The Muse Cemetery, Anderson County, Texas *************************************************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm Transcribed by Mary Lou Laird. Submitted by Scott Fitzgerald - scottfitzgerald@tyler.net East Texas Genealogical Society, 1st Vice-President 19 September 2007 *************************************************************************** Originally published in The Tracings, Volume 5, No. 3, Fall 1986, Pages 107- 115 by the Anderson County Genealogical Society, copyright assigned to the East Texas Genealogical Society. The Muse Cemetery By Mrs. Harmon Watts The Muse Cemetery, a large fenced "active" cemetery of 475-500 marked graves, is located in the Hickory Grove community between Slocum and Alto. It is one-half mile north of Texas #294 on FM #228 in southeastern Anderson County and in some respects quite similar to the historic Ft. Houston and Pilgrim Cemeteries of the county. Three acres in size, there is a black burial area adjacent to it similar to those other cemeteries. The oldest marked grave is that of a child, Mary E. Gilmore, who died in 1859 when six months old.{1} Her parents, the Bryant Gilmore's, had moved into the Hickory Grove community three years earlier, but carried her approximately four miles to bury her in this community cemetery rather than on their own property.{2} This seems to indicate that the cemetery was an established part of the area even before then, while the most recent grave is that of Mr. "Marsh" Welch who died in Grapeland and was brought home to rest beside his wife in April 1986. There are over 261 unmarked graves in the "old section" according to a survey made recently. In 1969, two interested members of the community purchased and placed cement markers by each grave mound which was visible at that time. There had been a practice of keeping the graves mounded in the sand for many years. Another interesting characteristic of this cemetery is that the "old" section is completely grass-free leaving a sandy surface, while the two newer sections are grass covered. Trees used to grow here, but most have died and were removed by the cemetery association. This cemetery is the only known sandy-top cemetery in the county. While many thought that the name of the cemetery was because a Muse family had donated the property, a study of the records show the cemetery was established even before they owned the property. Thomas Fletcher Muse was a son of Kindred Henry Muse, a statesman and pioneer of Nacogdoches County in the Republic of Texas days.{3} After the Civil War, T.F. Muse first bought a farm in Cherokee County where he lived for several years; then, in 1873,{4} he bought property on the "waters of Ioni Creek" in Anderson County, where he raised cotton. He owned property in both the George W. Powell Survey and the James Hall Survey; but remember the oldest marked grave was 14 years earlier, before the Civil War. He died in 1894, and is buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Rusk, Texas. His wife, Mary E. evidently moved away from the community with some of her married children, for she is buried in the old East Hill Cemetery in Palestine in 1909. At this time, it is not thought that any of their eight children are buried in this cemetery, unless in an unmarked site. The family name "Muse", however, is still attached to the name of the cemetery and to the Muse Missionary Baptist Church, located across the road. The school which was located there at one time had originally been south of U.S. 294 and called Hickory Grove School, but later moved adjacent to the church but retaining its original name. This area seems to have been forested originally, but became agricultural as the settlers moved in. The records show at least 10 families as farmers on the 1880 Agricultural Census of Anderson Co.{5} - B.F. Watts, W.A. Powell, Wm. W. Watts, George Bowman, Bryant Gilmore, Peter Grounds, R.B. Lively, W.W. Miles, John J. Shipper, and Wm. F. Adams - all of whom are buried in the cemetery. There are others, no doubt, who were named there who are in unmarked graves. The first section of the cemetery was deeded by Jesse P. Rich and his wife "to the Dead" on April 24, 1909.{6} Jesse, who is buried here beside his wife, sons and their families, is first found in the land deeds of 1900 when he purchased 30.7 acres from J. E. Beasley - part of the same acreage once owned by the Muse family. Not much is known about the Beasley family at this time, but there are some Beasley family members in marked graves here and most probably the older generation could be here also. The second section to be added to the existing cemetery was a gift deed by Southern Pine Co. to Muse Cemetery on July 17, 1958, for .577 acres located in the Jack Crawford Survey.{7} Then again, as land was needed, on April 13, 1981, the Temple-Eastex, Inc., deeded .426 acres more which is adjacent to the second section.