Contracts] The Board of Directors may authorize the President to enter into any
contract or execute and deliver any instrument in the name of and on behalf of the Association.
Section 2. [Checks] All checks for the payment of money, notes or other
indebtedness can be signed by the President or the Secretary-Treasurer. However, the President’s name
shall be on file at the bank should his signature be required.
Section 3. [Deposits] All funds of the Association shall be deposited to the credit of the Association in
the Citizens State Bank of Buffalo, Texas, or such other depository as the Board of Directors shall
designate. The funds may be deposited in such accounts as they shall designate, also. (*This sentence not
found on the June 1988 copy.)
Section 4. [Gifts] The Board of Directors may accept on behalf of the Association any contributions,
gifts, bequests, or devise for the general purpose of the Association.
Article VIII - Loans
No loan shall be contracted on behalf of the Association and no evidence of indebtedness shall be issued
in its name unless authorized by the Board of Directors.
Article IX - Fiscal Year
The fiscal year of the Association shall begin on the fourth Sunday in June of each year and end on the
fourth Saturday in June of each year.
Article X - Permanent Fund
There is hereby established a permanent fund, the purpose of which is to generate funds for the
perpetual care of the Brushy Cemetery. Only interest may be spent and at no time shall any portion of
the principal of the permanent fund be spent. The Board of Directors is authorized to receive gifts and
bequests designated for The Brushy Cemetery Association Permanent Fund.
Article XI - Amendments to Bylaws
These bylaws may be altered, amended or repealed in whole or in part, or the Association may adopt
new bylaws by a two-third’s vote of the members present at any regular meeting of the general
membership.
However, the procedure shall be as follows:
1) the member desiring the change in the bylaws must provide the Association secretary with a
written copy of the proposal;
2) the member may, at the appropriate time, read his suggested bylaw change, then if he gets a second
to his proposed change, it will then be open for discussion. After the discussion has ceased the proposed bylaw
change will then be shelved until the next regular membership meeting, where it shall be classified as
unfinished business. It will then be read again by the Secretary and discussed by the membership and a
binding vote will then be taken. (This section not found on Eddie Parker’s June 1988 copy.)
Adopted at the annual meeting of the membership of The Brushy Cemetery Association held in June, 1988
(Donnis Raines presiding). IV. THE BRUSHY MAP
The cemetery has grown in several directions over a hundred years, so it is no surprise that the rows are
crooked and the graves are not equidistant. Therefore, this map should be taken as a loose guide to the
location of graves. On the census we have included the row number and a letter signifying the position
on that row.
447’6”
215’
232’6”
Undeveloped
207’6”
Drive-In
Gate
Row 1, A-Z
Row 2, A-Z
Row 3, A-Z
Row 4, A-Z
Row 5, A-Z
Row 6, A-Z
Row 7, A-Z
Row 8, A-Z
Row 9, A-Z
Row 10, A-Z
Row 11, A-Z
Row 12, A-Z
Row 13, A-Z
Row 14, A-Z
Row 15, A-Z
Row 16, A-Z
Gate
app 100’
328’9”
Gate
244’
115’3”
Tabernacle
Drive-In
Gate
North
213’5”
281’9”
Driveway
Brushy Cemetery Census
Row #
Name
Inscription
Notes
5
Bryan W. Bailey CSA
“17th Texas Infantry, CSA”
L
Bernice A. Bennett
6
L
E. R. Bilderback
Reverend, husband of Lillie N.
6
E
Eddie E. Bilderback
“Asleep in the arms of Jesus”
Son of J. A. & R. E. Bilderback
Died
1/24/1837
9/29/1911
9/8/1922
Still living in 1982
12/21/1940
8/29/1894
11/30/1934
2/10/1870
9/16/1950
7/18/1870
10/23/1918
Maple L. Bilderback
“A life so sweet and so bright but to our saviour…[illegible]”
Daughter of Mr. & Mrs. E. R.Bilderback
8/12/1896
8/25/1899
1/1/1869
1/1/1962
8/2/1870
1/10/1939
1/18/1911
12/18/1913
9/16/1902
7/19/1915
5/12/1910
12/29/1969
10/15/1946
11/11/1946
2/10/1943
3/19/1943
A
J. A. Bilderback
“At Rest”
(Father)
6
K
Lillie N. Bilderback
Wife of Elder E. R.Bilderback
J
Born
7/23/1868
6
6
6/24/99
6
M
Ora (Reid) Bilderback
6
B
R. E. Bilderback
“A Loving Mother”
7
O
Mama’s Baby (Inez) Bowers
Infant daughter of T. W. & Ida Bowers
7
P
Our Boy (John) Bowers
Son of T. W. & Ida Bowers
12 C
Bessie Boykin
12 D
Billie Jean Boykin
12 F
Harvey D. Boykin
12 G
Jonnie D. Boykin
1
Dorothy Lee (Gordon) Brown
12/22/1928
“United in Matrimony Mar 2 – 1946
In loving memory of 43 yrs, 10 mos, 18 days, you remain dear to my heart,
and forever will, for as long as the four winds blow and the rivers run still,
I give you a daisy a day.”
