Hamilton-Bragg Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Hamilton-Bragg Cemetery in Navarro County. Now settle in, because this one starts before it even begins, way back on a road that never quite went the way it was planned. The James Hamilton Jr. family packed up and left Tennessee for Texas around 1841.

A whole family, pulling toward a new life. But James himself never made it. He died in Arkansas, somewhere along the way, and that could have been the end of the story right there.

It wasn't. His wife Elizabeth gathered up their children and kept going. They pressed on, and around 1846, they arrived in Navarro County.

Think about that woman for a moment. Widowed on the road, children in tow, and she finished the journey anyway. Elizabeth Hamilton lived out her years in that county she'd fought so hard to reach, and when she died on August 7, 1857, she was laid to rest in what we now call Hamilton-Bragg Cemetery.

The family name took root in that ground. Their daughter Julia, known as Julia Hamilton Bragg, is buried there too, along with her husband Joseph O. Bragg, who died in 1873, and four of their children.

Julia herself lived until 1900. But the earliest known burial at the site belongs to a child. Joseph and Julia's son James died on January 18, 1855, and that date, January 18, 1855, is the oldest marker of loss in that cemetery.

A boy named James, just like his grandfather before him. Today, Hamilton-Bragg Cemetery stands as a symbol of a pioneering Navarro County family, one that kept moving even when it had every reason to stop.

What the marker says

The James Hamilton,Jr. family left Tennessee for Texas ca. 1841. Upon James' death in Arkansas, his wife Elizabeth and their children continuned the journey, arriving in Navarro County ca. 1846. Elizabeth Hamilton died on August 7, 1857, and is buried in Hamilton-Bragg Cemetery. The Hamilton's daughter, Julia (Hamilton) Bragg (d. 1900) is also buried at the site, along with her husband, Joseph O. Bragg (d. 1873) and four of their children. The earliest known burial in the cemetery is that of Joseph and Julia Bragg's son, James, who died on January 18, 1855. Today, Hamilton-Bragg Cemetery remains as a symbol of a pioneering Navarro County family. Historic Texas Cemetery -2005