1899 :: Death of Baby Keys

Death - Bethlehem - The baby of Mr. & Mrs. J. Keys died, a victim of scarlet fever. Rockdale Messenger, Thursday, December 21, 1899

1982 :: Death of Jack Cummings

Rockdale - Services for Jack Cummings, 70, were at 10 a.m. Thursday in Phillips & Luckey Funeral Home in Rockdale, with the Rev. Gene York officiating. Burial was in Murray Cemetery near Rockdale. Mr. Cummings died Tuesday in a Temple hospital after a lengthy illness. He was a Rockdale native and a retired pipe fitter. . . . Cameron Herald, October 24, 1982

1925 :: Death of Miss Lottie Banzhaf

Rockdale, Texas, Oct. 15. -- Miss Lottie Banzhaf died [on the 12th day of October] at the Van Ormi Sanitarium [Bexar County]. Her father is George Banzhaf, Milam County farm agent. Miss Banzhaf's body was brought to Rockdale and the funeral services were held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Hood Caldwell, four miles north of Rockdale. Burial was made in the neighborhood cemetery. Miss Banzhaf has for several years been one of the Rockdale High School teachers. Dallas Morning News, October 16, 1925

1948 :: Death of William Henry Stutts

On this date . . . the 11th day of October . . . in the year 1948 . . . William Henry Stutts dies while a patient at St. Edwards Hospital in Cameron, Milam County, Texas . . . his age was 84 years 4 months 3 days . . . and his residence was listed as Rockdale . . . burial was to be handled by Phillips-Luckey Co. . . . and was to take place on the 13th of October at the "Murry" Cemetery . . . informant on his Texas Certificate of Death was Myrtle Jackson of Milano, Texas . . . 

1946 :: Death of Elma Rettig

On this date in the year 1946, sixty-nine year old Miss Elma Rettig dies at the Austin State Hospital in Austin, Travis County, Texas, where she had been a patient since the 19th day of September . . . her cause of death is listed as "Chronic Myocarditis" . . . according to the death certificate, she was born on the 24th day of December in the year 1876 in Wheatland, Iowa . . . her simple tombstone lies next to that of her parents in Section A Row 3 of the Murray Cemetery in Milam County, Texas . . . 

1900 :: Death of Emil Seelke

On this date in the year 1900 little two-month-old Emil Seelke died, presumably somewhere in Milam County, Texas . . . he is memorialized with an aged tombstone in the Murray Cemetery . . . his tombstone is located next to the tombstone of his father in Section A Row 10 . . .

1904 :: Death of Frank Laird

Frank Laird, age about 28, of Tracy, died on Thursday of last week from black jaundice. He was only sick four days. He leaves a wife and three children. . . . Frank Laird died after a brief illness at his home September 22nd [sic] with black jaundice, he was buried in the Murry school house cemetery. . . . Rockdale Messenger, October 7, 1904

1906 :: Death of Grandpa Hargrove

Grandpa Hargrove died suddenly at Rockdale Monday at the home of his daughter Mrs. Simms. He was 81 years old and an Alabamian. Cameron Herald, September 20, 1906

1906 :: Death of J A Hargrove

Special Telegram to The Express. ROCKDALE, Texas, Sept. 17. - J.A. Hargrove, aged 79 years, died this morning at 9 o’clock at the residence of his daughter Mrs. E.G. Simms. While walking in the yard he suddenly fell down and after being carried into the house expired in a few minutes. He was a very old resident of Rockdale, and a admirable Christian gentleman. Funeral will take place at Murray school house. The Daily Express, San Antonio, Texas, September 18, 1906

1909 :: Death of Elizabeth Fergerson

   

On this date . . . the 17th day of September . . . in the year 1909 . . . Elizabeth Fergerson nee Jones dies somewhere in Texas . . . she was born in Mississippi, but was living in Milam County, Texas by 1860 . . . by 1870, she is a widow, and shows up on census records in Milam County in 1870 and 1880 . . . in 1900, she is enumerated with a son in Burleson County, Texas . . . Elizabeth was laid to rest in a family plot in the Murray Cemetery in Milam County . . .



The original of this edited photo was shared with Epitaphist by a descendant of Elizabeth . . . it was received in September of 2013 as a PDF file . . . this edited JPG image was created from that file . . .

