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Photographer's
Note:
Subject: Democrat Cemetery and Church
I came to the
intersection of 573 and 218. About 300 yards to the east on 218 I
saw the Democrat cemetery and about the same distance to the west
I saw the Democrat Church.
I stopped at the Democrat Cemetery first. Most of the graves are late
1800s and early 1900s, including a couple of Civil War soldiers. One
fellow, G.B. Baskin, born in May, 1846 and died in January 1932, rode
with Martin’s Escort. Mr. Baskin managed to live through the Civil
War, the Great War, the Flu Epidemic of 1918 and see the Great Depression.
Anyone who thinks that our time is especially dark and dangerous should
walk through a cemetery and note the people who lived through a war
where 5,000 casualties in one day was a fact of life and 10,000 in
one day was not unusual. Besides the adults, there were quite a few
infants and young children buried here. Back then there were many
infirmities and few doctors.
Directly across the road from the Democrat cemetery is the Dudley
Cemetery, begun in 1914. It is a very small plot, fenced off, and
judging by the names on the few graves, it is meant just for the Dudley
family and their kin.
I drove west on 218 and came to a white wood frame country church,
with a sign out front reading DEMOCRAT COMMUNITY. The door was locked
but I peeked through the window. The pews have been removed and replaced
by four round, white tables, suitable for playing cards or having
covered-dish suppers. Up front where the cross would normally be found,
hangs a Christmas wreath. And out back is the men’s outhouse, a two
seater, dilapidated but perhaps still useable in a pinch. - William
Holmes, September 18, 2004 |
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Democrat
Cemetery Historical Marker
Marker Title:
Democrat Cemetery
City: Goldthwaite
vicinity
County: Mills
Year Marker Erected: 2000
Marker Location: 14 miles north of Goldthwaite
on SH 16, then 10 miles west on FM 218
Marker Text: Although settlement of this area dates to 1878,
this graveyard was not established until the turn of the 20th century.
The earliest documented grave is that of one-year-old Lee Ella Deen,
daughter of W. F. and M. L. Deen, who died in November 1904. In February
1905, J. L. Chancellor deeded the surrounding three acres of land
to the citizens of the Democrat and Rock Springs communities for use
as a public burial ground. Among the early graves in the cemetery
are those of a number of infants and children, victims of the influenza
epidemic that raged worldwide in the early 20th century, and veterans
of the Civil War, World War
I and World
War II. A reflection of area history, the cemetery remained in
use at the turn of the 21st century. (2000)
Mills
County Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture
915-648-3619
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