Milam County Historical Commission
Milam County, Texas
Milam County, Texas
Moore Cemetery
CR 418From Thorndale take FM Rd.486
north almost 5 mi to Stigalls Store in
San Gabriel and turn left on gravel CR
421, follow 421 for 1 3/4 mi and turn
right at CR 418, follow for 1/4 mi there
will be a white house on a hill to the
right. The burial ground is in a corral
and is about 100 yards to the southeast
of the house.
Postings on Rootsweb.com re Moore Cemetery - Milam County TX
2002-06-11
Does anyone know how I might go about finding out who owns the land on which this inactive cemetery is located? We were unable to locate it and we wish to find out it's condition so we can make plans to restore our ancestors' grave sites. Thanks.
2bulldogs
**********
2002-11-12
Moore Cemetery is in the NW quadrant of Milam Co. near San Gabriel.
From Thorndale take FM Rd.486 north almost 5 mi to Stigalls Store in San Gabriel and turn left on gravel CR 421, follow 421 for 1 3/4 mi and turn right at CR 418, follow for 1/4 mi there will be a white house on a hill to the right. The burial ground is in a corral and is about 100 yards to the southeast of the house.
bneyra_1
**********
2013-05-17
We are looking at the land that is for sale and contains the Moore Cemetery. The Cemetery looks to be in great shape and is fenced off and is in middle of the property we will potentially be purchasing. We would put a larger fence on it and a roadway to it. Then family members could visit in from time to time. It would be best to move it to the front of the property and just donate the portion of land to the historic commission.
shaines174
http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.texas.counties.milam/5019.1/mb.ashx
****************************************************************************
2014-03-09
To: bjohnr2010@hotmail.com
Dear Mr. Brooks, You recently left a nice note at our residence at San Gabriel concerning the Moore cemetery.
We bought the property about none months ago and we are wondering what one has to do to be buried in that cemetery someday. Would you know who to contact or what red tape would be involved?
Thank you for your kind words concerning the cemetery upkeep.
Sincerely, Ross and Bonnie Zinnante
Rzbz(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
**********
2014-03-10
Dear Mr. & Mrs. Zinnante, I can't tell you how nice it is to hear from you. I had hoped to talk with you personally the day that I visited the Moore cemetery. I wanted my wife to see it, so we made a later visit, but we still missed you folks.
Unfortunately, we have more than our share of lost, neglected or abandoned cemetery's in Milam County. Mr. Perry Holder and his daughter Norinne Holman who wrote "170 YEARS of Cemetery Records in Milam County, Texas", state that there are approximately 70 in that situation. That's not too good an average with 235 cemetery's in Milam County and close adjacent borders.
The Moore Cemetery, adjacent your home, is like a beautiful rose among the thorns when compared to some other cemetery's that are not that far from your home (C. A. Hamblen, John W. Hamblen). Our black land soil is often cruel on the headstones stability, but every one in Moore is standing erect and proud. The beautiful, ornate, and dated headstones have a natural "patina" of lichens and the grounds maintained impeccably. That doesn't happen by itself, so a sincere "THANK YOU" from the Milam County Genealogical Society, The Milam County Historical Commission and for the descendants of those interred, for your maintenance efforts.
The "icing on the cake" is to have some of the pioneering Roberson's interred. Lately, when a discussion may come up about a cemetery, I'll usually ask if they had seen the Moore Cemetery because it certainly is worth the visit.
We thank you for allowing us access to your property to visit Moore and hope that you'll be as accommodating in sharing Moore with others as well.
Moore is considered an inactive cemetery and as such, permission to bury would have to be arranged by a funeral director. Mr. Rick Henderson, who is a director at Phillips and Luckey Funeral Home, is always very helpful when questions such as yours come up. I'll visit with him. I do know that County Judge David Barkemeyer has that authority, but I believe that a Precinct Councilman might also have the same. The issue here is ownership of the property. Is it private or has it been put in trust to Milam County?. Since I see a 2011 Kirk family member interment, possibly Phillips and Luckey performed the service and would have the above and below answers.
We're going to be attending Commissioners Court today, so I'll educate myself better there also. We'll visit the County Appraisers office, while in Cameron, and see what we're able to find out about ownership and property ID.
