Near Cross Plains in Callahan County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)
Old Cottonwood Cemetery
Photographed By Duane Hall, December 25, 2014
1. Old Cottonwood Cemetery Marker
Inscription.
Old Cottonwood Cemetery. . For his military service with the Republic of Texas, George Washington Glasscock, Sr. (1810-68) received a land grant incorporating the future settlement of Cottonwood. His will conveyed this land to his daughter, Sarah Jane Glasscock Hall, whose husband, Phidello William Hall, was a Texas legislator (1870-74). In 1875, J.W. Love visited Cottonwood Springs near the headwaters of Green Briar Creek and homesteaded here. The land was well suited for farming, and the community of Cottonwood soon boasted several businesses, churches, a Christian academy, a post office, and two newspapers. , In 1884, Sarah Jane and P.W. Hall donated land for the Cottonwood Cemetery, as well as land for Union Baptist and Methodist churches. The burial ground was already in use with the first known graves including infants dating from 1877. Cottonwood was noted for frontier violence; friends George Franks and Tom Jones who killed each other in Dec. 1882 are buried in a common grave. P.W. Hall died in 1888 and is buried here; Sarah Jane Hall is believed to be buried here too but her grave has not been identified. Prof. J.H. Yonley, founder of Cottonwood’s Yonley Polytechnic Institute, is also interred here. The cemetery includes graves of veterans dating from the Texas War for Independence. Droughts, lack of rail transportation, and a return to ranching led to a population decline in Cottonwood. The cemetery contains several hundred graves and is a chronicle of generations of families who contributed to the progress of the community. ,
Historic Texas Cemetery - 2003.
For his military service with the Republic of Texas, George Washington Glasscock, Sr. (1810-68) received a land grant incorporating the future settlement of Cottonwood. His will conveyed this land to his daughter, Sarah Jane Glasscock Hall, whose husband, Phidello William Hall, was a Texas legislator (1870-74). In 1875, J.W. Love visited Cottonwood Springs near the headwaters of Green Briar Creek and homesteaded here. The land was well suited for farming, and the community of Cottonwood soon boasted several businesses, churches, a Christian academy, a post office, and two newspapers.
In 1884, Sarah Jane and P.W. Hall donated land for the Cottonwood Cemetery, as well as land for Union Baptist and Methodist churches. The burial ground was already in use with the first known graves including infants dating from 1877. Cottonwood was noted for frontier violence; friends George Franks and Tom Jones who killed each other in Dec. 1882 are buried in a common grave. P.W. Hall died in 1888 and is buried here; Sarah Jane Hall is believed to be buried here too but her grave has not been identified. Prof. J.H. Yonley, founder of Cottonwood’s Yonley Polytechnic Institute, is also interred here. The cemetery includes graves of veterans dating from the Texas War for Independence. Droughts, lack of rail transportation, and a return to ranching
Click or scan to see this page online
led to a population decline in Cottonwood. The cemetery contains several hundred graves and is a chronicle of generations of families who contributed to the progress of the community.
Historic Texas Cemetery - 2003
Erected 2011 by Texas Historical Commission. (Marker Number 17045.)
Location. 32° 12.16′ N, 99° 12.209′ W. Marker is near Cross Plains, Texas, in Callahan County. Marker can be reached from County Road 192 east of County Road 429. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Cross Plains TX 76443, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on December 30, 2014, by Duane Hall of Abilene, Texas. This page has been viewed 516 times since then and 28 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on December 30, 2014, by Duane Hall of Abilene, Texas.