B
1/21/1990
1
C
Melton LaFayette Brown
13 H
Charles D. Cameron
“Beloved One, Farewell”
13 E
Daniel L. Cameron Capt., C.S.A.
“He is not dead, but sleeping”
A captain in the Confederate Army, husband of Mary L.
3/5/1920
6/8/1867
4/3/1940
3/7/1842
4/28/1926
Brushy Cemetery Census
Row #
Name
Inscription
Notes
13 G
M. Josephine Cameron
“Gone but not forgotten”
13 D
Mary L. Cameron
“Prepare to meet me in Heaven”
Wife of D. L. Cameron
4
Esther Campbell
Wife of John Wesley Campbell
4
C
B
John Wesley Campbell
Husband of Esther
16 P
Billy Gene Carlisle
“Sleep Little Darling
And take your rest.
God called you
He thought it best.”
Son of A. L. & Inez Carlisle
2
Leon Carruth
“Born & Died”
Son of O. O. & T. E. Carruth
2
2
D
B
A
Otis Oscar Carruth
Thressa Carruth
6/24/99
Born
Died
9/15/1874
12/5/1938
7/13/1844
8/5/1929
2/5/1847
1/28/1901
1/11/1841
12/26/1909
8/8/1929
11/30/1929
3/31/1947
3/31/1947
12/29/1910
3/4/1907
2/28/1992
6/23/1882
5/11/1919
4/6/1958
6/24/1982
11 Q
12 SS
Henrietta Carter
Ransel Carter
Son of Henrietta
13 F
Laura Mae Cass
“I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever”
1/26/1899
1/3/1975
6
Amanda E. Crockett
“Our Mother”
11/5/1842
7/20/1926
10/17/1901
5/29/1952
8/23/1879
5/14/1949
5/28/1904
2/5/1993
5/6/1916
10/13/1920
F
16 M
Andrew Delbert Davis
“Married Aug. 3 - 1919”
Husband of Lena Jewell
16 K
Auther P. Davis
“In Loving Memory”
Husband of Mary E.
16 L
Lena Jewell Davis
“Married Aug. 3 - 1919”
Wife of Andrew Delbert
16 O
Lorene Davis
“Budded on earth
To bloom in Heaven”
Daughter of Reverend O. C. & Mattie Davis
Brushy Cemetery Census
Row #
Name
Inscription
Notes
16 J
Mary E. Davis
Wife of Auther P.
6/24/99
Born
Died
8/5/1883
6/19/1966
1/8/1926
1/21/1928
12/4/1864
4/19/1900
13 K
Andrew J. Faulds
(Grave found in 1966 survey but not in 1982.)
Andrew J. Faulds, Jr
2/20/1900
1/3/1977
2
D
Cheryl Angel Flanery
1/29/94
1/29/94
7
N
Henry French C.S.A.
(Unmarked grave #48), grandfather of Mary E. Yarborough
16 N
13 L
Ralph Hubert Davis
“Sleep little Darling
And take your rest.
God called you
He thought it best.”
Son of Mr. & Mrs. O. C. Davis
1/1/001
7
M
Lizzie French
(Unmarked grave #49), grandmother of Mary E. Yarborough
2
P
Annie Lee Garland
Wife of Edward Benton Garland, married March 29, 1921
1/1/1899
6
Q
Dora Mae Garland
7/29/1894
2/1/1984
6
P
Edward Garland
11/7/1861
3/1/1932
2
Q
Edward Benton Garland
“Married Mar. 29 - 1921”
Husband of Annie Lee
1/1/1898
1/1/1971
6
O
Eva Garland
4/10/1867
3/25/1920
5
J
Gladys Garland
7/11/1914
8/4/1978
5
H
Ida Annie (Elgin) Garland
11/16/1892
11/27/1915
“Faithful to her trust,
Even unto death”
Wife of R. R. Garland, daughter of James D. and Kiziah (Shoemaker) Elgen (both buried in
Buffalo Cemetery). Sister of Charles Thomas Elgin (my grandfather, who married Mollie
(Henson), James T. Elgin (Theo, James Elgin’s father), Samuel Loyd (who married Grace
Garland, Barney’s sister), and of Maye (who married Cheeve Reeder)
— From Billi Jo Harris —
5
G
(Infant) Garland
10/31/1915
11/4/1915
Son of Mr. & Mrs. R. R. Garland who died at birth. His mother, Aunt Ida, was moved on a cot
from their small house to my Grandfather’s house but only lived 23 days.
