When You and I Were Young : Greenwood Cemetery
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Editor's Note. --- Following is the twentieth of a series of articles by Mrs. Foster, a resident of Dallas for many years, concerning interesting people and events here a quarter of a century ago.

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        "The mossy marbles rest
        On the lips that he has prest
             In their bloom,
        And the names he loved to hear
        Have been carved for many a year
             On the tomb."

     What a beautiful name is Greenwood, and now the trees are green, the first faint early green of spring, the crocus and the daffodils are blooming, the lilac perfumes the air and the birds are singing in Greenwood cemetery.
     Here lie many of the builders of the city.
     When it was apparent that few, if any, more graves could be placed in the old Masonic cemetery on Akard street, a corporation was formed in 1895, called the Greenwood cemetery Association of Dallas, and in 1896, it was incorporated.
     The twelve directors for the first year were W. C. Padgitt, A. B. Taber, A. D. Aldridge, J. M. McCormick, S. W. S. Duncan, Philip Lindsley, B. O. Weller, C. F. Carter, S. M. Leftwich, W. Illingsworth, M. L. Crawford and Henry C. Coke.
     Now, thirty years later, many of them sleep in Greenwood.
     Philip Lindsley was made president, M. L. Crawford, vice president; Henry C. Coke, secretary and R. C. Ayres, treasurer. A ladies' auxiliary was formed, with Mrs. S. J. Adams president, Mrs. T. B. Mitchell, first vice president; Mrs. Blanche Babcock, second vice president; Mrs. John Lane Henry, treasurer and Mrs. B. O. Weller, secretary.
     The charter, filed in the department of state, June 6, 1896, is signed by Allison Mayfield, secretary of state.
     For some years before the cemetery was incorporated, it was known as Trinity cemetery, and was owned privately by W. H. Gaston and W. H. Thomas.  On April 27, 1896, Philip Lindsley called attention in the newspapers to the need of fences and greater care of the cemetery, and this call was answered by a meeting of leading citizens, among whom, in addition to officers listed, were Edward Gray, A. S. Lathrop, C. H. Edwards, Dr. J. M. Pace, George H. Plowman, John F. Worley, W. E. Best, Simon Philp, M. Pointer, H. C. Stevenson, T. W. Scollard, S. D. Thruston, and many others.
     Philip Lindsley outlined a plan, which was unanimously accepted, concerning shares in a stock company.  C. C. Slaughter subscribed for the greatest number of shares, M. L. Crawford and H. C. Coke coming next.

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Improvements Started.
     At once, improvements were made in the cemetery, and these have continued until today; it is a beautiful place.  Many graves had been neglected, and over fifty had lost the identity of those there buried.
     The Daughters of the Confederacy and the Woman's Relief Corps of the G. A. R. have lots, where lie their dead, and other organizations are represented.
     The first interment was that of Mrs. Susan Work, a sister-in-law of Judge T. A. Work, in 1875.
     An early grave is that of Virginia Whittemore Green, wife of Mayor Charles J. Green, a resident of Dallas from 1875.  Mrs. Green died in 1877, and Major Green in 1909.  Beside them, sleep Dr. and Mrs. Lawrence Ashton.

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Pioneers Sleep There.
     Wandering through Greenwood, we read the names of Huey and Philp, who, with their families, are partners in death as in life.  Here lie W. H. Thomas, F. C. Callier, C. C. Slaughter, R. Rawlins, W. L. Cabell, W. H. Flippen, Alfred Davis, Thomas Field, William Belsterling, S. J. Adams, the Hearnes, the Garlingtons, the Fendricks, the Herefords, the Simkinses, with members of their families.
     We read upon the stones, the names of Terry, Nash, Moss, Aldridge, Ross, Cole, Coke, Cockrell and Scollard.
     Here lies Hedwig Schoellkopf, and we find names of early residents of the French colony and the Swiss colony, Raphael Santerre, John and Leontine Priot, the Bolls, the Nussbaumers.  We find the graves of Virginia Lee Wilson Wozencraft, who died at 28, and of A. P. Wozencraft, aged 59.
     We see the names Knepfly, Hunt, Hughes, Knight, and here lie the Aldehoffs and the Camps, the Geo. W. Owens, the Coles, John and Polly, born in 1794 and 1795.
     Benjamin Long, the first mayor of Dallas after military dictatorship, lies here, as do a long list of other mayors, including John H. Traylor, laid to rest, but a few days since.
     The Sydney Smiths sleep in Greenwood, and there are six of the Harry brothers together, while J. M. Harry and Hugh Harry are not far away.

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Pioneers in List.
     Dr. S. M. Welsh and Elizabeth, his wife, and Judge and Mrs. John Lane Henry are here.  Ellender Clower, wife of D. M. Clower, and the Ardreys, the Downs, the Kellers, the Finleys, the Flateaus, Dr. R. W. Allen, Dr. S. D. Thruston, Dr. Leake, Dr. Pace, Dr. A. A. Johnson, W. W. Manning, S. M. Burgher and W. G. Sterrett.
    On the Hanway monument are those beautiful words Mark Twain found in Australia, and placed on the stone of his daughter, Susy:
       "Warm summer sun shine kindly here;
       Warm Southern wind, blow softly here;
       Green sod above, lie light, lie light ----
       Good night, dear heart, good night, good night."

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Historian Buried There.
     The graves of the most distinguished historian of Texas, John Henry Brown, his wife, Mary Frances Mitchel, and his two sons are in Greenwood. John Henry Brown came to Dallas in 1871, but had been identified with the state from 1824, and lived in Texas over half a century.  Brown county was named for his father.  He represented Bell and Lampasas counties in the Secession convention, January 28 to March 25, 1861, and in the Constitutional convention of 1876.  He represented the districts of Collin and Dallas counties.  He served as mayor of Dallas in 1885, following a term as alderman.
     His history of Texas is everywhere regarded as final authority.

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Gunner Monument.
     Near the McKinney avenue gate of Greenwood, is the monument to Rudolph Gunner, 1833-1911, and Augusta, his wife, 1850-1923. The history of Rudolph Gunner was full of romance and tragedy.  Of an ancient Austrian family, General Gunner was Maximilian's chief of staff, and came with him to Mexico.  He had seen active service as an officer with Franz Joseph, emperor of Austria, in Hungary and in Italy.
     He escorted Empress Carlotta from Mexico to the court of Napoleon third, where she made an unsuccessful attempt to secure French money and soldiers to assist her husband in carrying out his dream of empire.  Leaving Carlotta in France, he returned to Mexico to share the fate of his commander, but at Vera Cruz, he was informed of the execution of Maximilian, and shortly after, he came to Texas.

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Perpetual Care Planned.
     You would scarcely think of fashions in connection with a cemetery, but there are fashions there as elsewhere.  The ornate monument in beautiful, the private vault is a luxury, but the time comes when families die out, when there is left no one to care for the deserted graves.  The smaller headstones lose their erectness, the names are obliterated, the flowers droop and die.  Some years ago, there was organized a movement toward simple markers and a level lawn which is easily cared for.
     Shrubbery is massed, and flower beds made where they can receive attention and a beautiful garden effect is achieved.  The endowment of a cemetery makes it possible for it to be always cared for, and always beautiful.
     This, it is hoped, will be the fate of Greenwood.

- April 5, 1925, Dallas Times Herald, Sec. II, p. 4, col. 3-7.
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