Seadrift Cemetery

Duane's take

The way I tell it, I'm drawing straight from the official marker for Seadrift Cemetery in Calhoun County. Here's the story as it stands. Before we go any further, sit with this a moment.

In 1912 and 1913, an epidemic swept through this part of the Texas coast, thought to be measles, and it took the lives of a number of infants in the area. Some of their graves are still unmarked to this day. No names carved in stone, no dates to read aloud.

Just the quiet earth. And yet they were among the very first to be laid to rest at this site. That's where this story begins.

The cemetery itself was established in 1912. A man named A.D. Powers, a land promoter, deeded five acres to J.L.

Knight, who lived from 1862 to 1927, as trustee for the town of Seadrift. The purpose was a community burial ground, a place for the whole town to keep its people. The earliest dated adult burial belongs to Daisy E.

Watkins, who was born in 1878 and died in 1913. Her grave stands among generations of local leaders and area citizens who followed her. Now, you'll also find stones at Seadrift Cemetery bearing older dates, but the marker is careful to explain those.

They were moved here from other locations, brought as memorials to loved ones. The ground itself is newer than some of those inscriptions suggest. Among the many buried here are veterans, and the roll of their service runs long.

The Texas Revolution. The Civil War. World War I.

World War II. Korea. Vietnam.

All of it represented in the soil of those five original acres and the land added after. And the cemetery did grow. The E.L.

Wooldridge family deeded 2.57 acres in 1951, then another .85 acres in 1969, because the community kept coming, and the ground had to stretch to hold them. In 1967, the Seadrift Cemetery Association was reorganized, and that reorganization brought real changes: a fence went in, a water well was installed, maintenance improved, and other enhancements followed. The association continues to oversee the place to this day.

So here's what you have out there on the coast of Calhoun County. A cemetery that opened its arms to the smallest and most forgotten first, the infants of an epidemic, some still unnamed. Then built itself outward, acre by acre, decade by decade, until it became a chronicle of Seadrift itself.

The early residents. Their descendants. The veterans of six different conflicts.

All of them neighbors now, in the only way that lasts.

What the marker says

Seadrift Cemetery An epidemic, thought to be measles, took the lives of a number of infants in this area in 1912-1913. Some of their graves remain unmarked, but they were among the first to be interred at this site. This cemetery was established in 1912, when A.D. Powers, a land promoter, deeded five acres to J.L. Knight (1862-1927), trustee for the town of Seadrift, for a community burial ground. The grave of Daisy E. Watkins (1878-1913) is the earliest dated adult burial among generations of local leaders and area citizens laid to rest here. Stones with older dates were moved here from other locations as memorials to loved ones. The many veterans buried here include those who participated in the Texas Revolution, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam. The E.L. Wooldridge family deeded 2.57 acres in 1951 and .85 acres in 1969 to allow for needed expansion. A re-organization of the Seadrift Cemetery Association in 1967 resulted in the installation of a fence and water well, improved maintenance and other enhancements for this historic cemetery. The association continues to oversee the affairs of this site that chronicles the lives of many of Seadrift's early residents and their descendants. Historic Texas Cemetery-2002