Townsen Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker at Townsen Cemetery has to say — and friend, it's a story worth slowing down for. The first Townsen to set foot in Texas was a man named Oliver Hazard Perry Townsen — though everybody who knew him called him Uncle Perry. He was born in Carroll County, Tennessee, on October 20, 1826, and he made his way to Texas in 1854.

A year later, his nephew Lafayette Jasper followed him out. Then in 1857, two more nephews came along — Columbus Franklin and Julius Randolph Townsen. The Lampasas River pulled them in, the way rivers tend to pull people who know what to do with moving water.

The family put that water to work, utilizing the creeks and tributaries to establish a mill on Mill Branch. The community grew the way communities do when there's water and will and people willing to show up. More settlers arrived, services took root, and the Townsen name became woven into the fabric of the place.

But the ground, too, started filling up — and not just with ambition. The first burial in what would become Townsen Cemetery was a child. Julius Randolph and Julia Francis Smith Townsen's first-born son, Robert Lee, was four years old when he was laid to rest there on October 2, 1875.

Julius and Julia would come back to that ground again. Their daughter Maggie, age one, was buried there in 1879. And then their son Phillip R. — thirteen years old — was killed by Indians in 1895 and buried there too.

And then there was Uncle Perry himself. The man who had started it all, the first Townsen in Texas, had already lost an arm in a mill accident. The mill that built so much had already taken something from him.

And then, on January 30, 1891, another mill accident took everything else. Uncle Perry was buried in the very cemetery that bore his family's name. That same year — 1891 — the family sold the cemetery land to Lampasas County, so it could serve as a community cemetery.

And serve it has. Nearly three hundred burials rest there now. Among them, Townsens who left their marks well beyond the county line: Jim M.

Townsen, who served in the Texas Legislature; H.C. Townsen, a county commissioner. Dozens of military graves.

A Texas Ranger. Several postmasters of the Townsen Community. A cemetery association still maintains the grounds today.

The marker calls it a testament to the determination and perseverance of early pioneers in Adamsville and Lampasas County. Some families mark their place on the land with buildings or names on maps. The Townsens marked theirs with a mill, a community, and finally with the ground itself — where the first-born and the founders rest side by side, and the river still runs nearby.

What the marker says

The first Townsen to arrive in Texas was Oliver Hazard Perry Townsen, known as Uncle Perry, in 1854. He was born in Carroll County, Tennessee, on October 20, 1826. A year after his arrival in Texas, his nephew, Lafayette Jasper, followed as well as nephews Columbus Franklin and Julius Randolph Townsen in 1857. The Lampasas River attracted the Townsen family where they utilized the creeks and tributaries to establish a mill on mill branch. The community grew as more settlers arrived in the area and services became available. The first burial at the cemetery was Julius Randolph and Julia Francis Smith Townsen's first-born son, Robert Lee, at the age of four on October 2, 1875. Subsequent children of Julius and Julia were also buried here: Maggie, age 1, in 1879, and Phillip R., killed by Indians in 1895 at age 13. Uncle Perry lost an arm in a mill accident and was, sadly, killed in another mill accident on January 30, 1891, and was buried in the Townsen Cemetery. The family sold the cemetery land to Lampasas County in 1891 for use as a community cemetery. Of the almost 300 burials at the Townsen Cemetery, many are of the Townsen family and were significant individuals in the Adamsville Community. Jim M. Townsen served in the Texas Legislature and H.C. Townsen was a county commissioner. In addition, there are dozens of military graves as well as a Texas Ranger and several postmasters of the Townsen Community. A cemetery association maintains the cemetery. The historic Townsen Cemetery remains as a testament to the determination and perseverance of early pioneers in Adamsville and Lampasas County. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2016