Whitney Memorial Park

Duane's take

The way the marker at Whitney Memorial Park tells it, here's what happened. Back in 1950, the construction of Whitney Dam set something in motion that this part of Texas had never quite seen before. Six historic cemeteries, scattered across Hill and Bosque counties, were about to go under the waters of Lake Whitney.

And somebody had to do something about the people already resting there. So before the lake inundated those pioneer cemeteries, every last gravestone, every monument, every set of remains was moved. All of it relocated to nearly 24 acres purchased for exactly that purpose.

When the counting was done, 1,260 graves had been reinterred in what became Whitney Memorial Park. Twelve hundred and sixty. Let that number sit with you a moment.

That is not a small task. That is a reckoning. Now, the six cemeteries each came with their own history, and this ground holds all of it.

The Captain Wilson Cemetery had originally been located about six miles southwest of Whitney. It was named for J. M.

C. Wilson, a Civil War veteran and politician. The earliest documented burial there dates to 1857, meaning the ground had been holding its secrets for nearly a century before the dam changed everything.

The Walling Bend Cemetery dated from 1863, named for Jesse Walling, who served in the Texas legislature. Over on the Bosque County side of the lake, two cemeteries sat on the Schuler place, containing 14 graves, many belonging to the Basye family. Then there was the cemetery that served the Towash community, located about five miles west of Whitney.

The earliest known burial there was that of A. J. and J. J.

Dyer, in 1864. Their descendants were no small matter either, including a member of the Texas Legislature, the first chief justice of Hill County, and the owners of a flour and grist mill. And finally, the largest of the six, the Degraffenreid graveyard, located about three miles west of Whitney.

Six hundred and eighty-five graves came from that one site alone. More than half the total. All of them now resting here, gathered together on those nearly 24 acres, because the water was coming and someone decided that the dead deserved better than to be forgotten beneath a lake.

What the marker says

The construction of Whitney Dam caused the creation of this cemetery in 1950 for the reinterment of 1260 graves from six historic cemeteries in Hill and Bosque counties. Before Lake Whitney inundated several pioneer cemeteries, all of the gravesites and monuments were moved here and placed on nearly 24 acres purchased for the Brazos Valley graves. The Captain Wilson Cemetery was originally located about six miles southwest of Whitney and named for Civil War veteran and politician J. M. C. Wilson. The earliest documented burial was from 1857. The Walling Bend Cemetery, dating from 1863, was named for Jesse Walling, who served in the Texas legislature. The two Schuler place cemeteries were located on the Bosque County side of Lake Whitney, and contained 14 graves, many of the Basye Family. The cemetery that served the Towash community was located about five miles west of Whitney. The earliest known burial was that of A. J. and J. J. Dyer in 1864. Their descendants included a member of the Texas Legislature, the first chief justice of Hill County and owners of a flour and grist mill. The Degraffenreid graveyard, located about three miles west of Whitney, was the largest of the six cemeteries moved with 685 graves.