Time and time again we run into the Milam County Courthouse fire issue. Since your earliest interment is 1870, the Courthouse and all recorded deeds, wills, and all other public records were lost in the 1874 fire. Some of the questions are: Was the deed refiled if it was previously filed?. If so, when and who was the Grantor and/or the Grantee? That information would make it immensely easier to find ownership from the County Clerks Office records. You might also like to know that one of your San Gabriel community neighbors, Gene Baird, is taking on the restoration of the John W. Hamblen cemetery. It is located about a mile S/W of your home (as the crow flies). He's waiting for the farmer to plant his crops, leaving a few rows out, so that he may access the cemetery and start restoration work. We commend his interest and efforts. I'd like to forward this email to the groups above and to the Jones and Vangie Robertson family who have ancestors interred. They, like yourself, have an interest in this beautiful cemetery and were kind enough to make us aware of it.
I'll be back in touch with you after I "educate myself".
Sincerely, Jack and Beth Brooks
bjohnr2010(AT)hotmail(DOT)com
*****
2014-03-16
This is a follow-up of the ownership of the Moore Cemetery. On 03/10/2014 I visited the Milam County appraisers office. Always helpful, Carol Delong, assisted me in researching the property. Initially it appeared that the cemetery was part of the larger residential/ farm property. Then a note saying "see details " was seen. It was then determined that an exclusionary property was a part of the deed. Attachment #1 gave rudimentary details. There was no address or any contact information available. An additional public records reference specified the deed book and page reference of the filed deed. I next visited the County Clerks office and pulled the record book and found the details of the excluded property. See attachment #2. Next it was determined that Rhoda Moore owned no other real property in Milam county. Also that there was no listing for Ms. Moore in the Milam County tel. directory. The general information form would lead one to believe that the cemetery name was the Rhoda Moore Cemetery. No Rhoda Moore is shown interred. My next stop was Phillips and Lucky Funeral Home in Rockdale. Mr. Wallace Jones was also very helpful, and pulled numerous records for me. It was determined that the more recent apparent Kirk interments, were in reality cremations where no approval to be buried would be required. Therefore no recent contact of cemetery ownership has been obtained. He further stated that if every reasonable effort is expended to find ownership of a private cemetery, and it's still not obtained, a burial is still possible. If there is an existing family member interred and the family requests interment in the same cemetery they will honor the request. In the case of the Zinnante's, if they would like to be interred in the Moore cemetery, with out other family interred, a more exhaustive search of ownership should be done and then permission granted.
My wife and I personally visited the Zinnante's and relayed the above information to them on 03/10/2014.
Jack & Beth Brooks
bjohnr2010(AT)hotmail(DOT)com
.
2002-06-11
Does anyone know how I might go about finding out who owns the land on which this inactive cemetery is located? We were unable to locate it and we wish to find out it's condition so we can make plans to restore our ancestors' grave sites. Thanks.
2bulldogs
**********
2002-11-12
Moore Cemetery is in the NW quadrant of Milam Co. near San Gabriel.
From Thorndale take FM Rd.486 north almost 5 mi to Stigalls Store in San Gabriel and turn left on gravel CR 421, follow 421 for 1 3/4 mi and turn right at CR 418, follow for 1/4 mi there will be a white house on a hill to the right. The burial ground is in a corral and is about 100 yards to the southeast of the house.
bneyra_1
**********
2013-05-17
We are looking at the land that is for sale and contains the Moore Cemetery. The Cemetery looks to be in great shape and is fenced off and is in middle of the property we will potentially be purchasing. We would put a larger fence on it and a roadway to it. Then family members could visit in from time to time. It would be best to move it to the front of the property and just donate the portion of land to the historic commission.
shaines174
http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.texas.counties.milam/5019.1/mb.ashx
****************************************************************************
2014-03-09
To: bjohnr2010@hotmail.com
Dear Mr. Brooks, You recently left a nice note at our residence at San Gabriel concerning the Moore cemetery.
We bought the property about none months ago and we are wondering what one has to do to be buried in that cemetery someday. Would you know who to contact or what red tape would be involved?
Thank you for your kind words concerning the cemetery upkeep.
Sincerely, Ross and Bonnie Zinnante
Rzbz(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
**********
2014-03-10
Dear Mr. & Mrs. Zinnante, I can't tell you how nice it is to hear from you. I had hoped to talk with you personally the day that I visited the Moore cemetery. I wanted my wife to see it, so we made a later visit, but we still missed you folks.
Unfortunately, we have more than our share of lost, neglected or abandoned cemetery's in Milam County. Mr. Perry Holder and his daughter Norinne Holman who wrote "170 YEARS of Cemetery Records in Milam County, Texas", state that there are approximately 70 in that situation. That's not too good an average with 235 cemetery's in Milam County and close adjacent borders.
