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General
Sam Houston was laid to rest in Oakwood Cemetery, in Huntsville.
The cemetery is also home to the once bronze statue, known to Sam Houston State
University college students as “Black Jesus.”
The bronze statue of Jesus
is located in the middle, on the far north edge of the cemetery. The statue is
recessed into the woods a bit.
All the graves in the cemetery are laid
out with the feet facing East. The family’s graves near the statue are the only
ones buried with the feet facing west. The family erected the statue when their
five year old son died.
The bronze statue of Jesus soon weathered and
turned black. The Jesus statue is in the classic pose with the hands out stretched
and palms up.
Those who visit the cemetery claim that when the sun sets
in Huntsville, and no light
shines through the trees onto the historic graves, the hands can be found palms
down.
Oakwood Cemetery usually arranges Halloween tours for visitors and
thrill seekers.
Huntsville
is also home to the notorious Texas Department of Criminal Justice State Penitentiary,
the Walls Unit, the oldest prison in the state, built in 1848. Criminals meet
an untimely death at Texas’ execution facility.
Ghosts and unexplained
noises are often spotted or heard at the original death row site, located, on
the first floor of the East Building. This part of the Walls Unit has not been
in use since the 1950s. The South Building, as well as the catwalk connecting
the two are also said to be haunted by former inmates, who seek revenge.
From 1848 until 1923, prisoners were put to death by way of hanging at the Huntsville
prison. In 1923, Texas authorized the use of the electric chair.
Many
prisoners, including one of the most notorious offenders to be executed in Huntsville,
Raymond Hamilton, member of the "Bonnie
and Clyde" gang, were executed at the Walls Unit.
One Halloween a
correctional supervisor placed a voice-activated tape recorder on the old and
abandoned death row. Locals say that when he played it back later for several
other correctional officers, the clanging of cell doors slamming shut and opening
could be heard. According to the story, at the very end of the recording an unidentified
voice could be heard saying, "Hey captain, hey captain."
© Dana
Goolsby
Reporter of The Grapeland Messenger
"They
shoe horses, don't they?"
October 29, 2010 Column
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