HISTORY OF UNION CEMETERY, CROSS ROADS, HENDERSON COUNTY, TEXAS 1885 - 2004 This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Michael J. Vaughn November 3, 2004 Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgenwebarchives.org *********************************************** Union Cemetery is located in Henderson County, Texas on the west side of FM 59, about a mile south of the point at which it crosses Wildcat Creek. In that area FM 59 follows the route of the road historically called the "Malakoff to Palestine" road.(1) Union Cemetery is the most tangible vestige of the settlement that grew up around David Thompson's mill and gin, later known as Wildcat, so named for Wildcat Creek where it was located. The cemetery property is part of a 529 2/3-acre grant made to early settler Hezekiah Mitcham on 22 June 1854.(2) Mitcham was a pioneer settler of Henderson and Anderson Counties, Texas, and the first Methodist minister in Henderson County.(3) In 1853 he was a member of Gilmore's Chapel Methodist Church in extreme northwestern Anderson County, the first Methodist Church in the entire area,(4) and in 1854 he organized Mitcham Chapel Methodist Church, predecessor of First United Methodist Church, Malakoff, Texas,(5) as well as several other churches. Over the years old timers have recounted that at a very early date there was a 1-room building located in the northwest corner of the cemetery property used as a church and school to serve the needs of the early settlers. During that same time the families who worshipped there began using part of the church grounds as a cemetery. Early on the name Union Chapel appeared in connection with the church and the school was sometimes called Center Union; however, over the years the terms "Chapel" and "Center" were dropped, the church dissolved and the school was moved. After that happened the burial ground came to be known simply as Union Cemetery. Even though the early history of Union Cemetery is not well recorded it is clear that the cemetery today is in the immediate vicinity of the grist mill and cotton gin located on Wildcat Creek and operated as early as 1871(6) by David Thompson, who had acquired part of the Hezekiah Mitcham Survey on 3 October 1860.7 It is on part of the land that was acquired by David Thompson that the cemetery is located.(8) David M. Thompson was born 20 April 1812 in Smith County, Tennessee.(9) About 1824 his family moved to Marengo County, Alabama, (10) and there he married Mary Margaret Johnson on 22 December 1836.(11) She was born 8 July 1819 in Marengo County, Alabama, the daughter of Dr. William Thomas Johnson.(12) David Thompson died on 31 December 1879 and his wife died on 21 October 1881.(13) Both were buried at Judson Cemetery, Cayuga, Anderson County, Texas -- thus it is almost a certainty that there was no cemetery at the site of today's Union Cemetery at that time or they would likely have been buried there. When David Thompson died in 1879 he was survived by five sons -- John Madison Thompson, Alfred William Thompson, Charles Breaker Thompson, Robert David Thompson and George Baines Thompson.(14) Thompson left no will, and the land that he owned was inherited jointly by those five sons.(15) Following the death of their father and the sale to their brother the land around David Thompson's grist mill and gin continued to be owned by the remaining brothers, and there are various deeds in the Henderson County Deed Records evidencing various sales and other transactions. It was soon after David Thompson's death that the Union Church was organized, and that part of the property was first used as a cemetery. The history of Union Church and Union Cemetery are thus inextricably intertwined. By 1881 Thompson's Mill School was in existence; trustees were J. M. Thompson, J. D. Jaggers, W. W. Craddock and R. M. Cotten.(16) J. M. Thompson was a son of David M. Thompson, and R. M. Cotten's brother, Peter C. Cotten, was married to Virginia Johnson, David Thompson's wife's niece.(17) No specific deed from any of the Thompson's conveying land for the church, cemetery or school has survived, but subsequent deeds of land that had been once owned by them specifically except from the property being conveyed small tracts out of the original larger tract, with the statement that they had previously been conveyed for church and school purposes.(18) It is entirely possible that those smaller tracts were the land on which the church and cemetery were located; however, inasmuch as no specific legal description of those smaller tracts exists that cannot be proved absolutely.(19) Minutes of the Saline Baptist Association, meeting at Bethel Baptist Church in Henderson County on 24 - 27 September 1880 reflect that Union Church, Henderson County was a member.(20) U. W. Lunsford, pioneer Baptist preacher in East Texas,(21) was pastor of the Church and George B. Thompson was Church Clerk.