Evergreen Cemetery of Victoria

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, every good cemetery has a story, and Evergreen Cemetery of Victoria, Texas — well, friend, this one starts with a fight nobody wanted to have. Victoria's very first community cemetery sat at what is now Memorial Square, and from the jump, the local citizens wanted absolutely nothing to do with it.

They had their own preference, and that preference was burying their dead right there at home. The city of Victoria passed an ordinance in 1846 saying no, you cannot do that — but folks being folks, they did it anyway. You can pass all the ordinances you like.

People are stubborn, especially Texans, especially about their kin. So that first public cemetery sat there, unpopular as a wet boot, while the home burials kept right on happenin'. Then comes 1849, and a man named John McCrabb steps into the story.

McCrabb bought twenty-seven acres of a tract that the Republic of Texas had granted to the city. Now, the land wasn't exactly empty when he got it. Already resting there was the gravesite of a Dr.

Walter Fosgate, who had died in 1848. The land had already chosen its purpose, you might say, before McCrabb ever signed the papers. During the 1850s, part of McCrabb's land became the new public cemetery — a fresh start, a different location, maybe a shot at getting it right this time.

After the Civil War, those years of 1861 to 1865 that reshaped everything they touched, many graves were moved here from the original city cemetery. Then in 1868, old St. Mary's Catholic Church was razed, and more reinterments followed.

The dead, it seems, were doing quite a bit of traveling. But here is where city neglect enters the story like a slow leak in a good roof. The cemetery began to suffer for want of proper care, and it took the local women of Victoria to do something about it.

In 1876, they organized the Victoria Ladies' Cemetery Association and took over care of the plot. Seven years later, in 1883, the cemetery got the name it carries to this day — Evergreen Cemetery — chosen because of the abundant trees growing in the area. In 1912, the Evergreen Cemetery Endowment Association was established to manage the investment of maintenance funds, because a place this old and this full of history requires more than good intentions to keep it standing.

Over the years, further land acquisition enlarged the site from those original twenty-seven acres all the way to thirty acres. And among the nine thousand graves resting there, you'll find the grave of Martin de Leon, born in 1765 and died in 1833 — early empresario and the founder of Victoria itself. You'll find veterans of the Texas Revolution, of the Mexican War, and of the Civil War.

Nine thousand stories, give or take, all of them laid down in ground that nobody wanted at first. Funny how the places we resist have a way of becoming the places that matter most.

What the marker says

The first community cemetery in Victoria, located at present day Memorial Square, was unpopular with local citizens. They preferred home burial despite an 1846 city ordinance prohobiting the practice. In 1849 John McCrabb bought 27 acres of a tract granted to the city by the Republic of Texas. The property already contained the gravesite of Dr. Walter Fosgate, who died in 1848. During the 1850s, part of McCrabb's land became the new public cemetery. Following the Civil War (1861-65), many graves were moved here from the original city cemetery. Other reinterments occurred when old St. Mary's Catholic Church was razed in 1868. Because of city neglect, local women organized the Victoria Ladies' Cemetery Association in 1876 and took over care of the plot. The name "Evergreen Cemetery" was chosen in 1883 because of abundant trees in the area. The Evergreen Cemetery Endowment Association was established in 1912 to manage investment of maintenance funds. Over the years, further land acquistion has enlarged the site to 30 acres. Among the 9,000 graves here are those of Martin de Leon (1765-1833), early empresario and founder of Victoria; and veterans of the Texas Revolution, Mexican War, and Civil War. (1976)