WHAT LIES BENEATH,
TEXAS PIONEER CEMETERIES & GRAVEYARDS
by
Cynthia Leal Massey
Genre: Regional History / 19th Century/ Landmarks & Monuments/ Travel Pictorial
Publisher: TwoDot
Date of Publication: August 1, 2021
Number of Pages: 400 pages w/77 B&W photos
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Texas, the second largest state, both in land mass and population, has more than 50,000 burial grounds. As the final resting places of those whose earthly journey has ended, they are also repositories of valuable cultural history. Pioneer cemeteries provide a wealth of information on the people who settled Texas during its years as a Republic (1836-1845), and after it became the 28th state in 1845. In What Lies Beneath: Texas Pioneer Cemeteries and Graveyards, Cynthia Leal Massey exhumes the stories of these pioneers, revealing the fascinating truth behind the earliest graveyards in the Lone Star State, including some of its most ancient. This guide also provides descriptions of headstone features and symbols and demystifies the burial traditions of early Texas pioneers and settlers.
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Note: Some of these pictures do not appear in the book but are featured in the text.
All photographs are copyrighted and cannot be used without permission from the author.
- A statue of a guardian angel cradling an infant stands over the graves of forgotten babies in Fairview Cemetery in Bastrop.
- A metal cross in Concordia Cemetery in El Paso marks the burial place of Texas Ranger Ernest St. Leon (1859-1898), also known as “Diamond Dick,” a nickname given by his fellow officers for his fondness for wearing a diamond stickpin on his lapel.
- One of four cherubs marking a family plot in Laredo’s Calvary Catholic Cemetery.
- A monument to commemorate the thousands who perished in the 1900 Galveston hurricane was commissioned and installed on 4800 Seawall Boulevard in 2000, the 100th anniversary of the hurricane.
- A stalwart angel statue in Hedley’s Rowe Cemetery marks the grave of a young woman who took her own life.
- The carved figure of General Albert Sidney Johnston (1803-1862), sculpted by Elisabet Ney in 1903, lies upon his crypt at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin surrounded by a wrought-iron fence and a Plexiglas dome.
Award-winning author Cynthia Leal Massey is a former corporate editor, college instructor, and magazine editor. She has published hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles and eight books. A full-time writer who publishes history columns for community publications, Cynthia was raised on the south side of San Antonio. She has resided in Helotes since 1994, and has served on the Helotes City Council since 2008, serving twice as Mayor Pro Tem. She is also president of the Historical Society of Helotes.
Cynthia, a former president of Women Writing the West, is a recipient of the Will Rogers Silver Medallion Award for her nonfiction book, Death of a Texas Ranger, A True Story of Murder and Vengeance on the Texas Frontier, which also won the San Antonio Conservation Society Publication Award. She is the recipient of several literary awards, including the WILLA Literary Finalist Award for Best Original Softcover Fiction for her novel, The Caballeros of Ruby, Texas, called by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry, “a vivid picture of the Rio Grande Valley as it was fifty years ago and a very good read.”
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GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!
Three autographed copies of
What Lies Beneath, Texas Pioneer Cemeteries and Graveyards.
(US only; ends midnight, CDT, 10/15/21)
What Lies Beneath, Texas Pioneer Cemeteries and Graveyards.
(US only; ends midnight, CDT, 10/15/21)
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