(22) Delegates to the Association meeting were Thompson and C. T. McConico.(23) In 1880 the church reported a membership of 27 individuals, but the statistical report contained in the Association minutes reported only 3 memberships by letter and none by baptism. Additionally, there were several dismissions during the year.(24) If the Church had been organized in 1880 the number of additions by letter and baptism would, of mathematical necessity, have to have been more than the number reported for the membership to have totaled 27. No minutes for a meeting of the Saline Association for 1879 have been found to exist,(25) but the minutes for 1878 do not include Union Church as a member.(26) While it is entirely possible that Union Church did not become a member of the regional association for several years after its organization, the most likely conclusion that can be reached is that the church was organized in 1879.(27) In 1882 Union Church participated in the meeting of the Saline Association at the Edom Church, and J. S. Hinton served as a delegate to that meeting along with George B. Thompson. The church reported 32 members, and J. W. Jackson was its pastor.(28) Thompson and Hinton served as delegates to the Association meetings in 1883(29) and 1884,(30) and Hinton served again in 1889.(31) In 1883 Charles B. Thompson, a brother and business partner of George B. Thompson,(32) became active in the church. That year he served as Church clerk, a position that he also occupied from 1885 - 1889,(33) and he was also a delegate to the Saline Association meeting in 1885.(34) In 1884 George B. Thompson applied for a new post office by the name of Wildcat in Henderson County.(35) It was to be located 5 miles east of the Trinity River and 1 mile south of Wildcat Creek, on the dirt road that ran south from Malakoff to Palestine.(36) It appears almost certain that the location of the post office was about the same as the present day location of Union Cemetery.(37) The post office was opened there in 1885 and George B. Thompson was its first postmaster.(38) The date of the earliest burial at Union Cemetery cannot be determined inasmuch as there are many unmarked, unknown graves. However, the earliest marked grave at the cemetery is that of May Hinton, a young baby girl who died in 1885.(39) She was the daughter of James S. Hinton and Susan Towles.(40) Hinton himself died in 1890 and is buried there as well.(41) In 1887 Sarah Frances Thompson died and was buried at Union -- chronologically, hers is the second marked grave there.(42) She was the wife of John Madison Thompson, a trustee of Thompson's Mill School in 1881 as noted above, and a brother of George B. Thompson and Charles B. Thompson.(43) The connection between the Thompson family and the Hinton family was quite close. Alfred William Thompson, a brother of George B. Thompson, Charles B. Thompson and John Madison Thompson, married Georgia Towles, a daughter of local landowner Berry Towles and his first wife Mary Ann Hill, on 23 May 1877.(44) After the death of Mary Ann Hill and a second wife, Berry Towles married as his third wife the widow Mary James Johnson Pickering, whose aunt, Mary Margaret Johnson, was the mother of the various Thompson brothers.(45) Susan Towles, another daughter of Towles and Mary Ann Hill married James S. Hinton on 10 November 1880.(46) Earlier in 1880 Susan Towles Kinabrew had been living with her father and stepmother in Anderson County.(47) It is also clear that other Thompson relatives were involved with the Union Church and the Cemetery. In 1885 and 1887 Rile M. Cotten was a delegate from Union Church to the meetings of the Saline Baptist Association.(48) As noted above, Rile M. Cotten was the son of Charles K. Cotten, and Rile Cotton's brother Peter C. Cotten was married to Virginia Johnson.(49) In 1888 and 1889 Joseph A. Johnson, a nephew of David Thompson's wife Mary Johnson and brother of Virginia Johnson and Mary James Johnson Pickering Towles, was also a delegate to the Saline Association meetings from the Union Church.(50) Ada Kinabrew, Susan Towles's daughter by her first marriage to Leonard Spivey Kinabrew, married James A. Berry on 11 July 1883.(51) Their son James Flanoy Berry, born 29 August 1887, died 4 July 1891, was interred at Union Cemetery.(52) James A. Berry died in 1901 and was buried at Union.(53) Thereafter Ada married William Henry Thacker -- they were both buried at Union many years later.(54) Susan Towles's son by her first marriage, Marshall O. Kinabrew, married Georgia MaGuire on 3 April 1895,(55) and two of their children died and were buried at Union.(56) In 1892 Mallie Frances Thompson Webster, a daughter of John M. Thompson and wife of J. K. Webster died and was buried at Union.