Sealy Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do it justice. Back in 1879, a Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway Company agent by the name of George Sealy made himself quite a land deal. He purchased eleven thousand, six hundred and thirty-five acres at this very location, buying it from the township of San Felipe de Austin, all for the purpose of establishing a railroad depot.

Now, when you put a depot somewhere out on the Texas plains, people tend to follow. And sure enough, the village of Sealy grew up right around that depot, the way towns do when the railroad shows up and decides to stay a while. Then came July 5th, 1883.

That was the day the cemetery recorded its very first burial, the infant Annie Fowlkes. A quiet beginning for a place that would one day hold more than two thousand, four hundred souls. For a time, families settling in Sealy purchased their cemetery plots directly from the railroad company itself.

That arrangement held until 1887, when the company donated the land outright to three cemetery trustees: C.H. Ruff, R.P. Josey, and John Hackbarth.

The Sealy Cemetery Association came together sometime before 1898, and it was officially chartered in 1924. But here's where the story gets a little warmer. In 1904, the ladies of the cemetery society organized, and they got to work.

They helped the association build community support, raise funds, keep the grounds up. Then in the 1930s, two notable society members, Mrs. J.W., known as Vera, Ripple and Mrs.

Paul, known as Mahala, Hackbarth helped organize a Christmas bazaar fundraising event. What started as a practical fundraiser developed into an important annual social affair for the whole community. Today, more than two thousand, four hundred grave sites rest here, among them many of Sealy's earliest residents.

The cemetery holds a variety of gravestones and statuary, and it includes two mausoleums. From one infant's burial in the summer of 1883 to more than two thousand, four hundred graves tended by generations of people who cared enough to hold a Christmas bazaar. That's a community keeping faith with its own.

What the marker says

In 1879 Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway Company agent George Sealy purchased 11,635 acres at this location from the township of San Felipe de Austin for the purpose of establishing a railroad depot. The village of Sealy soon developed around the depot and on July 5, 1883, it recorded its first burial here, that of the infant Annie Fowlkes. Families that settled in Sealy purchased cemetery plots directly from the railroad until the company donated the land to cemetery trustees C.H. Ruff, R.P. Josey, and John Hackbarth in 1887. The Sealy Cemetery Association was founded sometime prior to 1898 and officially chartered in 1924. The laides of the cemetery society, organized in 1904, helped the association cultivate community support to upgrade and maintain the cemetery. Two notable society members, Mrs. J.W. (Vera) Ripple and Mrs. Paul (Mahala) Hackbarth helped organize a Christmas bazaar fundraising event in the 1930's that developed into an important annual social affair in the community. Among the more than 2,400 grave sites are those of many of Sealy's early residents. The cemetery boasts a variety of gravestones and statuary and includes two mausoleums. (1993)