DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm passing it along to you. Out on the edge of Cleburne, Texas, there's a cemetery that holds more history than most folks give it credit for. Cleburne Memorial Cemetery is the final resting place of more than four hundred Confederate soldiers and seven Union soldiers, all of them men who represent the foundation of what became Cleburne's thriving community.
You want to understand life in Cleburne after the war, you start right here, walking among these headstones. Now, the veterans who survived that war, they didn't want those men forgotten. And so the Pat Cleburne Camp Number 88 of the United Confederate Veterans took it upon themselves to do something about it.
In 1922, they erected a memorial arch, and that arch still leads visitors today into Confederate Memorial Park. That's the kind of gesture that says: we were here, and we remember. The U.C.V. itself was a national organization.
They assembled annually in general conventions and reunions, and many Southerners considered those occasions major social events. Imagine it, men who had lived through the hardest years this country ever saw, gathering together, sharing what they carried. Those reunions kept happening, year after year, right up until 1950.
That last reunion is something to sit with for a moment. Only one member could attend. His name was James Moore of Selma, Alabama.
He was commander-in-chief, and he was ninety-eight years old. One man, in a room meant for thousands. That was the end of it.
Back in Johnson County, the Pat Cleburne Camp Number 88 had been formed in January of 1890, and the pillars of the Cleburne community filled its ranks. Doctors, lawyers, judges, teachers, Texas Rangers, businessmen, farmers. The whole shape of a town, right there in one organization.
Now the story doesn't end with them. Their successor, Terry's Texas Rangers Camp Number 1937, Sons of Confederate Veterans, carries the work forward. They take part in living history events for schoolchildren at area schools, they show up for pioneer days at the Chisholm Trail Outdoor Museum, and every year they participate in the annual General Patrick Cleburne birthday celebration.
And perhaps most quietly and most faithfully, they maintain the headstones and the park, placing flags by the graves of both Confederate and Union soldiers alike. More than four hundred and seven men, remembered. That arch still standing.
One old commander in an empty hall in 1950. And volunteers still out there on a weekend, setting flags straight in the grass. That's how a community keeps its word.
What the marker says
Cleburne Memorial Cemetery serves as the final resting place of many Civil War veterans with more than 400 confederate soldiers and seven union soldiers. These men represent the foundation of Cleburne's thriving community and give insight into life in Cleburne after the war. Wishing to create a tribute in honor of their veterans, the Pat Cleburne Camp number 88, United Confederate Veterans (u.c.v.), erected a memorial arch in 1922 which leads visitors into Confederate Memorial Park. The U.C.V. was a national organization that assembled annually in general conventions and reunions. Many southerners considered the occasions major social events. The last reunion was held in 1950 when only one member, 98-year-old commander-in-chief James Moore of Selma, Alabama, could attend. The Pat Cleburne Camp number 88, U.C.V., was formed in January of 1890. Pillars of the Cleburne community were members, including doctors, lawyers, judges, teachers, Texas Rangers, businessmen and farmers. The successor of this organization, Terry's Texas Rangers Camp no. 1937, Sons of Confederate Veterans, continue to participate in many projects in the community such as taking part in living history events for schoolchildren at area schools, pioneer days at the Chisholm Trail Outdoor Museum and the annual General Patrick Cleburne birthday celebration. Terry's Texas Rangers Camp no. 1937 proudly maintains the headstones and park, often placing flags by the headstones of both confederate and union soldiers. (2015)