Resting in History: Exploring Arlington Cemetery and Texas Graves - Paper Example

Old Arlington Cemetery Complex, Arlington, Texas

The old Arlington cemetery complex is a United States military cemetery located in Arlington County Virginia. It can be seen from the District of Colombia (Washington DC) just on the other side of the Potomac River. Initially, the lands in Arlington were given to eminent individuals as an allotment by the British monarch to gain favor or political support. The land belonged to George Washington Parke Custis where he built the Arlington House. Arlington Virginia seceded from the Confederate and joined the Union. The Arlington complex belonged to General Lee, who was a Confederate general. The land was given as a bequest to Mary Ann, who married General Robert Lee, a Confederate soldier. Mary Anna had to leave her home when the fight between the union and the Confederates began.

The cemetery was 200 acres when it was established and is currently at 639 acres.

During the third year of the Civil War, the Union army carried out an offensive against the Confederates in the Battle of Wilderness. The repercussions were more injuries and death to the Union soldiers. As such, soldiers were brought to Virginia via the Potomac River. The resources were stretched, and churches and public buildings were turned into hospitals. The army then embarked on burying their fellow comrades at Alexandria Cemetery and the United States Soldier Cemetery. Due to the number of casualties, the cemeteries were almost full and additional land was required.

The authority to look for land immediately was given to General Montgomery Meigs. The land of confederate General Robert E. Lee, which used to be a plantation, was chosen as the right place to be a national cemetery. This is seen as a political move because Lee was a Confederate. Arlington was officially established as a cemetery in July of 1864 by order of the secretary of war. Arlington was also strategical with regard to military invasion. The government acquired the land, but the sale was nullified by the court. Custis Lee heir to the property later sold the grounds to the government for one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Consequently, the plantation became a military sanctuary. The cemetery was segregated with regard to one's rank and race. The Civil War soldiers who were white were buried in section 13. Freed and African Americans were buried in section 27. In the spirit of unification, Congress in 1900 assent to confederate soldiers to be buried at Arlington.

There were some segments of the cemetery that was used to house freed slaves. The government build rental houses housing up to 3000 freed slaves known as the freedman’s village. Those men could do farming on the land and got occupational training to empower them. Their joy was short-lived as they had to vacate the land when the area became a reservation for the army. The first person to be buried and interred at the Arlington National Cemetery in 1864 was a soldier of the 67th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment by the name William Henry Christman. The number of freed African American soldiers buried in section 27 is 3800. Former 27th president of the United States William Howard Taft was also buried at Arlington. There is also the tomb of the unknown where there are graves of unknown soldiers of World War 1 and 11 and the Korean War.

Caddo Cemetery, Joshua, Texas

Caddo Cemetery is located in Johnson County in Texas and is primarily utilized by the city of Joshua ("Caddo Cemetery. The city of Joshua is situated along Highway 174 and is between Burleson and Cleburne. Nearby cities include Godley, Cross Timber, Briar Oaks, and Burleson. Caddo Cemetery borders several essential places like Caddo Peak, Brushy Knob, Owl Stadium, Mountain Valley Lake Number 1 Dam, and Mountain Valley Lake Number 1. Cemeteries near Caddo Cemetery are Old Lane Prairie Cemetery, Buchanan Cemetery, Greencare’s Memorial Park, Lightfoot Cemetery, and Prairie Springs Cemetery. Caddo Cemetery is the direct neighbor to Caddo Grove Elementary and RC Loflin Middle School. The G.P.S coordinates for the grave are latitude 32.4742° and longitude -97.4183°.

Joshua city is home to about 10000 people who are served by Caddo Cemetery ("Caddo Cemetery (Johnson County, TX)" 2020). Settlement in Johnson County was started by Europeans who had migrated into the area primarily for trade with the Indians. The land did not have any human settlements and was filled with wildlife. This was another reason that the Europeans took into consideration before settling on the land. As the Europeans continued to migrate to the area, the town started developing and participated in its first census in 1860. The population at that time was about 4000 people. The current population of Johnson County is about 200,000 people, with at least 10000 people from Joshua City.

Joshua City has a total area of about 18 km2, with at least 1 kilometer of the area designated as Caddo cemetery. Joshua City and Caddo Cemetery owe their existence to Theodore "Ted" R. Strube, who lived between 1908 and 1963.. He was the founding mayor of the city and helped it to develop into a town. Furthermore, Caddo cemetery and Joshua's city's people should thank one William Leech West retired veteran who served in the Civil War. .The sole reason for this gratification is that William Leech West donated the land on which the Caddo cemetery is built on. Two reasons informed the donation of the piece of land. Firstly, Williams was moving nearer to the railroad company. Secondly, Williams's house, which was situated on that piece of land, had been destroyed by fire. The impact of the donation ensured that William and all his relatives had a designated burial site.