— From Billi Jo Harris —
5
K
J. D. Garland
1/1/1912
1/1/1937
“Husband”
Husband of Louise (Gore), died of measles with no children — From Billi Jo Harris —
Brushy Cemetery Census
Row #
Name
Inscription
Notes
6
John William Garland
R
6/24/99
Born
Died
12/31/1887
3/30/1966
5
I
R. R. Garland
1/1/1890
“Father & Brother”
Husband of Ida Annie and brother of John Garland — From Billi Jo Harris —
1/1/1945
2
E
Albert Lee Gordon
1/1/1904
1/1/1977
2
F
Albert Eugene Gordon
5/12/1932
10/26/1935
3
C
Betty Lucille (Neal) Gordon
“Mother”
12/31/1901
5/7/1983
3
E
Charles Randolph Gordon
5/11/1925
7/22/1926
2
D
Fannie T. Gordon
10/17/1910
7/1/1991
3
B
James Michael Gordon
“Gone to be an Angel”
Son of James and LaVerne
6/18/1959
7/20/1967
3
D
Jesse P. Gordon
“Daddy In Loving Memory”
11/18/1899
4/3/1961
16 D
Herbert L. Gresham
“To Die Is Gain”
16 C
Lydia (Hill) Gresham
Wife of Herbert L.
4
F
Esther M. Hackworth
Wife of Glen A. Hackworth
6
I
J. P. Hemenway
“Our Grandfather”
5/30/1915
10/13/1988
Husband of Lydia (Hill)
12/9/1915
11/18/1887
6/20/1928
5/29/1818
6/16/1903
6
H
Sophia Hemenway
Grave found in 1966 survey but not in 1982.
11/26/1817
11/25/1888
2
C
Charles Lynn Henderson
7/1/74
7/1/74
10 M
(Infant) Hill
Infant daughter of Orsamus & Katy Hill
11/26/1921
11/26/1921
10 L
Jody Hill
“His little spirit is gone
To rest with God,
Forever to be blessed”
Son of J. R. & Pearl Hill
10/7/1888
10/27/1895
10 R
Johnie Wade Hill
“Budded on Earth,
To Bloom in Heaven”
Son of Starling and Willie Mae (Davis)
12/15/1939
1/16/1940
Brushy Cemetery Census
6/24/99
Row #
Name
Inscription
Notes
Born
Died
10 P
Joseph Rigdon “J. R.” Hill
4/29/1860
2/15/1942
“He is not dead, but sleeping”
Husband of Pearl, father of Orsamus, Ida Mae Suttle Oliver, Adelle Lee, and Jody
16 G
Margaret Catherine (Shaw) Hill
5/10/1889
8/3/1971
Wife of Orsamus, mother of Fannie Parker, Raymond Hill, Fay Ward, Lois Moore, Lydia
Gresham Nona Jo Coleman, Wanda Craig, James O. Hill, Kathryn Langley and infant Hill.
16 H
Orsamus Hill
3/14/1887
10/24/1961
Husband of Margaret C. (Shaw) father of Fannie Parker, Raymond, Fay Ward, Lois Moore,
Lydia Gresham Nona Jo Coleman, Wanda Craig, James O., Kathryn Langley and infant Hill.
10 Q
Pearl (Yarborough) Hill
2/22/1868
8/9/1947
“Gone to a bright home,
Where grief cannot come”
Wife of J. R. Hill, mother of Orsamus, Ida Mae Suttle Oliver, Adelle Lee, and Jody
16 I
Raymond Washington Hill
9/2/1909
11/2/1977
Father of Sherrell Wayne, Kathy Harris, Mary Rae Skaggs Hartman and Raymond Wayne Hill
10 N
Sherrell Wayne Hill
“Darling We Miss Thee”
Son of Raymond Washington Hill and Frankie (Taylor) Hill
6/3/1930
7/31/1932
10 O
“In
Starling J. Hill C.S.A.
Memory of Starling J. Hill, Texas Militia C.S.A.”
1/1/1840
1/1/1863
2
J
Carrie Mamie Hines
“Our Little One”
10/7/1914
7/9/1916
2
H
Carrie Lee Hines
Wife of Jessie E., married December 26, 1906
10/7/1877
1/10/1963
Herman Edward Hines
Husband of Ima Ruth (Robertson)
12/5/1907
7/4/1985
4/2/1909
3/21/1986
11 H
11 I
Ima Ruth (Robertson) Hines
2
Jessie E. Hines
Husband of Carrie Lee, married December 26, 1906
8/31/1876
1/19/1937
12 D
Billie Jean (Boykin) Holst
2/2/1944
3/9/1965
7
A
Baby Celeste Kilgore
8/29/1957
9/4/1957
7
B
Ollie (Raines) Kilgore
Wife of Robert L.
7
C
Robert L. Kilgore
Husband of Ollie (Raines)
I
5
O
Frank T. Knight
Husband of Mable E.
5
N
Mable E. Knight
9/17/1911
3/19/1911
7/30/1976
1/1/1895
1/1/1988
9/28/1899
6/8/1969
Brushy Cemetery Census
Row #
5
Name
Inscription
Notes
FFF Alonzo Daniel “A. D.” Lamon
Winnie R. Moore Lamon
16 A
16 B
13 B
Adelle H. (Hill) Lee
“Married April 11, 1920
Precious Memories”
Wife of Ben G. Lee
Ben G. Lee
Husband of Adelle H.
