DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just the one passin' it along. By 1905, the Old City Cemetery in Livingston had run clean out of room. Every last lot was filled, and community leaders found themselves staring at a problem that only grows in one direction.
So they got to work. Residents established the Forest Hill Cemetery Association in 1906 and bought land from James and Arabella Henington — a hill sitting south of downtown, which is just about the right kind of place for a cemetery if you think about it. November 1906, Arthur B.
Garner became the first soul laid to rest in that new ground. Someone always has to go first. Then, come May of 1908, the women of Livingston stepped in.
They formed the Ladies Cemetery Association of Livingston with a purpose plainly stated: to improve, beautify, and preserve the city's two cemeteries. Now, when a group of Texas women set their minds to something, you best believe the landscape is about to change. And speaking of change — in the 1930s, a woman named Marion Tew took charge of maintaining Forest Hill Cemetery.
Under her leadership, the grounds were beautified, and Washington Avenue, the street that leads right up to that graveyard, became the first street in all of Livingston to be paved. The road to the dead leading the way for the living. There's something to sit with right there.
The gravestones themselves tell quite a story. Thirty Confederate soldiers are buried at Forest Hill, and one Union soldier among them — all resting on the same hill, under the same Texas sky. Veterans of subsequent American military actions are there too, their service marked in stone.
And then there are some names that reach a little further. A.H. Bailey, of Mollie Bailey's Circus, is buried at Forest Hill.
So is George Ely, a traveling circus entertainer — the kind of man who spent his life bringing wonder to other people's towns, and ended up here in Livingston. And perhaps most striking of all, acclaimed theatre director Margaret "Margo" Jones found her final rest on that same hill south of downtown. Forest Hill Cemetery, the marker says, is a link to Livingston's history.
And standing on that paved stretch of Washington Avenue, looking up that hill, it's hard to argue otherwise.
What the marker says
By 1905, all the lots in Livingston's Old City Cemetery had been filled, and community leaders began looking for a new cemetery site. Residents established Forest Hill Cemetery Association in 1906 and bought land from James and Arabella Henington on a hill south of the downtown area. In November 1906, Arthur B. Garner was the first to be buried in the new cemetery. Community women formed the Ladies Cemetery Association of Livingston in May 1908; their purpose was to improve, beautify and preserve the city's two cemeteries. In the 1930s, Marion Tew took charge of maintaining Forest Hill Cemetery, and under her leadership the grounds were beautified and Washington Avenue, which leads to the graveyard, was the first street in Livingston to be paved. Forest Hill Cemetery is a link to Livingston's history. Gravestones indicate the burials of thirty Confederate soldiers and one Union soldier, as well as veterans of subsequent American military actions. Noted individuals buried here include A.H. Bailey, of Mollie Bailey's Circus, George Ely, a traveling circus entertainer, and acclaimed theatre director Margaret "Margo" Jones.