DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to give it the weight it deserves. Somewhere in Brownwood, Texas, there's a piece of ground five acres wide that one man gave to a city still finding its footing. That man was Greenleaf Fisk — and history would eventually call him the Father of Brownwood.
Back in 1868, he handed over those five acres for a public burial ground. What grew there is now the Main City Cemetery of Brownwood, and it holds more stories than most folks could read in a lifetime. The original main gate was a gift from the Coggin family — another name woven into the founding of Brownwood itself.
They didn't do things small back then. That gate featured large sculptured columns holding up an iron archway. Must have cut quite a figure.
Several decades on, that entrance was closed, and a new gate was donated by the Brownwood Garden Club — one era stepping aside for the next, quietly, the way things do. The cemetery kept itself going on the goodwill of citizens and the families of those buried there, right up until 1916, when the city wrote its maintenance directly into the city charter. Made it official.
Then in 1978, the Greenleaf Cemetery Association was incorporated under the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act, giving the place its own formal stewardship. Walk those grounds today and you're walking under native trees — cedar, oak, pecan, crepe myrtle, cottonwood — the kind of canopy that doesn't hurry for anybody. The first known burial is that of Emma B.
Adams, who passed in 1873. More than twenty-two thousand graves have followed. Now here's where the story gets interesting, because the people resting beneath those trees are not ordinary in the least.
Noah T. Byars is here — the man who owned the blacksmith shop where the Declaration of Texas Independence was signed. Let that settle a moment.
Weston Lafayette Williams is here too, Sam Houston's own son-in-law. Dr. Mollie Armstrong, the first woman optometrist in Texas.
Will E. Mayes, who served as Lieutenant Governor of Texas and was founder and dean of the school of journalism at the University of Texas. And Robert Howard — author and creator of Conan the Barbarian, born right here in this corner of the world.
Also buried here are veterans from every war, including Buffalo Soldiers. And Greenleaf Fisk himself — the Father of Brownwood — rests in the very ground he gave away. More than twenty-two thousand graves, the marker says, reflecting a continuum of the area's history from pioneer times to the modern day.
Five acres in 1868. One man's gift. Still going.
What the marker says
Greenleaf Fisk, a pioneer who later would be known as the "Father of Brownwood," gave the city five acres in 1868 for a public burial ground. It is now the Main City Cemetery of Brownwood. The original main gate to the cemetery was given by the Coggin family, who also helped found Brownwood. The gate consisted of large sculptured columns supporting an iron archway. Several decades later, that entrance was closed and a new entrance gate was donated by the Brownwood Garden Club. In 1978, the Greenleaf Cemetery Association was incorporated under the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act. Those buried here lie beneath native trees such as cedar, oak, pecan, crepe myrtle and cottonwood. The first known burial is that of Emma B. Adams who passed in 1873. Citizens and families of those buried here cared for the cemetery until 1916, when the city wrote its maintenance into the city charter. Among those buried here are Noah T. Byars, owner of the blacksmith shop where the Declaration of Texas Independence was signed; Weston Lafayette Williams, Sam Houston's son-in-law; Dr. Mollie Armstrong, the first woman optometrist in Texas; Robert Howard, author and creator of Conan the Barbarian; Will E. Mayes, who served as Lt. Governor of Texas, and was founder and dean of the school of journalism at the University of Texas; and Greenleaf Fisk himself. Also buried here are veterans from every war, including Buffalo Soldiers. Today, the Greenleaf Cemetery numbers more than 22,000 graves, reflecting a continuum of the area's history from pioneer times to the modern day.