{8} This was also quickly fenced by descendants of those buried in the cemetery and is available for use today. The life of an early settler is represented the tombstone for Wm. D.F. Addams, who appears on the 1850 Census, with a new wife, Sarah A. Madden, her mother, and two sisters.{9} A more interesting reference is the land deed of November 15, 1843, when he received 290 acres in Anderson County "including the Anodaca Village near the Neches River below the mouth of Ioni Creek" from a Cephas Adams. This was part of the northern headright of Cephas Adams. His grave is the only marked Adams' grave, although he must have been one of the earliest families in the area. There are many families with three or more generations known buried here and include the surnames of Betsil, Bowman, Dickey, Foster, Gilmore, Lively, Miles, Powell, Rich, Shipper, Watts, and Wilson. It would be most interesting to know all the families and their stories of settlement, but since this is impossible, only a few are told here. There are some 28 marked Bowman graves with their earliest family that of George William (1860-1952) and his wife, Martha Ellen.{10} There are several land transactions for "George and Mattie" in the 1890's, and some for J.H. Bowman and wife, S.J. in 1893. So there could be more than 3 generations of this family buried here. The Bryant Gilmore family{11} has been mentioned before as having the earliest marked grave, with four other minor children buried beside little Mary E., as well as the parents and a grown son, his wife and child. As mentioned before, the Gilmore family came to Hickory Grove in 1856 and retained ownership of the original farm land until it was sold in the early 1980's. Many of the Lively family members{12} settled in Livelyville in Houston County, but one of the brothers, John Wesley (buried in Muse Cemetery) purchased land in Anderson County in November 1851 where he and his family lived until his death in 1876. A son, Joseph Lafayette, who is also buried in the cemetery, carved his father's initials on a large native red rock, as well as those of his mother's on a second boulder when she died some 6 years later. The initials, "JWL" and "RBL" are still visible, although descendants have placed other markers beside the rocks. A brother, Reuben and a sister, Judea A.P. Bremenkamp are buried in the old section also; and, possibly his father John who was last found on the 1870 Anderson Co., census living with his son, John Wesley. The grave is unmarked but thought to be beside that of Judea. The Rich family{13} who gave the land for a cemetery has many descendants buried in it, 26 in number. Jesse P. (1849-1946) is found on the 1900 census with his wife, Susan, and their 8 children. There is also a James D. Rich, wife Darrah, buried nearby with dates indicating him to be two years older than Jesse P. The J.J. Shipper family{14} first appear in the land records in 1873 and again on the 1880 census with wife Martha, twin sons William and Joseph and a little 6 mos. old Eadley. They too have three generations or more buried here, with 16 marked graves. The first Watts{15} to move to this section of the county was the family of Benjamin Thomas Watts in September 1860. He, his wife Susan, and all but one of their 12 children are buried in Muse, along with various descendants. William Worth and sister Susan Mahalia Watts Bird lie in unmarked graves, but the others have been located and marked. B.F. Watts, another son of Benjamin Thomas, was buried beside a large oak tree which recently died and has been removed. He had carved the initials of some of his minor children who had died on the trunk of this tree, and it served as their grave markers for some time before the death of the tree. There are said to be two Wilson families who settled in this community prior to 1900 and their relationship is not clear even today. Wm. J. Wilson, wife Catherine and several children were found in the 1850 census in this locality, but only initials were given so exact names are not known. John J. Wilson{16} is buried in the cemetery with two of his three wives, a son, and an infant grandson. The 1880 census shows a widow Sarah J. Wilson with sons, daughter, and grandchildren. Son John J. and grandson Charlie Hooper were named and are here with marked graves, but nothing is known concerning the burial site of Sarah J. or of her husband at this time. The name of "Sadler" is very well known in this area since Capt. Wm. T. Sadler fought in the Battle of San Jacinto and settled on land in the Hickory Grove community. Most of his family are buried in the historic Sadler Cemetery on the plantation, but the oldest son, Nathaniel Fletcher{17} and his wife Martha J. are buried here along with others of their family. He was born in the area 1845. One other interesting family buried here is that of Peter Grounds{18} who was born in Missouri, married in Louisiana, then came to Texas. It is thought that J.M. Grounds and John Grounds who appear in the 1870 