Harry Legalley
“Gone from our home,
But not from our hearts.”
13 C
Helen Legalley
“A precious Mother
And a faithful Friend”
2
Doris Jean (Waters) Lindley
“Gone but not forgotten”
N
6/24/99
Born
Died
11/5/1916
2/15/1920
5/5/1996
9/19/1903
3/22/1988
1/1/1896
1/1/1957
8/16/1864
2/2/1936
8/4/1865
8/26/1952
10/18/1927
2/17/1987
15 F
Debbie Lynn Lynch
1/6/1955
1/22/1955
“At Rest”
First-born of Charles & Betty Lynch, grand-daughter of Wilma (Beshears) and Leon.
(Born with spina bifida.)
2
Iredell Lynch
“Only Sleeping”
C
15 G
2/13/1941
2/13/1941
Sarah Wilma (Beshears) Lynch
3/9/1907
Wife of Leon Lynch, mother of Douglas Leon, Charles and Cathy
5/14/1990
12 H
Fannie C. Lyon
Mother of Margaret C. Spence and Mattie C. Bryan
1/1/1875
1/1/1901
12 E
Eugene Manarick
12/11/1932
6/1/1947
14 A
Alice L. Mayberry
“In thee, Lord, I have put my Trust”
1/6/1894
10/24/1971
14 B
Hortense L. McLeroy
“Auntie
Tho’ lost to sight,
To memory Dear”
1/4/1878
7/17/1956
11 P
Callie Ann Moore
7/3/1899
4/13/1954
11 U
Dennie L. Moore
Husband of LaVaughn
12/24/1923
6/29/1971
11 R
Edna Moore
“They gave their Today for our Tomorrow”
Wife of George Moore
10/29/1886
11/20/1959
Brushy Cemetery Census
Row #
Name
Inscription
Notes
11 S
11 V
6/24/99
Born
Died
George Moore
“They gave their Today for our Tomorrow”
Husband of Edna
8/1/1894
3/24/1977
LaVaughn Moore
Wife of Dennie L.
3/11/1924
4
3
A
A
William E. Moore
Texas Private, Air Corps, World War II
William H. “Bill” Morris
“We love you, daddy”
5/4/1916
7/13/1947
7/3/1941
9/23/1992
11 B
M. D. (Martha Delphinia) Mullenax
11/2/1850
Wife of Turner Mullenax, whose grave is next to her and marked by a rock.
4/16/1903
11 A
Pearl Alice Mullenax
Daughter of C. P. and Ruth B. Mullenax
1/23/1921
7/23/1921
9/23/1883
5/26/1900
11 C
Rufus K. Mullenax
“Gone Dear Boy but not forgotten”
11
Turner Mullenax
Husband of M. D. (Martha Delphinia) Mullenax, whose grave is next to his.
12 I
Margaret Joe Anna Murphy
“Ere sorrow had tainted this innocent love,
This spirit was sainted by Angels above.”
Daughter of B. T. and J. A. Murphy
1/13/1882
10 BB
Anita (Shive) Neal
Wife of John T.
4/7/1926
7
Clifford Neal
2/2/1889
1/1/1907
1/1/1910
11 N
1/1/001
1/1/001
1
9/19/1917
9/1/1998
1
J
David D. Neal
(Dates are illegible on tombstone)
AA Dollie Orleans Neal
Wife of Harvey Fisher Neal, Married 9/16/1931
A
Harvey Fisher Neal
4/26/1913
12 S
Ethel Mae Neal
10 Y
Franklin Odell Neal
“Another sweet flower blossoms
In the dears of Heaven”
Son of Luther Allen and Mable E.
10 T
Infant Neal
5/8/1940
5/8/1940
Son of Clifton and Mable Neal. He was named Gordon DeReese. Grave found in 1966 survey
but not in 1982.
10/27/1931
8/20/1988
9/5/1923
4/21/1924
Brushy Cemetery Census
6/24/99
Row #
Name
Inscription
Notes
Born
Died
10 W
James Clifton Neal
6/19/1913
1/6/1983
“Married Dec 7 – 1935”
Husband of Mable (Davis) Neal, father of Faye Frances, Glenda Gayle and James Allen, son of
Allen & Mable Neal
12 R
James Matthew Neal
“A precious one from us is gone”
11 M
Jesse James Neal
7
Jessie E. Neal
K
3/22/1874
1/23/1940
10/28/1909
11/8/1990
1/1/1917
1/1/1918
10 CC John T. Neal
12/31/1918
7/6/1978
“Wed Feb 6 – 1946”
Husband of Anita Shive Neal, father of Janetha and Bonita, , son of Allen & Mable Neal
2
G
Joseph Neal
7
L
Lennerd Neal
12/2/1932
5/24/1957
1/1/1922
1/1/1922
Lester Neal
(Unmarked)
Buried by Grandma Lillie Neal, location of grave presently unknown (10/25/93)
11 L
Lestil Lois Neal
Wife of Jessie Neal
1
Lillie Neal
“Mother
At rest with Jesus”
D
12 Q
Linnie Neal
“A precious one from us is gone”
5/9/1919
5/13/94
1/1/1875
1/1/1962
7/5/1885
12/28/1918
10 AA Luther Allen Neal
1/12/1886
9/1/1963
Husband of Mable E. Neal, father of Luther Leo, James Clifton, Franklin Odell, Eva Faye, and
John T.
