Saturday, May 30, 2015

Who in the World Operates Nash Cemetery in Bowie County, TX???

(Image courtesy of a contributor on Find A Grave)


Nash Cemetery is located in Bowie County, Texas. It is the place where some of my ancestors are buried. One day was I trying to determine where a particular husband and wife were buried (the wife is my ancestor through my paternal line). I was able to find a death certificate for her, but so far haven't been able to find a death certificate for her husband. On her death certificate I noticed that it listed where she was buried. I took to the internet and found a website that had a photo of her tombstone - and to my surprise, a photo of her husband's tombstone was right next to hers!

I decided that it may be cool to plan a trip and visit this cemetery to see what other ancestors may be buried there. I looked online to contact the cemetery but there was no phone number - not even an address. There were images online of the cemetery and I could tell that it looked very old, but it appeared that it was being tended to. 

Finally, I was able to contact the county office. When I inquired about contacting the cemetery, the clerk giggled and told me that they had no idea who operated that cemetery anymore. I asked "How can the county not know who operates a cemetery in its jurisdiction?" She told me that it was previously kept up by one group, but they don't do it anymore, and all they - meaning the county - knows is that it's being kept up but they don't know who is responsible for keeping it up. 

That very limited information has caused me to postpone when I would like to visit this place, because I do not have info on hours, etc. I know that many of my ancestors lived and died in close proximity, so it is very likely that many others may also be buried in this same cemetery. My question now is: Who in the World Operates Nash Cemetery in Bowie County, TX??? Any light you can shed on this would be most helpful :-) 


2 comments:

  1. I have at least 2 relatives (cousins) buried in the Star Cemetery in Shreveport, La. Not only have I been told they're buried there, but have a death certificate which verifies it.. Neither has a visible grave/tombstone. For years the cemetery was in disrepair, and when contacted, I've been told there are no records. In recent years, the Star Cemetery ha been named a historic site.
    I'd love to be able to visit their graves, but I guess what gets me more than anything is knowing how poor they were, and for them to scrape up enough money for tombstones, and to have them forever lost/destroyed through neglect??!!

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  2. That is so unfortunate that the lack of upkeep resulted in the loss of headstones for your relatives. If you know exactly where they are buried, have you considered the option of replacing the tombstones with some type of identifying marker for them?

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