Anderson Co. census near Peter are his sons. Five members of the various Grounds' families are buried above ground and there are still substantial pieces of the cement vaults in place in the cemetery with inscriptions on them. Since Peter's wife was born in Louisiana and Peter's parents came from Germany, it is believed that they preferred to be buried above-ground as was the custom in those places. Small A.A. Grounds, daughter of J. M. and R. Grounds was buried in 1868 (before the property was owned by Muse). It is not known who Emma was but Peter's wife was Margaret M. and possibly it was she. Along the east side of the old section of the cemetery is another small fenced area which contains the graves of the blacks who lived in the community. Again, there are not too many marked graves, but it is still in use. The earliest marked grave here is that of Jackson Roach, who died September 1, 1882. There are only a few cemeteries with the black and white cemeteries adjacent to each other in Anderson County. Most of the black cemeteries are in separate locations, again suggesting the possibility of early burials as in Ft. Houston and Pilgrim Cemeteries. There always seems to have been active community participation in the care and upkeep of this cemetery with a "clean-up" day the day before the annual First Sunday in May Homecoming for the descendants. After 1985, the graves were not mounded unless the workers were asked to do so. There is a short business session on Sunday, then a memorial service in the church, followed by "dinner on the grounds". The church has built long concrete tables which are placed in something like an "E" shape under the beautiful oak trees beside the church across the street from the cemetery. It is the custom for the descendants to place real or artificial flowers on the grave of each ancestor on this weekend. There is also an afternoon "community sing" for those who don't have to leave for distant places. As early as 1910, there was some sort of committee in charge of the needs of the cemetery and a love offering was taken at each homecoming to pay for anything needed. In 1958, this committee was composed of Joe C. Rich, his nephew J.C. Allen, and Ray Gilmore. In 1981, an Association was formed for the purpose of obtaining perpetual care for the cemetery. The group of officers is still active and composed of Tom Sutton, President, Mrs. Lucille Lusk, Secretary-Treasurer, and members Fred Rich and Mrs. Helen Lively. And so, between the Homecomings, the cemetery continues to be cared for and visited by any passing that way who might wish to stop and ponder the past. {1} Cemetery Records, Anderson Co., "Muse Cemetery: Mary E. Gilmore, August 2, 1858 - February 6, 1859". {2} Interview, 1986, Bryant Gilmore, age 94, grand-son of Bryant Gilmore. {3} Muse family: June 14, 1985 letter, Mrs. Kindred O. Russell, grand- daughter of Thomas Fletcher Muse Fitch, Rob. Michael, "Kindred Henry Muse", 1977, T.S.G.S. Book Award, Category C, STIRPES, Texas State Genealogical Society. Founders and Patriots of the Republic of Texas, v. III, p. 430, "Kindred Odle Russell", D.R.T. #10947. Cemetery Records: Cherokee Co., "Cedar Hill Cemetery"; Anderson Co., East Hill, Sec. 2, City of Palestine. Census Records: 1850, Cherokee Co., Tex., p. 451, Anderson Co., p. 102 and 125. {4} Abstracts of James Hall Survey, Bk. 1, p. 431 and Geo. W. Powell Survey, Bk. 1, pp. 180, 539. {5} 1880 Agriculture Census, Anderson Co., Texas, pp. 101-3. {6} Land Deed Bk., v. 84, p. 365, Anderson Co., Tex. {7} Abstract Card #66405, Jack Crawford Survey, Anderson Co., Tex., Land Deed 1958. {8} Ibid, #29997, Jack Crawford Survey, Anderson Co., Tex., Land Deed 1981. {9} Ad(d)ams, Wm. D.F.; Land Deed Bk. 452; Bk. C-371. Census, Anderson Co., 1850, wr. P. 54; 1880, pp. 101, 125. {10} Bowman, George; Land Deed Bk. 67-300; Bk, 51-117. Bowman, S.H.; Land Deed Bk. 51-117; Bk. 80-74. Census, Anderson Co., 1900, p. 181. {11} Gilmore, Bryant; Interview, grandson Bryant Gilmore. Census, Anderson Co., 1860, p. 53; 1880, pp. 103, 126. {12} Lively family; Pioneer Families of Anderson Co., pp. 221-223; Census, Anderson Co., 1860, p. 78 and 102; Land Deed Bk. D-246. [13} Rich, Jesse P.; Land Deeds Bk. 84-365; Bk. 63-196; Census, Anderson Co., Tex., 1900, p. 188. [14} Shipper, J.J.; Land Deeds Bk. -155; Census, Anderson Co., 1880, pp. 101, 125. {15} Watts family; Pioneer Families of Anderson Co., pp 394-397; Census, Anderson Co., 1880, pp. 102, 133; Land Deeds Bk., K-275. {16} Wilson families; Pioneer Families of Anderson Co., p. 402; Census, Anderson Co., Tex., 1850, #345; 1860, wr. P. 74; 1880, pp. 101, 133. {17} Sadler family; Pioneer Families of Anderson Co., p. 328; Politics, Fat- Cats & Honey-Money Boys, The Mem-Wars of Jerry Sadler, p. 6. {18} Grounds, Peter; Land Deeds Bk. T-152; Bk. V-137; Bk. Y-155; Bk. Z-454; Census records, Anderson Co., Tex., 1870, h/h #1137 and #1138; 1880, pp 101, 126; Claiborne Parish, La., 1860, p. 700.