The Moore Cemetery, adjacent your home, is like a beautiful rose among the thorns when compared to some other cemetery's that are not that far from your home (C. A. Hamblen, John W. Hamblen). Our black land soil is often cruel on the headstones stability, but every one in Moore is standing erect and proud. The beautiful, ornate, and dated headstones have a natural "patina" of lichens and the grounds maintained impeccably. That doesn't happen by itself, so a sincere "THANK YOU" from the Milam County Genealogical Society, The Milam County Historical Commission and for the descendants of those interred, for your maintenance efforts.
The "icing on the cake" is to have some of the pioneering Roberson's interred. Lately, when a discussion may come up about a cemetery, I'll usually ask if they had seen the Moore Cemetery because it certainly is worth the visit.
We thank you for allowing us access to your property to visit Moore and hope that you'll be as accommodating in sharing Moore with others as well.
Moore is considered an inactive cemetery and as such, permission to bury would have to be arranged by a funeral director. Mr. Rick Henderson, who is a director at Phillips and Luckey Funeral Home, is always very helpful when questions such as yours come up. I'll visit with him. I do know that County Judge David Barkemeyer has that authority, but I believe that a Precinct Councilman might also have the same. The issue here is ownership of the property. Is it private or has it been put in trust to Milam County?. Since I see a 2011 Kirk family member interment, possibly Phillips and Luckey performed the service and would have the above and below answers.
We're going to be attending Commissioners Court today, so I'll educate myself better there also. We'll visit the County Appraisers office, while in Cameron, and see what we're able to find out about ownership and property ID.
Time and time again we run into the Milam County Courthouse fire issue. Since your earliest interment is 1870, the Courthouse and all recorded deeds, wills, and all other public records were lost in the 1874 fire. Some of the questions are: Was the deed refiled if it was previously filed?. If so, when and who was the Grantor and/or the Grantee? That information would make it immensely easier to find ownership from the County Clerks Office records. You might also like to know that one of your San Gabriel community neighbors, Gene Baird, is taking on the restoration of the John W. Hamblen cemetery. It is located about a mile S/W of your home (as the crow flies). He's waiting for the farmer to plant his crops, leaving a few rows out, so that he may access the cemetery and start restoration work. We commend his interest and efforts. I'd like to forward this email to the groups above and to the Jones and Vangie Robertson family who have ancestors interred. They, like yourself, have an interest in this beautiful cemetery and were kind enough to make us aware of it.
I'll be back in touch with you after I "educate myself".
Sincerely, Jack and Beth Brooks
bjohnr2010(AT)hotmail(DOT)com
*****
2014-03-16
This is a follow-up of the ownership of the Moore Cemetery. On 03/10/2014 I visited the Milam County appraisers office. Always helpful, Carol Delong, assisted me in researching the property. Initially it appeared that the cemetery was part of the larger residential/ farm property. Then a note saying "see details " was seen. It was then determined that an exclusionary property was a part of the deed. Attachment #1 gave rudimentary details. There was no address or any contact information available. An additional public records reference specified the deed book and page reference of the filed deed. I next visited the County Clerks office and pulled the record book and found the details of the excluded property. See attachment #2. Next it was determined that Rhoda Moore owned no other real property in Milam county. Also that there was no listing for Ms. Moore in the Milam County tel. directory. The general information form would lead one to believe that the cemetery name was the Rhoda Moore Cemetery. No Rhoda Moore is shown interred. My next stop was Phillips and Lucky Funeral Home in Rockdale. Mr. Wallace Jones was also very helpful, and pulled numerous records for me. It was determined that the more recent apparent Kirk interments, were in reality cremations where no approval to be buried would be required. Therefore no recent contact of cemetery ownership has been obtained. He further stated that if every reasonable effort is expended to find ownership of a private cemetery, and it's still not obtained, a burial is still possible. If there is an existing family member interred and the family requests interment in the same cemetery they will honor the request. In the case of the Zinnante's, if they would like to be interred in the Moore cemetery, with out other family interred, a more exhaustive search of ownership should be done and then permission granted.
My wife and I personally visited the Zinnante's and relayed the above information to them on 03/10/2014.
Jack & Beth Brooks
bjohnr2010(AT)hotmail(DOT)com
.
Photos courtesy of Jack Brooks