1909 :: Birth and Death of Baby Boy Henry

On the 16th day of September . . . in the year 1909 . . . a baby boy is born in the Bethlehem community to Edgar and Berta Mary (Sharp) Henry . . . that baby dies the same day . . . and is laid to rest near his paternal grandmother in the Murray Cemetery . . .

1896 :: Death of Jim Trueblood

According to one of the tombstones still standing in the Murray Cemetery, James H. Trueblood died on the 10th day of September in the year 1896 . . . but the following news item from an October edition of The Galveston Daily News would seem to indicate that he actually died on the 10th day of October in 1896 . . . 

Rockdale, Tex., Oct. 10. -- While Oliver and Jim Trueblood were hauling a load of cotton out of their field this morning Jim was run over by the wagon and killed. After hitching their teams to the wagon both men put their shoulders to the wheels to help the team start, expecting to mount themselves while the wagon was in motion. Oliver succeeded, but Jim, while attempting to mount, lost his footing and fell under the wheel, which passed over his breast, causing almost instant death. Both men were farmers and lived on the San Gabriel river six miles north of Rockdale. The Galveston Daily News, October 12, 1896

1958 :: Burial of Charlie Seelke

Charlie H. Seelke, 85, a long time citizen of the Rockdale vicinity, died last Thursday night in Johns hospital in Taylor. . . . Funeral services were held Saturday afternoon from Phillips and Luckey chapel where the Rev. F.T. Sager of Peace Lutheran church officated. Burial followed in the old Murray cemetery near Rockdale. . . . Rockdale Reporter, September 1958

1899 :: Death of Audrie Lee Rhodes

On this date . . . the 29th day of August . . . in the year 1899 . . . occurred the death of little Audrie Lee Rhodes . . . she was not yet one year old, having been born on the 1st day of November in the year 1898 . . . her brief life is memorialized with a tombstone located in the Murray Cemetery . . . she was the only daughter of Thomas Robert Rhodes (1868-1963) and Lela Murray (1867-1943) . . . sister of Forest Alton Rhodes (1895-1943) . . . and granddaughter of James Wesley Rhodes (1831-1912) and Sarah Ann LaGrone (1830-1908), and Madison Murray (1821-1897) and Luvina Powell (1826-1876) . . .

1894 :: Death of Willie May Mathews

One hundred and twenty years ago today . . . on the 24th day of August . . . in the year 1894 . . . little Willie May Mathews took her last breath on this earth . . . and was laid to rest in the Murray Cemetery in Milam County, Texas . . . she was just shy of her first birthday . . . and is buried beside confederate veteran, R.G. Matthews, who is presumed to be her grandpa (or possibly her great-grandpa) . . . her parents are unidentified at this time . . . 

1905 :: Death of Amagrit and Minna

Rockdale, Tex., Aug. 21. -- Two children of August [sic] Kraatz, a German farmer living three miles northwest of this city, became violently ill on yesterday afternoon at about the same time. A physician was hastily summoned, but before his arrival one hour later both children [Amagrit and Minna] were dead, their deaths occurring within fifteen minutes of each other. Cause of their death was due to congestion. Galveston Daily News, August 22, 1905 

1901 :: Death of James Watson

On this date . . . the 17th day of August . . . in the year 1901 . . . James Watson dies, presumably in Milam County, Texas . . . and is laid to rest in the Murray Cemetery near his wife, Katherine Watson nee Hamilton, who had died the year before . . . his name would be inscribed on a double marker with Katherine . . .

1904 :: Death of Emma Seelke

Rockdale, Tex., Jan. 19. -- Emma Seelke, a German girl, aged 16, was quite seriously burned while engaged in burning off grass in a field in Holtzclaws Bottom, four miles northwest of here. Several persons were at work in the same field with the girl, but before they could reach her and render assistance the greater portion of her clothes were burned from her body. Dallas Morning News, January 20, 1904

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Rockdale, Tex., Feb. 4. -- Emma Seelke, the German girl who was recently burned while engaged in burning off the grass in the Holtzclaw bottom, mention of which was made in The News at the time, died this morning in intense agony. Dallas Morning News, February 6, 1904