Hooks Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Hooks Cemetery, out in Hardin County. Now settle in, because this one's about a man who took care of his neighbors, right down to the very end. William Hooks was born in North Carolina in 1818, and he was not a man who stayed put.

He lived in Florida. He lived in Georgia. And then, in 1849, he pointed himself toward Texas, which, if you ask me, shows a certain kind of character.

He settled here on his own survey in 1852, put down roots in a place that had a name worth remembering: Pigeon Roost Prairie. Not long after he settled, William Hooks set aside a piece of that land for a burial ground. A place for family.

A place for the folks living nearby on that prairie. Now here's where the story gets something more than ordinary. William Hooks didn't just donate the land and walk away.

He took a personal interest in that cemetery, and the marker is specific about what that means. He built the coffins. He dug the graves.

He maintained the grounds himself. That is a man who understood that tending to the dead is one of the most serious things the living can do. William Hooks died in 1894, and when he was gone, the cemetery passed into the care of his two youngest sons.

Bud, who died in 1933, and Ben, who died in 1949. Two sons, carrying on what their father started. A North Carolina boy who wandered through Florida and Georgia, landed on a Texas prairie, and spent his life making sure nobody in that community went into the ground without somebody showing up to do it right.

What the marker says

North Carolina native William Hooks (1818-1894) lived in Florida and Georgia before moving to Texas in 1849. He settled here on his survey in 1852. Soon after, he set aside land at this site for a burial ground. It was originally used for family members and for residents of the adjacent area known as Pigeon Roost Prairie. William Hooks took a personal interest in the cemetery; he built coffins, dug graves, and maintained the grounds. After his death, it was administrated by his two youngest sons, Bud (d.1933) and Ben (d.1949).