Cottonwood Cemetery

Duane's take

The official marker at Cottonwood Cemetery tells it like this, and I'm just the one passin' it along. Now, every cemetery has a founding story, and this one reaches back about as far as Texas stories go. A South Carolina native by the name of Parrott W.

McNeese served in the Texas Revolution of 1835 and 1836, and for that service, he received land in this area in 1846. He and his wife, Mary — she was born an Allcorn — had three surviving children. One of them was a boy named George Washington McNeese, born in 1840, who first set eyes on Hill County in 1861.

George would go on to serve as a Confederate Army First Lieutenant during the Civil War. When that was done, he came back to farm the five hundred acres he'd inherited, working the land with cotton and corn, raising mules and horses. In 1869 he married a woman named Sallie Poteet, and together they'd have nine children — six of whom reached adulthood.

But 1873 brought grief. An infant son died, and in the wake of that loss, George and Sallie McNeese did something that quietly shaped this whole stretch of Hill County for generations to come. They deeded seven and a half acres — seven point seven, to be exact — for a public school and a graveyard.

It was called McNeese Cemetery then. The name that stuck would come later. By 1882, George and other settlers were actively building something bigger.

They brought German families out from Brenham to what was becoming the Cottonwood community — a place that grew to include a mercantile store, a cotton gin, and a school. A real community. The kind that makes you think it'll be there forever.

George and Sallie both died in 1909, and they were buried in a family plot near that infant son. But let me tell you about some of the others resting here, because this ground holds a remarkable range of American history. William J.

Gray served in Erastus — known as Deaf — Smith's Ranger Company in 1837. He never married, but he fostered fourteen orphans, five of them his own nieces and nephews. You think about a man like that, and the word legacy takes on a different weight.

Then there's Altus Manuel Horn and Ruth B. Cotton Horn — husband and wife, both World War II veterans. Altus was a prisoner of war and a Bronze Star recipient.

Ruth served in the Woman's Army Corps. Buried side by side, right here. The veterans interred at Cottonwood Cemetery span from the Texas Revolution all the way to the Korean War.

More than three hundred known graves, and many more without markers. The gravestones themselves tell their own stories — concrete, fieldstone, granite, marble, sandstone, steel, ceramic photographs, family plot fencing. Each material a quiet record of who had what, and when.

By 1979, years of neglected maintenance had taken their toll. But a group of people decided this place was worth saving. They formally organized in 1991 as the Cottonwood Cemetery Association, and they dedicated themselves to preserving what remained.

Because here's the thing about Cottonwood Cemetery now — it's the only remaining indication of the once-thriving Cottonwood community. The store is gone. The cotton gin is gone.

The school is gone. But the dead are still here, and so are the people who refused to let them be forgotten.

What the marker says

For serving in the Texas Revolution of 1835-36, South Carolina native Parrott W. McNeese received land in this area in 1846. McNeese and his wife, Mary (Allcorn), had three surviving children, including George Washington McNeese (b. 1840), who made his first trip to Hill County in 1861. After serving as a Confederate Army 1st Lt. during the Civil War, George farmed his inherited 500 acres and later increased his land holdings, growing primarily cotton and corn and raising mules and horses. George married Sallie Poteet in 1869, and six of their nine children reached adulthood. After their infant son died in 1873, George and Sallie McNeese deeded 7.7 acres for a public school and graveyard, initially known as McNeese Cemetery. In 1882, George and other settlers brought German families from Brenham to the Cottonwood community, which included a mercantile store, cotton gin, and school. George and Sallie both died in 1909 and were buried in a family plot near their infant son. Veterans from the Texas Revolution to the Korean War are interred here. William J. Gray, who served in Erastus (Deaf) Smith's Ranger Company in 1837, never married but fostered 14 orphans (including five nieces and nephews). Two other notable burials include husband and wife World War II veterans, Altus Manuel Horn, prisoner of war and Bronze Star recipient, and Ruth B. Cotton Horn, Woman's Army Corps. There are more than 300 known graves, with many unmarked. Gravestone materials include concrete, fieldstone, granite, marble, sandstone, steel, ceramic photographs, and family plot fencing. In 1979, after years of neglected maintenance, a group which formally organized in 1991 as the Cottonwood Cemetery Association dedicated themselves to preserving this historic burial ground, the only remaining indication of the once-thriving Cottonwood community. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2009