1884 Burial in Galveston, Texas

[jaykayare]

Can anyone tell me whether an old graveyard still exists in which a part-time fireman named John Robson was buried in October 1884. He had slipped from an unlit wharf and drowned while trying to board a ship with a fire in the hold and was buried on 21 Oct 'with honours, with the Fire Department in uniform'.  I would love to know whether he has a headstone and, if so, have a photo.

Can anyone help please?

[*Sandra*]

Hi,

Welcome to RootsChat

What was the name of the old cemetery ?

You could join Find A Grave (free) and create a memorial page for John Robson at ? Cemetery and then request a photograph - its explained here -  How to submit a photo request.  Hope this helps.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=listFaqs#73

Sandra
 
 

[jaykayare]

Thanks Sandra

I am aware of Find a Grave but thought I'd try on here first.

I seem to remember coming across a reference to a cemetery just called 'Old Cemetery' in Galveston.

[shellyesq]

If you don't know the name of the cemetery, it would probably help to find that.  It looks like multiple cemeteries existed there in that time frame.  The Galveston library has some death certificates and cemetery records from that time - http://www.gthcenter.org/Genealogy.pdf  It looks like they will do research for a fee - http://www.gthcenter.org/research.htm

There are also some records available through the Family History Center - https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/569371?availability=Family%20History%20Library

[jaykayare]

I had not considered that there would be more than one old cemetery. I have contacted the Library and await their reply. I have been in touch with them in the past and found them helpful, at a cost, but very slow to respond.

Thank you for your helpful responses.

[jaykayare]

As an update, I have received responses which advise me that burial is recorded as being in Cahill (now known as Evergreen) Cemetery. Also that any marker (US term for headstone?) may not exist following The Great Storm of 1900, during which all cemetery records which would have indicated whether or not a marker was still in place, were destroyed.

So..... 'walking the whole cemetery', I am advised, is the only way to find any marker. Oh well, it would have been good to know but probably isn't meant to be.

 

[Lisa in California]

It appears that the City of Galveston owns and manages several cemeteries, which includes Evergreen.  It might be worthwhile to try contacting them, to see if they have any additional information?  Perhaps at the very least, they might be able to tell you in which section of the cemetery he might be buried.
http://www.cityofgalveston.org/528/Galveston-Cemeteries

A California cemetery in which some of my husband's ancestors were buried has sections which were determined by the decades of the deaths.  The oldest deaths are in one section, deaths from the early 1900s are in another, etc.  (Of course, relatives who shared a plot may be buried many, many years after the other relative, so this method doesn't always work.) 

In our region of California, I suppose a marker could be a generic term for an upright headstone, a flat gravestone or a small marker.

Note:  looking at Evergreen Cemetery on FindAGrave, there is a diagram of where the old cemeteries are located - Evergreen appears to be closest to Broadway and 43rd Street.  Using an online satellite map, it appears that there are "missing" grave markers.   

Apparently, 67% of the interments have been photographed.  I suppose there is still a chance that one day his stone may be photographed, if in fact it still exists.

[Lisa in California]

Using FindAGrave and viewing the photographs, a stone still exists for Mr. Baumann, who it appears died 30 Oct 1884.  His stone exists, so perhaps the stone for Mr. Robson may still exist (if they were buried in the same area)?

[jaykayare]

Thank you Lisa.  I have been in touch with the Parks and Recreation Dept. which owns & manages the cemeteries and it is they who say they 'would just have to walk the whole cemetery' but finding the grave 'was unlikely'.  They did not offer any further information, other than that the family of the deceased would have had to pay for the headstone to be raised again after the storm, but there was no family to do that, my great grandmother having returned to her family in England after her husband's death. 

Mr Franz Bauman was interred within days of the date I am interested in, so would surely be in the same area?  A memorial with a photo request has been placed on the Find a Grave website.