10 X
Luther Leo Neal
9/7/1911
10/21/1943
“Gone from our home,
But not from our hearts.”
U. S. Navy, WW II, died of pneumonia while stationed in San Diego, , son of Allen & Mable
10 Z
Mable Effie (Rose) Neal
8/28/1895
8/30/1985
Wife of Luther Allen Neal, mother of f Luther Leo, James Clifton, Eva Faye, John T.,
Franklin Odell, Adelle
10 V
Mable (Davis) Neal
Wife of James Clifton
10 U
Martha Diane Neal
“T’was a flower too good for earth,
Transplanted into Heaven”
Daughter of Clifton and Mable Neal, died of leukemia
2/9/1918
9/1/1941
4/25/1944
Brushy Cemetery Census
Row #
Name
Inscription
Notes
10 X
Odell Neal
Another sweet flower blossoms
In the dews of Heaven
Son of Mr. & Mrs. L. A. Neal
6/24/99
Born
Died
9/5/1923
4/21/1924
11 O Roger L. Neal
8/24/1945
8/25/1945
5 R
Wilbert Earl Neal
1/20/1936
1/20/1998
Obituary from Buffalo Press:
“Funeral services for Wilbert Earl Neal, age 62, were held at Memorial Funeral Home Chapel.
Jim Nedbalek and Lee Weiler officiated. Burial was in Brushy Cemetery.
Mr. Neal died January 20, 1998 in Temple, Texas. He was known by friends and family as “Pee
Wee.” He served in the armed forces for four years on active duty and four years in active
reserves. He was a firefighter for 18 years, eight of which he served as captain.
Survivors include his wife: Anna Neal of Oakwood; son, Walter Seamans and Gina of
Waxahachie, Texas; daughters, Virginia Perry and Marie Love of Buffalo; Anita Wilke and
Wayne of Quincy, IL.; nine grandchildren, five great-grandchildren; a sister, Juanita Nowak of
Owakka, Ok. Memorial Funeral Home of Buffalo made arrangements.”
1
7
AA William Robert Neal
4/28/1936
12/10/1937
“T’was but a flower too good for earth
Transplanted into Heaven”
This grave was decorated with William’s toys until 1998.
H
William Stewart Neal C.S.A.
2/27/1842
5/5/1926
Served in the army of the Confederate States of America, father of Luther Allen, Tom
10 A
Alvin Grady Nichols
3/1/1917
“Texas Private, U.S. Army, WW II”
Son of Charlie and Annie (Lathrop). Born in Coleman County.
4/21/1968
— Norma Moore —
10 C
Annie (Lathrop) Nichols
1/14/1895
5/2/1957
Wife of Charlie, mother of Lorene, Alvin and Jewell Dee. Annie was the daughter of William
Makepiece and Martha Isabelle (Willis) Lathrop, early pioneers of the Flo community. The
Lathrop homeplace has been owned by Lathrops for over a hundred years.
— Norma Moore —
10 D
Charlie Nichols
1/1/1891
1/1/1945
Son of Marion and Mary, husband of Annie (Lathrop), father of Lorene, Alvin and Jewell Dee.
— Norma Moore —
10 B
Jewel Dee Nichols
5/21/1912
10/7/1967
Son of Charlie and Annie (Lathrop) Nichols. Born and died in Leon County.
— Norma Moore —
11 F
Marion Nichols
3/10/1848
1/10/1913
“Rest in Peace, Waiting for Jesus”
Husband of Mary, father of Charlie (buried at Brushy) and a daughter, Laney . A farmer,
Marion was an early settler in the Flo Midway community.
— Norma Moore —
Brushy Cemetery Census
6/24/99
Row #
Name
Inscription
Notes
Born
Died
11 G
Mary Nichols
6/5/1853
12/26/1923
“Rest in Peace, Waiting for Jesus”
Wife of Marion, mother of Charlie (buried at Brushy) and a daughter, Laney. Mary was a
loving wife, Mother, and Grandmother.
— Norma Moore —
16 F
Fannie (Hill) Parker
Wife of Robbie E.
