It was the autumn of 1999, and I was on the phone with my Mom, listening to her read these words from her handwritten notes . . .She was lying across the axle dead, with her hair and clothing wound around the spindle of the buggy. . . .
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| 1998 Henry Reunion |
Dallas Morning News
Dallas, Texas
Monday, October 30, 1899, page 4
A Very Sad Accident
Rockdale, Milam Co., Tex., 29 Oct – A very sad accident occurred about three miles north of Rockdale late yesterday [Saturday] afternoon in which Mrs. W. P. Henry, a lady about 60 years old lost her life. While driving home from her son’s her horse became frightened, ran away and smashed the buggy into kindling wood and when found Mrs. Henry was dead. It is supposed she was killed instantly. She leaves a husband, a large family of children and many friends to mourn her untimely death.
The Rockdale Reporter
Rockdale, Texas
Wednesday, November 1, 1899
Deplorable Tragedy
Estimable Lady Meets Death Through an Accident
Last Saturday news reached Rockdale that Mrs. W. P. Henry had been killed by her horse running away with her.
When she was found between her home and that of George Banzoff, near the gate that leads to Dr. Isaac’s home, she was lying across the axle dead, with her hair and clothing wound around the spindle of the buggy.
One of the wheels was broken, and the rim of this broken wheel was found near the Murray school house, from which place she was dragged to where she was found.
The road indicated that the horse had been frightened and ran away. The wheel showed that the rim of the wheel had received a wrench and broke it loose from the spokes.
Her funeral took place Sunday at Murray school house, and a large procession of friends and relatives witnessed the ceremonies that consigned her body to its last repose.
She was the wife of W. P. Henry, one of our most substantial and upright farmers and the mother of five children, all grown [plus three who died young].
The Reporter extends sympathy to the bereaved family.
Later Developments
Since the account of the tragic death of Mrs. W. P. Henry, on another page of this paper, was printed, we learned the following details in regard to her death.
As she was nearing the house of Geo. Banzhoff, her buggy ran into a wagon in which were two young men*, Messrs. Bradley and Jenkins.
This collision broke the rim off the wheel referred to in the other account, and evidently she was thrown out of the buggy at that time, as when found her head was caught between the wheel and the shaft, on the side opposite the broken wheel.
The road over which she went showed where her limbs had been dragged from the point where the collision occurred to the place where she was found.
The men state that she was in the buggy as far as they could see, but in this they were mistaken.
The buggy top was raised and it was impossible for them to see a person in the vehicle, and as they saw no one on the ground, they naturally supposed that she had not fallen out.
It is indeed unfortunate that these men did not follow her and rescue the body, when they found out the wheel had been broken.
While they doubtless thought she was unhurt, they should have gone to her and rendered what assistance seemed necessary.
Her neck was doubtless broken by the fall, and while they could not have saved her, they could have carried the body home when the accident happened.
The Rockdale Reporter
Rockdale, Texas
Thursday, November 2, 2009
Accident - Mrs. W. P. Henry who has lived on the Cameron road, 3-miles from Rockdale for over 20-years left her son’s home on the Dr. A. C. Isaacs farm, about 3-miles beyond her home, to come home and as was her habit, she pushed her buggy animal, a gray mare that she has driven for several years, into a lope.
She drove over the hill at the home of George Banzhaf and turning down the hill, Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Bradly were going from Rockdale to their home beyond Minerva in a light spring wagon, seeing the vehicle coming down the hill near them, pulled their team, a pair of young mules, to one side to give the road, but before the left wheel had cleared the track to the right fore wheel of Mrs. Henry’s buggy struck the hub of the wagon wheel and smashed it.
The woman had probably never seen the wagon or saw it too late to stop, and she was pitched foremost and fell with her head between the left fore wheel of the buggy and shafts and was so held that her hair was wound around the buggy hub and spindle and she was held there until some young man, met the buggy at the gate near the old Ferguson place, more than a half-mile this side of where the accident occurred.
She was dead when found as her neck was broken. She was buried at the Pleasant Grove cemetery Sunday evening. She leaves a husband and five grown children, three sons and two daughters, all married. Brother Henry does not blame the drivers of the wagon for the accident but thinks they should have ascertained the results before driving home.
HENRY born Feb. 19, 1836 died Feb. 10, 1912 To angel from thy spirit grown Thy God hath claimed thee for His own FATHER |
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HENRY born May 10, 1842 died |
Originally named Pleasant Grove Cemetery, this burial ground was at first associated with the Pleasant Grove community. The settlement's school was also once located on this site. By 1872, residents organized the Pleasant Grove Church, which met in the schoolhouse. Members later merged with a nearby congregation to form Mt. Zion Baptist Church, worshiping several miles east of here.
The current name for this cemetery can be traced to Madison Murray (1821-1897). A Civil War veteran who in the late 1860s moved here from Mississippi with two brothers. He became a community leader and educator, obtaining possession of the Pleasant Grove schoolhouse and operating it as a private institution. After Mt. Zion Baptist Church formed, this burial ground became known as Murray Cemetery.
The earliest marked grave here, that of Nancy Phillips, dates to 1856. Other notable burials include Joseph Hook, a Rockdale blacksmith, and George Banzhaf, a celebrated Milam County Agricultural Extension Agent. Also interred here are early area pioneers and veterans of conflicts dating to the Civil War. The cemetery features Woodmen of the World markers, vertical stones, curbing and interior fencing.
Although the Pleasant Grove community declined, the cemetery later also served the Bushdale and Bethlehem settlements. In 2004 the Murray Cemetery Association organized to care for the burial ground, which remains a memorial to the early settlers of Southwest Milam County.
Historic Texas Cemetery - 2007
150 years ago today . . . on the 11th day of December . . . in the year 1856 . . . Nancy Phillips nee French dies in Milam County, Texas . . . she is memorialized with a tombstone in the Murray Cemetery . . . her grave is the earliest marked burial in said cemetery . . .