When a person visits the cemetery, they can still view some of the early graves with headstones. There are nine early graves in Caddo cemetery, which have been able to withstand the harsh environment. The first early grave belongs to a woman named Sarahan, who was born in 1846 and died in 1876. The second grave was of a man known as Aaron Harlan, born on December 13th, 1811, and died on April 3rd, 1870. The third grave belonged to O.W Alexander, whose sunrise was January 26th, 1843, and sunset on May 22nd, 1862. The fourth grave was for two infant twin sisters who died at birth on September 17th, 1878. The rest of the graves had their engravings badly deteriorated, making it impossible to read the names. The only thing that could be deciphered is the year of death. These years are 1878,1880,1880,1881, and 1882 respectively.

Fuget Cemetery, Grand Prairie, Texas

Fuget cemetery is an old abandoned Cemetery is situated in the city of Grand Prairie in Texas in the United States of America. The Grand Prairie city is a part of the cities from the mid-cities in the area between Dallas and Fort worth. The exact location of the city is between Dallas and Tarrant counties. A minimal part of the city has expanded towards Ellis County, which is on the south. Grand Prairie borders several regions, including Cedar Hill, Midlothian, Mansfield, Arlington, and Irving. The cemetery is directly placed on the Dallas Naval Air Base land that bears the duty of maintaining the premises. The cemetery can be found on latitude 32.735061 and longitude -96.974818. The whole city covers 210 km2, with the cemetery taking only 27" x 42" of the whole area.

The cemetery can be accessed via two routes, i.e., via the Garret Boulevard Street and Jefferson Boulevard Street. It is directly behind the watchtower, which belonged to the United States of America Army. Grand Prairie was created by Alexander McRae Dechman in the 1860s, who moved into the area after a series of misfortune befell him and his family. Alexander had named the town Dechman, which was later changed to the current name Grand Prairie. The railroad organization, which was established in the area, helped it to grow rapidly. The current population of the area is about 200000 people from 179000 in 2010.

Fuget Cemetery was a portion of a 700-acre piece of land that belonged to Rowland and Anna Huitt (Richards, n.d.). The two had patented the land in 1843 after migrating from Arkansas. The cemetery is named after the great Fugitt family who lived in the area in the 1800s though there is no evidence that has been able to link the property to the Fugitt family. This is all thanks to an oral tradition, which has helped keep this information relevant to date. Later on, the United States of America army leased the area bordering the cemetery, which was about 300 acres.

A critical thing to know is that graves in the Fuget cemetery show close family relations like spouses, children, cousins, fathers, mothers, grandfathers, and grandmothers. Fuget Cemetery has several early graves that have been able to withstand the test of time. These graves are in perfect condition, and the writings on the headstones can be easily deciphered. The first earliest grave in the cemetery belonged to J.H Snow, dated April 20th, 1864. The deceased was the son-in-law of Rowland and Anna Huitt, and husband of Josephine Elizabeth Huitt.

The second early grave belonged to an infant called Ayera, born on October 20th, 1881, and died on the same day. The third grave was Conover William V, whose sunrise was on September 12th, 1872, and sunset on November 5th, 1872. The fourth grave belonged to Poindexter, whose birth date was on May 16th, 1812, and sunset on February 23rd, 1896. The fifth grave was of Prater Madora, born on September 18th 1886 and died two months later. The sixth grave holds the remains of Walker Mary Atwood, whose sunrise was on January 24th, 1867, and sunset on July 30th, 1897. The seventh early grave belonged to McKinney Nancy W, whose birth was on August 24th, 1861, and died on August 18th, 1893. The last burial that took place on the cemetery was on September 29th, 1957, when the cemetery has been since abandoned.

Bibliography

Administration, National. 2020. "VA.Gov | Veterans Affairs". Cem.Va.Gov. https://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/dallasftworth.asp.

Burrows, Jennifer. 2010. Arlington National Cemetery. Vero Beach, Fla.: Rourke.

Blair, William. 2019. "Black Lives At Arlington National Cemetery: From Slavery to Segregation". Southern Spaces. DOI:10.18737/43328.2019.

"Caddo Cemetery (Johnson County, TX)". 2020. Roadside thoughts. https://roadsidethoughts.com/tx/cemeteries/caddo-cemetery-xx-johnson-profile.htm.

"Fuget Cemetery - Grand Prairie TX - Abandoned Cemeteries On Waymarking.Com". 2020. Waymarking.Com. https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMG9ZE_Fuget_Cemetery_Grand_Prairie_TX.

Janney, Caroline, E., 2017. "Micki Mcelya. The Politics of Mourning: Death and Honor in Arlington National Cemetery.” The American Historical Review 122 (5): 1624-1625. Doi:10.1093/ahr/122.5.1624.

Poole, Robert M., 2009. "How Arlington National Cemetery Came To Be". Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-arlington-national-cemetery-came-to-be-145147007/.

Perttula, Timothy K., and Bo Nelson. 2013. "A Late Caddo Cemetery At The A. Davis Site In The Little Cypress Creek Basin, Upshur County, Texas". Index Of Texas Archaeology Open Access Grey Literature From The Lone Star State. DOI:10.21112/.ita.2013.1.36.