9/28/1907
5/8/1999
10/20/55
3/4/97
11/27/1900
4/11/1964
7/3/1898
4/10/1974
15 B
James R. Parker
“Beloved Son”
16 F
Robbie E. Parker
Husband of Fannie (Hill)
6
S
Sybil Garland Parker
4
J
4
K
Amelia B. Phillips
11/3/1888
5/2/1976
Wife of John T. Phillips
John T. Phillips
2/2/1893
9/10/1962
Husband of Amelia B., son of T. A. and Mary E., brother of Robin and half-brother of John A.
(Pete). John worked for the railroad and was known as a great railroad man.
— Norma Moore —
4
H
4
I
John A. (Pete) Phillips
4/1/1905
9/23/1954
Husband of Lacie (Berry), father of Lorene and Rita Mae. A barber and farmer, Pete loved
hunting and fishing, lived in the Midway area for several years, then moved to Centerville.
— Norma Moore —
Lacie (Berry) Phillips
7/30/1903
2/10/1980
Wife of John A. (Pete) Phillips, daughter of Brother Elijah and Mary (Hart) Berry. Lived in the
Flo area, close to the Walker Moore homeplace.
— Norma Moore —
10 K
Lanie S. (Nichols) Phillips
4/8/1876
1/9/1949
Second wife of T. A. Phillips (Uncle Ellic), mother of John A. (Pete), daughter of Marion and
Mary Nichols, sister of Charlie.
— Norma Moore —
4
Mary E. Phillips
1/24/1867
12/8/1902
First wife of T. A. Phillips, mother of John T. and Robin, she is buried by her husband and
three sons.
— Norma Moore —
E
4
D
Robin Phillips
Son of T. A. & Mary E. Phillips
3/26/1896
3/26/1896
4
G
T. A. Phillips
9/1/1855
12/27/1936
“Uncle Ellic,” husband of Mary E. and Lanie S (Nichols)., father of John T and Robin (with
Mary). A farmer, he and his family lived in the Midway area.
— Norma Moore —
Brushy Cemetery Census
Row #
Name
Inscription
Notes
5
M
Wendell Phillips
6
C
Mattie L. Pipkin
6/24/99
Born
Died
6/14/1899
9/21/1966
9/12/1903
2/3/1904
Ben Pounds
“At Rest”
Husband of Mattie, father of infant and Robert
11/12/1853
8/27/1948
(Infant) Pounds
Son of Ben F. and Martha “Mattie” Eveline (Yerby)
11/22/1888
11/22/1888
13 J
Martha “Mattie” Eveline (Yerby) Pounds
Wife of Ben, mother of infant and Robert
8/15/1858
3/16/1939
9
Robert E. Pounds
Son of Ben F. and Martha “Mattie” Eveline (Yerby)
4/1/1900
6/28/1900
Fran Price
7/23/44
13 I
9
G
E
9
V
16 S
5
B
Max Price
“In Loving Memory
Married Jan 26, 1974”
Audrey (Gleason) Raines
“Rest In God”
Wife of Ralph Henry
David Haynie Raines
“Married 9-2 1933
Gone from our home,
But not from our hearts.”
16 Q
David Asa Raines
“In God’s Care”
5
C
Donnis L. Raines
5
E
Evalena Raines
5
D
Madonna L. Raines
Wife of Donnis L.
5
A
Marie D. Raines
“Married 9-2 1933
Gone from our home,
But not from our hearts.”
16 T
Ralph Henry Raines
“Rest In God”
16 R
Thomas Kelly Raines
5
Willie H. Raines
F
12/7/40
7/8/98
9/14/1923
3/8/1913
12/9/1966
4/13/1952
4/13/1986
8/20/1934
9/7/1992
11/24/1890
5/12/1944
12/18/1943
8/25/1914
8/26/1921
10/27/1945
2/25/1957
2/25/1957
8/13/1884
6/17/1937
Brushy Cemetery Census
Row #
Name
Inscription
Notes
15 A
6/24/99
Born
Died
Roger Eldon Roberts
“Earth is poorer now – yet richer for having known him”
Son of Ray and Peggy (Parker) Roberts
3/16/1961
10/14/1979
11 J
Omra Robertson WOW
Wife of W. E. Robertson
1/1/1881
1/1/1936
11 K
W. E. Robertson WOW
“How desolate our home bereft of thee”
Husband of Omra
10/20/1882
7/2/1913
15 B
Michael Wayne Skaggs
“God Bless Our Baby”
(Baby) Son of Mary Rae (Hill) Skaggs Johnson Hartman
6/12/1957
6/12/1957
12 B
Margaret C. Spence
“Ma – We love you”
9/3/1892
10/25/1978
3/2/1888
11/9/1951
10/17/1913
7/14/1978
12 A
George Stovall
9
Harvey J. B. Suttle
“Blessed Husband and Father”
Husband of Hattie B.
B
9
A
Hattie B. Suttle
Wife of Harvey J. B. Suttle
9
C
William P. Suttle
“Gone from our home,
But not from our hearts.”
9
D
Ida Mae Suttle Oliver
“Gone from our home,
But not from our hearts.”
