Glenwood Cemetery

Duane's take

The official marker for Glenwood Cemetery in Bee County is the one I'm drawing from here, so let me tell it the way it deserves to be told. Now, every good cemetery has a beginning, and this one starts with a problem. By 1901, the nearby Evergreen Cemetery had begun to run out of burial space.

That's the kind of problem that has a deadline, if you'll forgive the expression. Enter Christopher Rotzien, local undertaker, a man who by profession understood the urgency better than most. He purchased land right next to the St.

Joseph Cemetery, and just like that, Glenwood Cemetery was open for business. That same year, the Eeds family purchased plots in the new ground. And in April of 1901, Margaret Ann Eeds was interred there, making her the first person to be buried in Glenwood Cemetery.

First in, you might say, of a very long line. The land changed hands in 1902, when the Beeville Cemetery Association took ownership, and that association manages the place to this day. Now, who came to rest here over the years?

Veterans of various wars, beginning with the Spanish-American War. Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish persons, all finding common ground, literally. And among the notable, the sister of J.

Frank Dobie, the noted Texas author, is buried within these gates. That name means something in Texas literary circles, and it means something here too. The original cemetery as first purchased measured five and a half acres.

It was laid out with intention: first divided into one hundred twenty lots of forty by forty feet each, then subdivided further into four hundred eighty separate lots of twenty by twenty feet. Neat, orderly, deliberate. But the living kept coming, and the need kept growing.

In 1920, the cemetery gained ten additional acres. Expansions and renovations followed through the nineteen sixties and seventies and on through more recent efforts. Today, Glenwood Cemetery is landscaped and trimmed.

Oak trees and cedar trees shade the ground. Grave markers have been built from concrete, granite, ceramic photographs, and wood. Among the original intact gravestones, some remain unmarked and undated, quiet mysteries that no record has yet answered.

The cemetery is still in use. Still growing. Still keeping its promise to the community that Christopher Rotzien started making back in 1901, when Evergreen ran out of room and someone had to step up and provide a place for the people of Beeville to rest.

Some beginnings are quieter than others. This one started with necessity and has outlasted just about everything else.

What the marker says

In 1901, after nearby Evergreen Cemetery had begun to run out of burial space, local undertaker Christopher Rotzien purchased land adjacent to the St. Joseph Cemetery. The same year, the Eeds family purchased plots in the cemetery and Margaret Ann Eeds was interred in April 1901, making her the first person to be buried in Glenwood Cemetery. The land was bought in 1902 by the Beeville Cemetery Association. Notable people buried in the cemetery include the sister of noted Texas author J. Frank Dobie and veterans of various wars beginning with the Spanish-American War. Burials have extended to Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish persons. The cemetery has undergone expansions and renovations from the 1960s and 1970s and continuing through more recent efforts. The original Glenwood Cemetery as it was first purchased measured out to five and a half acres. It was first divided into 120 lots of the dimensions of 40 by 40 feet, and then subdivided into 480 separate 20 by 20 feet lots. The cemetery underwent expansions in later years, gaining ten additional acres in 1920. Today, the cemetery is landscaped and trimmed, containing oak and cedar trees. Concrete, granite, ceramic photographs, and wood have been used in the building of grave markers. Among original intact gravestones are unmarked and undated gravestones. The cemetery is still in use and is managed by the Beeville Cemetery Association.