(57) The close connections between the Thompson and Hinton families, the fact that the two earliest marked graves in the cemetery are from those families, their involvement with the Union Church and the further fact that all marked graves in the cemetery of pre-1900 deaths are from those families leads to the conclusion that in all likelihood the members of the church decided to use a part of the church grounds as a cemetery shortly after the church's organization. George Thompson's hope for a successful Wildcat community was short-lived. In 1894 the records of the Saline Association report that the Union Church was dissolved,(58) and by 1905 the post office was closed.(59) The school consolidated with the Center School District in 1908 and moved nearer the new community of Cross Roads.(60) However, the Union Cemetery had filled a basic need for the large farming community in the area. It was not customary at that time to move bodies very far for burial. For the most part when a person died the women of the community prepared the body for burial while the men built a coffin and dug the grave. That was usually done within a few hours, a day at the most, after death. While there were other cemeteries a few miles away both north and south,(61) the families with roots in the immediate area continued to use Union Cemetery as a final resting place for their loved ones. As some of the earlier families moved away or disappeared by death or marriage families new to the area began moving in and the names of those buried in the cemetery began reflecting the changing demographics. The last decade of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century saw the arrival of the Conard and Van Deman families from Indiana, the Penney and Hopkins families from Navarro County, as well as the Kennon's, the O'Dell's, the Pettiette's, the Tolbert's from deep East Texas and the Tinnin's -- all families whose descendants are still actively involved in the Union Cemetery Association. As those families grew and married, other family names appeared in the area and today they are also represented at the Union Cemetery. Today Union Cemetery continues to serve as a burial site for the community. It contains more than 250 marked graves with two Woodmen of the World statuettes and several veterans' graves with military markers. There are at least 55 unmarked graves and numerous additional open sites, all within a fenced area. The cemetery, operated by the Union Cemetery Association and managed by a Board of Directors, President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Perpetual Care Treasurer, is maintained from donations by family and friends who have loved ones buried there, and from plot and burial funds. As in years past, much time and work is put into improvements. An iron entrance gate with the name "Union Cemetery" and a covered pavilion were built some years back. More recently, the cemetery gravesites were platted, setting a system in place for identifying each plot in the cemetery by row and number and the status of each plot at any given time. An American flag waves from a flagpole strategically located in the cemetery and improvements are continually being made. While some of the very early history of the cemetery and its accompanying institutions has been lost over the years as old timers with personal knowledge of events that were unrecorded in the public records have crossed the bar, there are still many that remember those early years when volunteers of the community, usually those with family buried there, held graveyard workings with dinner on the ground. On those days the workers hoed and raked the grass from the grounds and mounded every grave, the custom of the time. Even though that usually took place near the hottest day of the year "dinner on the ground" was the highlight of the event, meant for socializing and fellowship. Union Cemetery strives to maintain that tradition of community today with its annual meetings. A memorial service is held each year on the second Saturday in June. The service includes a speaker/entertainment, business meeting and covered dish luncheon. The meat for the spread is provided by the Association and much visiting with old and new friends and family is enjoyed by all in attendance as they honor the memory of those interred at Union Cemetery. Michael J. Vaughn P. O. Box 2130 Flint, TX 75762 (903) 894-4232 mikevaughn@cayugatexas.com FOOTNOTES: 1 See Notes 8 and 35, infra. 2 The patent for the Hezekiah Mitcham Survey, Abstract 512, was issued on that date, pursuant to Certificate Number 417 issued to Mitcham by the Commissioner of Mercer's Colony on 26 April 1850. It was never recorded and must have been lost, inasmuch as a Certified Copy was issued by the General Land Office of the State of Texas on 15 February 1907 and recorded in Volume 60, Page 119, Deed Records, Henderson County, Texas. 