1/11/1918
11/15/1886
9/29/1942
5/31/1897
3/3/1975
2/19/1882
4/19/1969
1/1/1903
1/1/1993
13 N
William E. Sykes
13 M
Luther Taylor
13 A
Dean Thorne
“Protector of the Underdogs
Greater love hath no man than this,
That a man lay down his life for his friend”
– John: 15:13 –
1/18/1965
2/28/1986
Ida B. Tinnel
1/14/1896
5/19/1992
2/14/1885
9/26/1887
1/23/1924
4/24/1990
7
D
Walter L. Vaughn
Son of P. M. & Sophia Vaughn
1
G
Cecil M. Waters
“Wed Oct 25 1943”
Brushy Cemetery Census
Row #
Name
Inscription
Notes
2
L
Eva C. Waters
“She was the sunshine of our home”
2
H
Gary Archie Waters
“A fairer bud of promise never bloomed”
Son of Mr. and Mrs. G. M. Waters
1
F
Rita M. Waters
“Wed Oct 25 1943”
Wife of Cecil M.
2
M
6/24/99
Born
Died
4/19/1900
7/25/1937
9/14/1945
5/18/1946
7/16/1927
W. L. Waters
“He was a wonderful Husband and Father”
5/21/1891
4/12/1967
Infant Watkins
9/13/1900
Son of T. C. and M. E. Watkins. Grave found in 1966 survey but not in 1982.
9/13/1900
Frank B. Welch
“Pam Pa”
10/7/1914
1/2/1989
5/17/1913
8/16/1984
15 E
15 D
James C. Welch
“I have fought a good fight,
I have finished the course,
I have kept the faith”
– Timothy 4:7 –
Mother Welch
(Near this grave are 3 headstones, No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4. Grave found in 1966 survey but
not in 1982.)
13 O
Mrs. Bettie Welch
15 C
Sadie Mae Welch
Wife of James
1/1/1880
1/1/1926
2/11/1918
Howard Wayne (Hall) Wilke
11/1/1952
Note: Wayne was my son-in-law. Married my youngest daughter Anita.
They lived in Quincy, Illinois.
5/30/1999
Fannie Estelle Wilkins
“In loving memory of Mama”
1/8/1926
1/29/1991
1/1/1903
1/1/1968
1
E
13 S
John H. Wood
Husband of Martha A., married December 6, 1927
15 F
John “Jake” Wood Jr
Son of John & Martha A., married December 6, 1927.
Children: Martha, Vickie, Thomas
13 R
Martha Alma Wood
Wife of John H. Wood, married December 6, 1927
3/12/98
11/7/1899
8/22/92
Brushy Cemetery Census
Row #
Name
Inscription
Notes
Thomas Wayne Wood
6/24/99
Born
Died
1/1/1966
1/1/1966
1/14/1981
13 U
V. Lloyd Wood
Husband of W. Fern, married August 14, 1950
10/12/1929
13 T
W. Fern Wood
Wife of V. Lloyd Wood, married August 14, 1950
12/12/1930
9
Celia R. Rebecca (Barnes) Yarborough (Mrs.)
6/11/1884
“Gone from our home,
But not from our hearts.”
Wife of W. B. Yarborough, mother of George W. and James Luther (Cookie)
5/7/1964
P
8
M
E. V. “Isabell” (Moore) Yarborough
3/29/1845
Wife of William Burns, C.S.A., father of Pearl, George W., W. B., and Henry L.
12/12/1898
9
O
George W. Yarborough
8/21/1875
“Gone from our home,
But not from our hearts.”
Husband of Mary E., father of Ona, Lenard and infant (buried at Brushy)
12/10/1925
8
R
Henry L. Yarborough
Husband of Mary Jane, father of Willie
6/21/1884
9/4/1954
8
N
Infant Leonard Yarborough
Son of George W. and Mary E. (French)
2/23/1902
3/8/1902
3/14/1903
3/14/1903
Infant Ona Yarborough
Son of George W. and Mary E. (French)
9
9
S
N
James Luther (Cookie) Yarborough
11/12/1911
3/24/1982
Mary E. (French) Yarborough
11/5/1874
2/25/1955
“Our Mother”
Wife of George W., mother of Ona, Lenard and infant Yarborough (buried at Brushy)
8
S
8
K
Mary Jane (Avary) Yarborough
4/29/1888
7/30/1976
Wife of Henry L., mother of Willie
William Burns Yarborough
12/1/1881
11/18/1944
“Our Dear One, We loved him so…
But God loved him best”
Husband of Celia Rebecca (Barnes), father of George W., Jr. and James Luther (Cookie)
Wade H. Yarborough
8
L
5/9/1862
6/11/1905
William Burns Yarborough C.S.A.
3/28/1840
2/5/1913
Husband of E. V., father of Pearl, George W., W. B., and Henry L. Confederate States Army
8
Q
Willie Yarborough
Son of H. S. and Mary Yarborough.
9
R
George W. Yarborough, Jr.
