Aurora Cemetery - Aurora, Texas |
| June 14, 2008 |
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| Duke family plot |
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| Aurora Cemetery entrance |
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| Aurora Cemetery entrance in infrared |
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| The oldest known graves, here, dating from as early as the 1860s, are those of the Randall and Rowlett families. Finis Dudley Beauchamp (1825-1893), a Confederate veteran from Mississippi, donated the 3-acre site to the newly- formed Aurora Lodge No. 479, A.F. & A.M., in 1877. For many years, this community burial ground was known as Masonic Cemetery. Beauchamp, his wife Caroline (1829-1915), and others in their family. An epidemic which struck the village in 1891 added hundreds of graves to the plot. Called "Spotted Fever" by the settlers, the disease is now thought to be a form of meningitis. Located in Aurora Cemetery is the gravestone of the infant Nellie Burris (1891-1893) with its often-quoted epitaph: "As I was so soon done, I don't know why I was begun." This site is also well-known because of the legend that a spaceship crashed nearby in 1897 and the pilot, killed in the crash, was buried here. Struck by epidemic and crop failure and bypassed by the railroad, the original town of Aurora almost disappeared, but the cemetery remains in use with over 800 graves. Veterans of the Civil War, World Wars I and II, and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts are interred here. |
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Captaiin Arnold Shaw
9th Infantry Division
Normandy / The Rhineland, / Northern France / Germany June 1944 - March 1945
Comabat Infantry Badge / Silver Star / Bronze Star / Purple Heart / 2 Clusters
From "Arnie's" family: Jane, Sandy, Sally, Bill, Jane, Amy, Katy |
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| Assorted tombstones |
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| Assorted tombstones |
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Marvin
Son of J.J. & Mattie Eagan
Born Oct 1, 1902 - Died May 2, 1916
Weep not papa and mama for me.
For I am waiting in heaven for thee. |
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Grover H. Oates
Mar 17, 1864 - June 7, 1939 |
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Day Family
Katie - Dau of J.W. & A.E. Day 1883-1895
Father - Mother Day
E.S. Day 1830-1901
Czarena M. Day d. 1914
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Ruth Hargrave 1868-1904
J.E. Neel 1858-1933
Ellis
A.E. Hargrave 1864-1955
Sarah J. Neel - 1868-1954 |
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| Nettie Marker |
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| Broken Finial Atop Monument |
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| M.E.L. Marker |
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| Row of tombstones |
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Frank Tyler. Died Jan 31, 1879
23 yrs |
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James - son of H.T. & M.C. Watkins
Jan 21 - Apr 8 1884 |
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| Small white marble marker with yellow flowers |
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| Compressed view of cemetery |
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| Red lettered sign John 11:25 |
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| Infrared overview of cemetery |
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| Father and Mother matching tombstones |
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Daisy & Harold Van Meter
Russell monument
John T Logan 1856-1922
Lizzie Lee Logan 1870-1920 |
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| Rogers, Stark, Dennan family plots |
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| Infrared overview of cemetery |
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| Infrared overview of cemetery |
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Little Nell
Daughter of J.A. & Ella Chandler
Born Jan 9, 1886 - Died Jan 10, 1886 |
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| Illegible tombstone and tree |
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| Tombstones and trees |
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Infant Hollingsworth
Jan 21, 1885 - Mar 1, 1885 |
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| Fenced in family plot |
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| M.J. Wife of M. Haney |
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Ronald David Howard
BM3 US Coast Guard
Jul 9, 1937 - Jan 17, 2005
Marvin Felix Carroll
US Army - World War I
Apr 20, 1897 - May 5, 197? |
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Joe Allen Pittman Mar 3 1905- Aug 7, 1983
Lois Marie Pittman Sep 19, 1912-Aug 4, 1987
Married May 18, 1933 |
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| Fannie Greene - 1838 |
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Pearl and Earl
Born Feb 19, 1885
Died Aug 25, 1885 - Sept 4, 1885
Children of I.D. & H. Harrison |
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Helen Ruth Harwell
June 26, 1938 - Feb 7, 1939 |
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| Tree shadows in the cemetery |
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| Hall Family |
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Benjamin B. Benson
Born October 1822 |
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Hershell
Son of T.N. & N.E. Austin
Born Dec 13, 1885 - Died Jan 11, 1886 |
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| All images © Copyright Warren Paul Harris |
| All Rights Reserved |
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| Georgia native George Lawson Bledsoe (b. 1805), a carpenter and cotton gin builder, came to Texas in 1834. A veteran of the Texas Revolution and the Battle of San Jacinto, he received a pension for his military service and patented land grants in Brazoria, Cooke, Jack, Fannin and Wise Counties. He was married to the former Ellen Bowdre (d. 1850) and had five children. Bledsoe is buried here along with his daughter Georgia and a broher in-law, Preston E. Bowdre. Ellen Bledsoe and the couple's other four children are buried in Fannin County, probably in Bledsoe Cemetery near Dial |
| George Lawson Bledsoe Plaque |
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Ellen - Wife of Geo. L. Bledsoe.
1810-1850
Prestton E. Bowdre
1808-1889 |
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