3 J. J. Faulk, History of Henderson County, Texas (Athens, Texas: Athens Review Printing Co., 1929), 233. 4 Michael J. Vaughn, "Gilmore's Chapel" in 25 East Texas Family Records (No. 4) 2 (Winter 2001). 5 Doris Sharrock, First United Methodist Church Malakoff: 150 Years of Ministry (No place: privately printed, 2002), 3. 6 See "Catalogue - Thompson's Mill Independent School, District No. 13, Henderson County, Texas: 1924-1925" reprinted in its entirety in Donna Paxton Holmes, Cross Roads School and Community (no place: privately printed, 1986), 102-114. Ms. Holmes also notes elsewhere in her book (Pp. 13 & 14) that the Thompson's Mill School was the result of a consolidation of the "... Center School ... north and east of Cross Roads..." and "... Union School district (school near Wildcat Creek) [that] was located south of Cross Roads near Union Cemetery." The two districts consolidated in 1908 and the new school was named Thompson's Mill in honor of the old grist mill. While that statement is accurate it is not complete; as shown hereafter a school was in existence at Thompson's Mill, by that very name, as early as 1881, and Thompson's Mill was on Wildcat Creek, south of Cross Roads. In a deed dated 27 October 1906 [Henderson County, Texas County Clerk, Deed Records, Volume 54, Page 473] J. M. Thompson and others sold Hugh Graves a tract of 236 3/4 acres out of the Mitcham Survey. The legal description of the land, generally located on the west side of Wildcat Creek, contains the following call: "Thence in a northerly direction with the meanderings of said Wild Cat Creek to a large persimmon tree near the Thompson old gin on said Wild Cat Creek...." Additionally, in Faulk, op. cit., 234, the following remark appears: "After the war [War Between the States] D. M. Thompson and J. D. Jaggers ginned all the cotton in that community [southwestern part of Henderson County] ...." 7 Henderson County, Texas County Clerk, Deed Records, Volume N, Page 69. 8 In a deed dated 30 December 1914 from C. B. Thompson to M. O. Kinabrew [Henderson County, Texas County Clerk, Deed Records, Volume 76, Page 654] the land conveyed to Kinabrew is described by metes and bounds as follows: "... on the Hezekiah Mitcham Survey. Beginning at south-west corner of Wild Cat Creek Bridge, on Malakoff and Palestine Road. Thence south with public road to the north-east corner of grave yard fence .... Thence west with grave yard fence .... Thence south with grave yard fence .... Thence east 142 vrs. to public road .... Thence south with public road ...." That is the first reference in the deed records to the cemetery and clearly places it in its current location with reference to Wildcat Creek and FM 59. The tract conveyed to Kinabrew circled around the cemetery property on its north, west and south sides, while the road was on the east. 9 Tombstone Inscription, Judson Cemetery, Cayuga, Anderson County, Texas and Koma Jo Johnson Baker, Footprints to Wildcat Ferry (and beyond) (Amarillo, Texas: privately printed, 1981), 95. 10 Baker, op. cit., 95. 11 R. D. Thompson, Biographical Family and Descendants of David Meredith and Mary Margaret Thompson (Greenville, Texas: privately printed, 1914), 2. 12 Tombstone Inscription, Judson Cemetery, Cayuga, Anderson County, Texas and Baker, op. cit., 58. 13 Tombstone Inscriptions, Judson Cemetery, Cayuga, Anderson County, Texas. 14 Affidavit of George B. Thompson [Henderson County, Texas County Clerk, Miscellaneous Records, Volume 5, Page 56]. A sixth son, James Bateman Thompson, died during the War Between the States. He was unmarried [Baker, op. cit., 97]. 15 On 27 December 1881, after the death of David Thompson and his wife, their sons J. M. Thompson, A. W. Thompson, C. B. Thompson and R. D. Thompson conveyed their interest in 237 acres of the land that their father had owned in the Hezekiah Mitcham Survey to their brother G. B. Thompson [Henderson County, Texas County Clerk, Deed Records, Volume Z, Page 151]. That part of the property was on the south end of the Hezekiah Mitcham Survey and did not include the site where Union Cemetery is located. 16 Henderson County, Texas County Clerk, School Records, downloaded 13 December 2003 from the Henderson County USGENWEB Archives Page at http://files.usgwarchives.net/tx/henderson/history/schools/school84 .txt. 17 As noted previously David Thompson was married to Mary Margaret Johnson, daughter of Dr. William Thomas Johnson. Another of Dr. Johnson's children was the Rev. A. W. Johnson, whose daughter Virginia married Peter C. Cotten. Peter C. Cotten and Rile M. Cotten were both sons of Charles K. Cotton [Baker, op. cit., 10 & 11] and Charles K. Cotton household, 1850 US Census, Coosa County, Alabama, Page 38, Dwelling and Family 527, M432, roll 4; also, Charles K. Cotten household, 1860 US Census, Henderson County, Texas, Dwelling 69, Family 59, M654, roll 1297. 