“A little flower of love that blossomed but to die
Transplanted now above to be with God on high”
Son of W. B. and Celia Rebecca (Barnes)
1/1/1909
11/11/1910
5/26/1907
1/26/1922
Brushy Cemetery Census
6/24/99
Row #
Name
Inscription
Notes
9
Essie Arlenia (Jones) Yerby
8/11/1851
Wife of William Jefferson Yerby. Grave found in 1966 survey but not in 1982.
3/16/1896
James Franklin Yerby
7/30/1820
“Too good for earth
God called him home”
Wife, Sarah A. (Dodson), has oldest marked grave in Brushy Cemetery.
11/11/1899
K
Born
Died
9
J
9
I
Sarah A. (Dodson) Yerby
3/4/1828
5/18/1887
“Though lost to sight,
To memory dear”
Wife of James Franklin Yerby, with whom she had nine children. Hers is the oldest marked
grave in Brushy Cemetery.
This census researched in 1966 by Mrs. Frances Hale, Mrs. J. M. Hunt, Mrs. D. W. Moore, Mrs.
Harvey Maddus, Mrs. Albert Campbell, Mrs. Zula Leathers and Mrs. Evelyn Warn. There are numbered
stones without names here.
2
3
3
6
6
7
7
7
7
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
9
9
9
9
10
10
10
11
11
12
12
12
12
12
12
12
13
13
O
G
F
G
N
E
F
G
I
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
O
P
F
H
L
M
G
H
I
D
E
J
L
M
N
P
O
K
P
Q
Unknown Marker #57
Unknown Marker #54
Unknown Marker #56
Unknown Marker #58
Unknown Marker #45
Unknown Marker #46
Unknown Marker #43
Unknown Marker #42
Unknown Marker #41
Unknown Marker #24
Unknown Marker #23
Unknown Marker #32
Unknown Marker #33
Unknown Marker #29
Unknown Marker #34
Unknown Marker #35
Unknown Marker #28
Unknown Marker #36
Unknown Marker #37
Unknown Marker #47
Unknown Marker #50
Unknown Marker #21
Unknown Marker #31
Unknown Marker #58
Unknown Marker #39
Unknown Marker #20
Unknown Marker #17
Unknown Marker #16
Unknown Marker #19
Unknown Marker #2
Unknown Marker #8
Unknown Marker #6
Unknown Marker #7
Unknown Marker #5
Unknown Marker #8
Unknown Marker
Unknown Marker #1
Unknown Marker #3
Unknown Marker #2
Checked and updated June 1982 by Clovis Herring and Anna Lee Gresham.
Checked and updated November 1993 by Larry D. Lynch and Adelle (Neal) Pettigrew. President:
Dell Pettigrew
Board of Directors:
S. W. Davis
Earl Hill Moore
Claude Moore
David Raines
Serving Texas
Since The 1880’s
Brushy Cemetery
Secretary:
Parthena Van Wey
Annual Memorial
Fourth Sunday
of Every June
Join Us
***
If you have loved ones buried at Brushy Cemetery, then you have stories that should be included in this
book. Remember, when you are gone, those stories may be gone, as well. So, someday soon, make a
date with yourself to sit down and record those memories in your own words, as if you were telling
them to a generation a hundred years from now.
When you have finished, send your memories to us at the address below. If you have photos, send us
copies. We will scan them and return them to you:
Larry & Andrea Lynch
2029 Custer Parkway
Richardson TX 75080
Our phone: 972-761-0500, fax: 972-761-0501, email is studio@repertoireart.com.
This book has been assembled, with love, every year since 1994. If you would like to receive a copy,
please contact:
The Brushy Cemetery Association
Attention: Ms Parthena Van Wey
Drawer A
Buffalo, TX 75831
Her phone: 903-322-5646
PS: Proof-reading is our most difficult task because much of the information here is difficult, if not
impossible, to cross-check. Much of the material we receive is hand-written or yellowed copies of
newspaper clippings. If you know of any errors in this book, please contact us so that we can correct
them for the next edition.
P. O. Box Drawer A Buffalo, Texas 75831
Production Notes
Work on the Brushy Book begun in 1992. It was first published in 1994.
Archival illustrations are provided gratis by the Library of Congress. Our thanks to them for their
contribution to our book.
The design/layout is performed on a G3 266 mhz Macintosh computer in Quark Xpress (4.04).
The primary font is Berkeley. Caslon Open Face is used in the Brushy logo.
The photographs are scanned on a Microtek IIHR and worked over in Photoshop (now 5.02).
The Friends of Brushy Mailing List is kept in a database, Filemaker Pro (4.0).
This issue is being printed on Hammermill 32 Bond and output directly from a Zip disk onto a Xerox
photocopier.
This book is archived on a CD using a LaCie writer.
The Brushy Book is available as a free download from our website. Please be sure you have Acrobat
Reader installed and that you have at least 4 megs of memory assigned to it before trying to open The
Brushy Book:
http://www.repertoireart.com/brushy/cemetery.pdf