St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery out in Lavaca County. Pull over if you need to.

This one's worth a moment. Way back in the 1830s, a rural settlement started taking shape along the banks of Brushy Creek and Supple Jack Creek. Folks called it the Brushy community, and it was the kind of place that grew slowly, quietly, the way roots do.

By around 1847, the Catholics among those settlers had organized themselves well enough to put up a church. A log sanctuary, simple and sturdy, the kind of building that says we're here and we intend to stay. But it wasn't until 1869 that things really got moving.

Under the direction of Father John Anthony Forest, Third Bishop of the San Antonio Diocese, the area Catholics began to build what would become St. Joseph Parish. They took their time about it.

The structure wasn't completed until 1876, raised on property donated by John H. and Stephen Dunn. Settlers took to calling it Brushy Church, and for decades it served not just Lavaca County but the bordering counties too. A single parish holding the faithful together across a wide stretch of Texas brushland.

By 1912, the community had grown enough that a new church was built to accommodate everybody. And then, in 1932, Brushy Church was destroyed by fire. Just like that, the old landmark was gone.

But the cemetery? The cemetery held on. St.

Joseph Catholic Cemetery kept right on serving the area. The earliest known burial there belongs to John B. Vollentine, who died in 1871.

Think about that. Before the original church building was even finished, someone was already being laid to rest in that ground. The cemetery became the quiet keeper of the community's memory.

Many of the individuals interred here were ranchers, farmers, or sharecroppers. Hard-working people who shaped the land and were shaped right back by it. Among the noted interments is Pat May, a founder of the city of Yoakum.

There are also members of fraternal organizations buried here, and veterans whose service dates back to the Civil War. Walk through those grounds today and the markers themselves tell stories. Religious statuary and iconography connect every stone to the Catholic faith that built this place.

You'll find curbing, obelisks, vertical stones, and five mausoleums for above-ground burials. The full range of how people choose to be remembered. St.

Joseph Parish still maintains the cemetery, and it remains open to this day for descendants of the original parishioners. The church that gave it its name is gone. The old log sanctuary is long gone.

But the ground endures, still linking us back to those rural communities along Brushy Creek, and to the faithful who put down roots there nearly two centuries ago. Some things, it turns out, outlast the fire.

What the marker says

CATHOLICS IN THE BRUSHY COMMUNITY, WHICH WAS A RURAL SETTLEMENT THAT DEVELOPED BEGINNING IN THE 1830s ALONG THE BRUSHY AND SUPPLE JACK CREEKS, FIRST ORGANIZED A CHURCH AROUND 1847, BUILDING A LOG SANCTUARY. HOWEVER, IT WASN’T UNTIL 1869 THAT, UNDER THE DIRECTION OF FATHER JOHN ANTHONY FOREST, THIRD BISHOP OF THE SAN ANTONIO DIOCESE, AREA CATHOLICS BEGAN TO BUILD THE ST. JOSEPH PARISH. THE STRUCTURE WAS COMPLETED IN 1876 ON PROPERTY DONATED BY JOHN. H. AND STEPHEN DUNN. KNOWN BY SETTLERS AS BRUSHY CHURCH, ST. JOSEPH SERVED LAVACA AND BORDERING COUNTIES UNTIL A NEW CHURCH WAS BUILT IN 1912 TO ACCOMMODATE THE GROWING COMMUNITY. THE BRUSHY CHURCH WAS DESTROYED BY FIRE IN 1932. ST. JOSEPH CATHOLIC CEMETERY, HOWEVER, CONTINUED TO SERVE THE AREA. THE EARLIEST KNOWN BURIAL IN THIS CEMETERY IS OF JOHN B. VOLLENTINE, WHO DIED IN 1871. MANY OF THE INDIVIDUALS INTERRED HERE WERE RANCHERS, FARMERS OR SHARECROPPERS, REFLECTING THE NATURE OF THE AREA’S RURAL COMMUNITIES. A NOTED INTERMENT IS OF PAT MAY, A FOUNDER OF YOAKUM. OTHERS BURIED INCLUDE MEMBERS OF FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS AND VETERANS OF CONFLICTS DATING TO THE CIVIL WAR. RELIGIOUS STATUARY AND ICONOGRAPHY ILLUSTRATE THE BURIAL GROUND’S CONNECTION TO CATHOLICISM. OTHER CEMETERY FEATURES INCLUDE CURBING, OBELISKS AND VERTICAL STONES. IT ALSO CONTAINS FIVE MAUSOLEUMS FOR ABOVE-GROUND BURIALS. ST. JOSEPH PARISH MAINTAINS THE CEMETERY, WHICH IS STILL OPEN FOR DESCENDANTS OF THE ORIGINAL PARISHIONERS. TODAY, ST. JOSEPH CATHOLIC CEMETERY REMAINS A LINK TO THE FORMER RURAL COMMUNITIES OF THIS AREA AND TO THE FAITHFUL CATHOLICS WHO LIVED NEAR BRUSHY CREEK.