18 Henderson County, Texas County Clerk, Deed Records, Volume 70, Page 343 [refers to 2 acres sold for school and church purposes] and Volume 346, Page 86 [refers to 2 acres sold prior to 1914]. 19 There is a deed dated 11 August 1908 from Hugh Graves conveying one acre to Henderson County for school purposes, for School District #13 [Henderson County, Texas County Clerk, Deed Records, Volume 59, Page 597]. That tract was located on the west side of Wildcat Creek in the southwest corner of the Mitcham Survey and is not the cemetery property. The deeds in Note 18 mention two acres having been sold previously -- likely one of those acres was the acre sold by Hugh Graves, but there is no identification of the other acre. 20 Minutes of the Twenty-Second Annual Session of the Saline Baptist Association; Printed by the Press of the Texas Baptist Herald, Houston, Texas, 1880 [Original from the Texas Collection, Baylor University, Waco, Texas]. 21 See "Uriah Williamson Lunsford," in Pauline Buck Hohes, A Centennial History of Anderson County, Texas (San Antonio, Texas: The Naylor Company, 1936), 78 & 79. 22 Minutes of the Twenty-Second Annual Session of the Saline Baptist Association; Printed by the Press of the Texas Baptist Herald, Houston, Texas, 1880 [Original from the Texas Collection, Baylor University, Waco, Texas]. 23 Ibid. 24 Ibid. 25 Letter from Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee to Michael J. Vaughn, Waco, Texas dated 18 March 1999, states that "Saline Association minutes for 1870, 1873, 1875, 1877, 1879 missing ...." 26 Information supplied by Ms. Jean Forbis, Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee to Michael J. Vaughn via telephone from AC 615: 244-0344 in 2003. 27 Inasmuch as the Church was not a member of the Association in 1878, but was a member in 1880, coupled with the fact that the statistical report cited in Note 20 above was intended to reflect changes in membership since a prior reporting period, it seems logical that the church was organized sometime during the previous year. 28 Minutes of the Twenty-Fourth Annual Session of the Saline Baptist Association; Printed by R. H. Small, Book and Job Printer, Palestine, Texas, 1882. Original from the Baptist Missionary Association Theological Seminary Library, Jacksonville, Texas. 29 Proceedings of the Twenty-Fifth Annual Session of the Saline Baptist Association; printed at the Baptist Herald Job Office, Austin, Texas Original from the Texas Collection, Baylor University, Waco, Texas]. 30 Minutes of the Twenty-Sixth Annual Session of the Saline Baptist Association; printed at the Baptist Herald Job Office, Austin, Texas [Original from the Texas Collection, Baylor University, Waco, Texas]. 31 Statistical Table from the 1889 meeting of the Saline Baptist Association [Copy from microfilm provided by the Texas Baptist Historical Collection, Dallas, Texas]. 32 Baker, op. cit., 98. 33 Statistical Tables, 1885, 1886, 1887, 1888 and 1889 meetings, Saline Baptist Association [Copies from microfilm provided by the Texas Baptist Historical Collection, Dallas, Texas]. 34 Statistical Table, 1885 meeting, Saline Baptist Association [Copy from microfilm provided by the Texas Baptist Historical Collection, Dallas, Texas]. 35 Location Paper for Wildcat, Henderson County, Texas Post Office, dated 24 December 1884, copy from original in records of the United States Post Office Department, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C. Thompson stated that there was "No village near proposed office" but that it would supply "At least 500 to 700" inhabitants of the area. The nearest post office was at Bethel in Anderson County, 9 miles south of the proposed Wildcat Post Office by the most direct road -- of course that was the road that ran from Malakoff to Palestine. The Malakoff to Palestine road, present course of FM 59, ran through the Thompson property in the Hezekiah Mitcham Survey. In a deed dated 1 January 1903 from C. B. Thompson to J. S. Frazier, conveying 95 acres, the legal description contains the following calls: "... Thence W ... to the SE corner of Public bridge on Wild Cat Creek .... Thence South with Malakoff & Palestine Public Road .... and being a part of the 429-1/3 acre survey deeded D M Thompson by Elisha Taylor [See note 7, supra.]. 36 Ibid. 37 The hand drawn map accompanying the Location Paper cited in Note 35, though not drawn to scale, clearly shows the location of Wildcat Creek, the road from Malakoff to Palestine, and a road referred to as "Athens dirt road." Both Wildcat Creek and the Malakoff road exist today in the same location as in 1884; the site of the proposed post office is marked on that map, on the Malakoff Road, south of Wildcat Creek and north of the Athens dirt road. Today FM 2273 dead-ends into FM 59 just a bit south of Union Cemetery, and that is the road that was referred to on the Location Paper as the "Athens dirt road." 38 Michael J. Vaughn, The History of Cayuga and Cross Roads, Texas (Waco, Texas: Texian Press, 1967), 34. 