Brummett Cemetery Access Controversial Leader News January 6, 2004 Transcribed by Julie Karm (juliesgenealogy@hotmail.com) ********************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ********************************************************** Brummett Cemetery access controversial Commissioner halts construction of new road on disputed property By Bill Burris Special to Leader News Pearsall- Southwest Texas families who visit the Brummett Cemetery four miles northeast of Bigfoot to look after graves of their ancestors have been concerned for several months about whether the entry road to the historic site may be relocated or closed. Frio County Judge Carlos Garcia said politics and a lot of misinformation has fed the controversy and resulted in him receiving numerous inquiries from the public and from several elected officials, including U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Garcia said the commissioners, with one abstention, had authorized replacing the present entry road, which leads to a parking area on the south end of the cemetery, with another road leading to the east side. Work on the project was stopped at the request of Commissioner Jose G. Flores, who had abstained from voting. “I do not believe the taxpayers’ money should be used to construct a road for a private landowner,” Flores said. “I believe a couple of the other commissioners , now that they understand the situation, also will oppose this project.” Garcia said the matter will be reconsidered by the commissioners at a meeting within the next few weeks. The controversy over relocation of the entry roadway off County Road 2871 began April 12, 2004 when Rolando and Bertha Venegas of Boerne, who are developing a wildlife habitat on the 163 acres they have purchased around the cemetery, asked the county commissioners to close the present entry road and replace it with a new one to the east. Rolando Venegas , who works for a San Antonio-based underground utility sales firm, said he and his wife, with approval of the commissioners court, quitclaim deeded a 20-foot easement to the county for a new all-weather entry road to connect with a new parking area on the east side of the cemetery property. This would separate his property from that of the cemetery. “We don’t want kids driving out the present road on our property, getting hurt and us being held responsible,” Venegas said. “Our intention has never been to lock people out or to keep them from visiting the graves of their loved ones.” Mrs. Venegas said the couple also has offered to fence off the new roadway. An error by Grady Roberts, attorney for the Venegases, and the fact that families who visit the cemetery frequently were not advised of the April 12 agenda item resulted later in spreading the controversy and a letter-writing campaign to legislators. Roberts asked the commission, and the commissioners approved, closing CR 2871, rather than the unnumbered 200-yard entryway to the cemetery from that road (CR 2871, running from State Highway 173 east past the cemetery and on into Atascosa County, is used by homeowners, farmers and ranchers along its route.) Garcia said this error was detected by Ralph Morgan, county 9-1-1 coordinator, in minutes of the meeting and later was corrected. Venegas said notices were placed on a post along the cemetery entryway and at the other locations 30 days before the April 12 hearing. Families visiting the cemetery during that time say they had not seen such a notice. “I was out there – and my name and phone number is posted on the gate, but nobody notified me,” said Edward Sadler of Devine, caretake for the cemetery, which is the oldest in Frio County and has been used by more than 100 area families since 1860. After Sadler and others learned of the county’s action, a rehearing by the commissioners was held June 14. It was attended by 23 representatives from the informal Brummett Cemetery association, represented by volunteer attorney Thomas J. Rothe of Hondo. With and empasse evident, the judge asked the two sides and their attorneys to meet later to try and read an agreement. The empasse continued at a July 9 meeting in Pearsall attended by the Venegases, Sadler and his wife, Cora, and the attorneys. “They proposed putting up a locked gate over the cattleguard on the entry road and letting me have a key to open it only we have a funeral,” Sadler said. “That is not acceptable. We asked them to fence the present road and parking area, but they are opposed to that.” According to Sadler, the proposed new entry would be over a sandy area that would be difficult for a regular automobible to traverse. The Venegases disagree, saying the new county-owned entry would be better than he present one. Sadler said if the cemetery group must go to court to fight to keep the present entry to the cemetery, “we will.” He said he already is holding about $2,000 in checks, each for $100, from families from as far as Alaska who responded to a letter suggesting that funds might be sought to pay for future court costs. “We want to work peaceably with people, but we also need to protect access to the cemetery,” he said. Venegas said he has spent about 40,000 on surveys, attorney fees and improvements and that the county now owns the land over which the proposed new entry will built. “We are doing our best to be good neighbors,” he said. The informal cemetery association meets about 9:30 a.m. the second Saturday in May each year to tidy up the gravesites, have a potluck luncheon and contribute to the maintenance costs. More than 60 people attended last year. Sadler, a 77-year-old retired cattle ranch manager, has more than 25 ancestors buried at the cemetery. During his eight years as caretaker, he has replaced the barbed-wire entry-side fence with one made of welded metal pipe, constructed a turnstile entry for people to keep horses and cattle out, and created several concrete tombstones with brass plaques for graves of known descendents without markers. The Venegas couple purchased the acreage around the cemetery in 2003 from Roy Smith of Houston, executor of the wills of his parents, Mary Frances and Magus F. Smith. The Southwest Texas Federal and Land Bank Association provided a $159.200 loan, secured by a trust deed on the property. Frio County was deeded the cemetery property near Siestadero Creek, but not an entryway, for $1 and love to us” Sept. 21, 1889 by Kizzie Brummett and her son William for use as a “public burying ground.” Since Kizzie could not write, she signed with her”X” mark before the county clerk. Her husband, John, was buried in the cemetery May 13, 1881. (Kizzie and William apparently were buried elsewhere.) Mrs. Venegas said she and her husband are fulfilling a long-held desire to work on a wildlife habitat with food plots for deer, turkey, quail, dove and other wildlife. A newly dug earthen basin collected runoff water from November’s rains and may be expanded to accommodate various species of fish. Future plans call for permits to be obtained and a well drilled to supply water for animals during dry seasons. Mrs. Venegas said the habitat for the foreseeable future will be “just for the enjoyment of our family and the education of our two children.” Eventually, she concedes, she and her husband may wish to develop some commercial ventures to help pay for development costs. Working with soils, plants and wildlife is not just and avocation with Mrs. Venegas. She holds a degree in agriculture from Southwest Texas State College (now Texas State University) in San Marcos. She {works} in San Antonio for the Natural Resource Conservation Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, assisting farmers and ranchers in 10 counties (including Frio County) with soils and plant problems and services.