I bet I'm not the only person here who likes to go to cemeteries and visit the dead. I'm not macabre, but I like to think that they can live again, at least for a brief while, when I see their names. My favorite visits are always to hand-carved tombstones, like these markers made for Laura Brooks and Rufus McWilliams.
While doing some plat work, my son found a 1905 deed that designated a plot of land to the "Colored Cemetery, Simonds Precinct" in Seagoville, Dallas County, Texas. The Simonds Precinct cemetery is known called to its families as "Sand Branch." It's a large tract, located in a flood plain near the old Dallas Hunting and Fishing Club Lake. Most graves are unmarked. The majority of the memorials are hand-carved on thick cement slabs. Some exhibit careful writing, while others are now barely legible. It's a very peaceful place.
I took many photos, but here are two markers that stood out. Laura Brooks was born in Mississippi, but she spent a large part of her life in Dallas, where her last residence was on Trunk Avenue near today's Fair Park. Rufus McWilliam was born in Texas, with his family from Mississippi. It would be interesting to find out if more people people buried here have ties to Mississippi. Both of the deceased have been extensively documented on Ancestry.com, too.
Visiting cemeteries is restorative. Highly recommended!