39 Physical inspection, May Hinton tombstone marker, Union Cemetery, Henderson County, Texas; transcribed in June 2003. The marker reflects that she was born 1 September 1883 and died 8 March 1885. Family records from Eula Mae Thacker Cotten, a niece, indicate that her name may well have been "Mary" rather than "May", but the tombstone indicates the name to be "May." 40 See information in Note 46, infra. 41 Physical inspection, James S. Hinton tombstone marker, Union Cemetery, Henderson County, Texas; transcribed in June 2003. The marker reflects that he was born in 1827 and died on 25 June 1890. 42 Physical inspection, Sarah F. Thompson tombstone marker, Union Cemetery, Henderson County, Texas; transcribed in June 2003. The marker reflects that she was born 3 November 1841 and died 16 June 1887. 43 Baker, op. cit., 97. 44 Baker, op. cit., 111 & 112. See also Henderson County, Texas County Clerk, Marriage Records, Volume 2, Page 281. 45 Baker, op. cit., 37. 46 Susan Towles had been married to Dr. Leonard Spivey Kinabrew. He died about 1878 in Freestone County, Texas and she returned to her father's home about that time. She had met James S. Hinton while living in Freestone County; he thought she was a "good woman" and moved to Henderson County where they were married [Information supplied by Wayne Stafford, Athens, Texas from family records of Eula Mae Thacker Cotton.] on 10 November 1880 [Henderson County, Texas County Clerk, Marriage Records, Volume 2, Page 502]. 47 B. L. Towles household, 1880 US Census, Precinct 6, Anderson County, Texas, T9, Roll 1288, Page 179. Precinct 6 of Anderson County was in the far northwest end of the county, adjacent to Henderson County and very near Union Cemetery. 48 Statistical Tables, 1885 and 1887 meetings, Saline Baptist Association [Copies from microfilm provided by the Texas Baptist Historical Collection, Dallas, Texas]. 49 Note 17, supra. 50 Baker, op. cit., 10 & 11; Statistical Tables, 1888 and 1889 meetings, Saline Baptist Association [Copies from microfilm provided by the Texas Baptist Historical Collection, Dallas, Texas]. 51 Obituary of Ada Bell Thacker, Athens [Texas] Daily Review, issue of 30 April 1946; Henderson County, Texas County Clerk, Marriage Records, Volume 3, Page 96. 52 Physical inspection, James Flanoy Barry tombstone, Union Cemetery, Henderson County, Texas, transcribed in June 2003. 53 Physical inspection, James Barry tombstone, Union Cemetery, Henderson County, Texas, transcribed in June 2003. The marker reflects that he was born in 1856 and died in 1901. It uses the spelling "Barry" although the correct family spelling of the name is "Berry." 54 Ada Bell Thacker obituary, see Note 51, supra, and William Henry Thacker obituary, Athens [Texas] Daily Review, issue of 29 December 1947. 55 Henderson County, Texas County Clerk, Marriage Records, Volume 4, Page 376. 56 Physical inspection, two Infant Kinabrew tombstones, Union Cemetery, Henderson County, Texas, transcribed in June 2003. One reflects birth on 4 May 1896 and death on 9 February 1897, while the other reflects birth on 7 June 1903 and death on 10 June 1903. 57 Physical inspection, Mallie Webster tombstone, Union Cemetery, Henderson County, Texas, transcribed in June 2003. The marker reflects that she was born 28 August 1873 and died 18 October 1892, and that she was the wife of J. K. Webster. See also Baker, op. cit., 111 and Henderson County, Texas County Clerk, Marriage Records, Volume 4, Page 129. There have been suggestions that her given name might have been "Mollie" or "Mattie", either of which sounds more reasonable than "Mallie", but that is what is recorded on her tombstone. 58 It may well be that the Union Church existed for some time after 1894, but just did not participate in the Association meetings. Records of Judson Baptist Church, Cayuga, Texas reflect that on 22 July 1902 Sally Hopkins moved her membership from Union to Judson, and that on 25 July 1902 George Ashley, a member at Union, joined Judson by statement [Judson Baptist Church, Cayuga, Texas Conference Minutes, Volume 2d, Pages 84 & 85]. On the other hand, since no letter from the Union Church was presented it seems more likely that it did cease to exist in 1894 as revealed in the Association minutes. 59 Vaughn, op. cit., 34. 60 Holmes, op. cit., 13 & 14. 61 Post Oak, Patterson and Willow Springs Cemeteries are north and east of Union, a few miles away; and Judson Cemetery is south of Union. Each of those cemeteries was more closely identified with a community in their respective immediate vicinities, thus it is not surprising that the families that had a strong identification with the Union Church and cemetery would continue to use it. 1