Y’all Hallows’ Eve (Part 1): Night of the Living Blog Post (Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha)

It’s time to begin our mummy-like shuffle toward Y’all Hallows’ Eve on Sunday night. So, splash on some wolfsbane cologne, clip on your best garlic-clove earrings, slip a silver bullet, a wooden stake, and a crucifix into your pocket, open the zombie alert app on your iPhone, and let’s take a tour of the Poe parts of town.

cemetery face skull cross bones PRDem bones, dem bones: At Pioneers Rest Cemetery, a weathered skull and crossbones on an old tombstone.

cemetery corner stone PR2Corner stone: The grave of Martha Daniel sits alone in the northeast corner of Pioneers Rest near the railroad tracks, as if Martha Daniel has been placed in eternal time-out.

Location, location, location: The final resting place of local real estate millionaire James F. Moore is this fine mausoleum at Oakwood Cemetery. And, in contrast, . . .

a homemade concrete tombstone of Maxi-Jean Dixon at New Trinity Cemetery (People’s Burial Park) in Haltom City.

A griffin stands guard at Greenwood Cemetery (1908).

hallow ratliffYes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. And Santa is buried in an unmarked grave in Mount Olivet Cemetery’s Davy Crockett section. Well, Santa sorta. Bank robber Marshall Ratliff was the man in the Santa suit in 1927.

At Pioneers Rest and Oakwood, consort is a term rarely seen in local cemeteries. A consort is a spouse who died before his wife or her husband died. Conversely, an even rarer term is relict—a spouse who died after his wife or her husband died.

At Rose Hill Cemetery Nick Beef is not buried under this marker, but he still has a place in Fort Worth cemetery lore.

cemetery-2-faces

At Oakwood, the passage of time has not been kind to complexions.

In fact, being cemetery statuary is hazardous duty.

The “boo!” in “booze”: At Oakwood Cemetery, these are the graves of early Cowtown bartenders. Burial in Oakwood was one benefit of membership in the Bartenders’ International League (BIL) union.

mcham-poe One of those BIL members was saloonkeeper Tom McHam, who in 1914 fired three shots at a former district judge. Note that the arresting officer was patrolman Poe.

mcham-graveLast call for Tom McHam came in 1918. He would pour (and fire) shots nevermore.

At Oakwood Cemetery, a rarity: a wooden headstone. Hmmm. Is it still a “headstone” if it’s not made of stone?

cemetery cement tombstones oakwoodSimilarly, is it still a tombstone” if it’s made of Thomas Kemp Gaines’s patented “artificial stone”? This “sement tombstone” at Oakwood Cemetery is an eternal advertisement for “the cheapest & best grave marker on Earth.”

cemetery cement tombstones patentGaines patented his “artificial stone” in 1903.

hallow ayresYou can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave: Tiny Ayres Cemetery on the East Side is in the middle of a motel parking lot.

texana anderson 2At Oakwood, a sad inscription. But not every tombstone is a gloom stone. Let’s end Part 1 with an upbeat inscription seen at Greenwood Cemetery:

cemetery greenwood 5

North Fort Worth Historical Society’s 15th Annual Saints and Sinners Tour at Oakwood Cemetery October 30 and 31

Y’all Hallows’ Eve (Part 2): Words That Go (Goose)Bump in the Night
Y’all Hallows’ Eve (Part 3): Ghoulies and Ghosties and Long-Leggedy Beasties
Posts About Cemeteries

 

This entry was posted in Cities of the Dead. Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to Y’all Hallows’ Eve (Part 1): Night of the Living Blog Post (Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha)

  1. Deborah says:

    The Oakwood Cemetery Tour in 2022 is October 29th & 30th, 1:00 & 3:30 each day. Thanks Mike for the plug!

  2. John Olthoff says:

    I saw the Ayres Cemetery, when I took woman who raised me to her job at The Ramada Inn which was there back in early 1980’s

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *