Osage Community Cemetery
Texas Historical Marker
Osage Community Cemetery Texas Historical Marker
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Historical Marker Text:
Historic Texas Cemetery
Texas Historical Commission
Osage Community Cemetery
Osage first began as a community of new settlers, many from Tennessee and Mississippi, on the blackland prairie near spring-fed Harvey's creek. The community was deeded ten acres from the Henry Austin five-league survey in 1856, approximately one-quarter acre of which eventually was devoted to a community cemetery. In 1873, an additional acre was purchased for the cemetery.
Newly-arrived settlers included the families of Burford, Goode, McLeary, Moore and Shaw. A few citizens of the Republic of Texas also moved to the Harvey's Creek area when land became available. Six were buried in the Osage Community Cemetery: William B. and Sarah (McMillan) Scates, Robert G. Morgan and two of his daughters, Sallie and Eliza, and Eliza's husband, James McMillan. Scates, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, and a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto, was buried in Osage before both he and his wife were reinterred in Austin at the Texas State Cemetery in 1929.
The monuments in the cemetery, as old as 1860, vary from handmade sandstone markers and false crypts using stone from Harvey's Creek to imposing granite and marble obelisks. Masonic emblems and Confederate markers are numerous. Not all burials are marked; however, in 2001, a cenotaph was erected with names of forty-six of those known to be buried in the cemetery but from whom there was no existing marker. Standing the test of time, the Osage Community Cemetery remains a quiet testimony to those first men and women who braved the hardship of pioneer life and created a community that lives on in the hearts and minds of many.
Historic Texas Cemetery - 2016
Marker is Property of the State of Texas
Texas Historical Marker Dedication Ceremony
April 28, 2018
Photo by Carol Weeks
Photo by Carol Weeks
Welcome
Linda Swanson, President, Osage Community Cemetery Board, gave a welcome speech to open the program. Reverend Michael Peschke said the invocation and led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States Flag and Pledge to the Texas Flag. The Reverend also led in the singing of "The Star Spangled Banner" and "Texas, Our Texas".
Reverend Michael Peschke also gave the benediction to close the program.
Photo by Carol Weeks
Opening Remarks
Joye Johnson, Marker Chairman, Colorado County Historical Commission spoke about the history of Texas historical markers.
Photo by Carol Weeks
Acknowledgments and Recognitions
Rox Ann Johnson, Historian, Osage Community Cemetery Board, spoke about the people and work done in collecting the historical information on the community and the people interred in the cemetery.
Photo by Martin Proll
Comments
Ty Prause, Colorado County Judge, spoke about growing up in the area and how the history of these places and the people that lived here mean more to you as you get older.
Photo by Carol Weeks
History of Osage Cemetery
Mary Anne Pickens, Founding President, Osage Community Cemetery Board, spoke on the history of the Osage community and cemetery. She also told stories of the people interred in the cemetery.
Photo by Carol Weeks
Marker Unveiling
George "Doug" Goode, longtime Osage Community Cemetery caretaker, unveiled the new Texas Historical Marker.
Photo by Vince Leibowitz
of the Colorado County Citizen
Reading Marker Text
Willa Jepson, Secretary, Osage Community Cemetery Board, read the text of the new cemetery historical marker.
Photo by Martin Proll
"Ashokan Farewell"
Rachel Pickens played the "Ashoken Farewell" beautifully for us on her violin. It was a delightful way to end the program.
Photo by Carol Weeks
Maps!
Bob Pickens created several maps to show the old Tobin Township and the Osage community.
Photos by Carol Weeks
"A Good Place to Rest" booklet
Rox Ann Johnson and Mary Anne Pickens created this 164 page booklet which was available for donations to the cemetery maintenance fund. The booklet includes a history of the Osage community, cemetery and early Harvey Creek settlers.
Photos by Carol Weeks
And The Food!
The Osage Community Cemetery members provided a wide variety of food and drink which were enjoyed after the program. There were even cookies which looked like the new historical marker!
Photos by Vince Leibowitz of the Colorado County Citizen