Exploring History and Discovering a Hidden Pioneer Family Cemetery in Bonham, Texas

After our long 5300 mile road trip to purchase our new-to-us 2000 American Eagle motorhome, we arrived in Bonham, Texas for my next work project. The solar farm was already completed and we were just there for a few weeks for the reclaim work. That consists of removing the gravel from the laydown yard and using it to touch up the roads. Then spreading the topsoil back out so the grass regrows.

But while here, we got a chance to explore the history of Bonham and grab some geocaches around town. I also discovered several Pioneer children's graves from the 1800's hidden among some trees that was not listed in the Find-A-Grave database. So come with us as we explore Bonham, Texas...

One of Texas's oldest cities, Bonham dates to 1837, when Bailey Inglish built a two-story blockhouse named Fort Inglish about 2 miles from the current downtown. Inglish and other acquaintances settled there in the summer of 1837, and the settlement was named "Bois D'Arc". The Congress of the Republic of Texas named the city Bloomington in 1843, but renamed it Bonham in honor of James Butler Bonham, a defender of the Alamo. On February 2, 1848, Bonham was incorporated as a city. A 1936 statue of Bonham by Texas sculptor Allie Tennant is on the courthouse grounds.

Some of the early pioneers of Bonham are buried in the Bailey Inglish Cemetery (GC83VFM). Obviously, Bailey Inglish (1798-1867) and his wife Nancy (1806-1878) are interned there. The family marker is seen at the top photo of this blog.

Another is Dr. Daniel Rowlett (1786-1848). He came to Texas from Virginia in 1836. He served as a Congressman in the Republic of Texas from 1837-40 and again in 1843-44. His initiative pushed for the creation of Fannin County in 1837.

After his wife died, Col. James Tarleton (1789-1861) organized a force of 36 riflemen in his home state of Kentucky and headed to Texas in 1835 to join in the fight for Texas Independence. Tarleton fought in the victory at San Jacinto in 1836. He settled in Fannin County with his son Robert Price Tarleton (1833-1897).

The Texas and Pacific Railroad was built Eastward to Bonham in 1873. A small wooden depot erected that year was replaced by this larger brick structure in 1900. It continued operations until 1950.

As I mentioned in the opening of this blog, I discovered some pioneer family graves hidden among some trees. About ten miles south of Bonham is the solar farm that I was working on. Tucked inside this group of trees separating two sections of solar panels were five headstones belonging to children of James & Wincy Miller, early settlers to the area.

One of the headstones is pictured below. No name. Just infant son of and the dates. He lived for eleven days in June 1871. Another headstone can be read also. It had Ota Aurora Miller but no dates. It just said Aged 2 weeks. Only a few letters can be made on the third stone but not enough to understand. The last two are so worn smooth they have no distinguishing markings.

This is the area within the group of trees where the graves are located. Hopefully one day information can be discovered on the remaining few headstones that can't be read.

Back to the parents James (1830-1895) and Wincy (1838-1899), they are both buried in the Moores Chapel Cemetery located within the town of Bonham. Their other four children that survived childhood and went on to live a normal life were Tennessee (1863-1934) of Houston, Lenora (1872-1963) of Texarkana, George (1874-1966) of Texarkana, and David (1879-1931) of Corpus Christi.

So that's just a glimpse of Bonham, Texas. There is plenty more here to see and a few things like this hidden pioneer family cemetery which you won't have access to.

In our upcoming blogs is another road trip. We will be three weeks exploring Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana.  I hope to see you back again soon.

To follow along on our travels and keep up with my latest blogs, you may do so here of course by clicking the "Follow" button to the right. And there's also my main website at AwayWeGo.US for the complete index of my traveling adventures going back to 2005. But also by using one or more of your favorite of these social media platforms: Facebook, MeWe, Gab, Reddit, Twitter, GETTR, Instagram, and TruthSocial. These all link directly to my profiles. Again, please feel free to comment and / or share.

2021-03-31: Exploring the Historic Route 66 Through Missouri on Day 9 of Our 3400 Mile Roadtrip Adventure

Winding down on Day 9 of our crazy 3400 mile geocaching and sightseeing roadtrip adventure through history, we spent the day in Missouri trying to follow the original sections of the famous Route 66 highway from St Louis to Joplin. Along the way we stopped at many of the roadside attractions that Route 66 is famous for: a super-sized rocking chair, historic gas stations, old abandoned bridges and more. Oh and let's not forget picking up new geocaching counties along the way too! So hop on board the GeoJeep and let's go for a drive...

Our first two county cache stops was in Crawford County. A travel bug hotel geocache (GCKC79) next to the Crawford County Historical Marker.

Continuing westbound on Old Route 66, we enter the town of Cuba, MO. There we spot several places that look interesting. Among them were the Missouri Hick BBQ with an old garage out building to the side. Or perhaps it was the smoker shack where they slow cooked their BBQ. Don't know but it looked pretty cool.

Next door to it is the Wagon Wheel Motel. Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it was built in 1935 and originally called the Wagon Wheel Cabins, Cafe, and Station. Standard Oil leased the station for one year after WWII. The cabin rooms have been upgraded and modernized while still maintaining the exterior historic charm.

A couple of other noteworthy places to stop for a photo in Cuba would be the Holy Cross Catholic Church and the Crawford County Historical Museum, both made of the same stone walls as the motel.

Just a few minutes further in the town of Fanning is our next geocache (GC1G43E). The Rockin' on Route 66 cache brings you to the Fanning US 66 Outpost and the World Famous Rocker seen at the top of this blog post. After a few photos and finding the geocache, we started to drive off.

At the same time I took a drink from my McD's iced coffee I just purchased a few miles back in Cuba. I think I only got 3 or for sips from it as it was more ICE than coffee! So I looped right around and parked back by the Outpost. We went inside to see if they had some bottled Starbucks or Dunkin coffee to pour into my cup. Yep! We ended up spending much more as we walked out with the coffee, a few novelty soda's and some homemade fudge. The proprietor was also very friendly and welcoming. I highly recommend that you be sure to take a look around inside the Outpost as well after getting your required Rocking Chair photo.

While staying on the Old Route 66 can be very interesting, it is also a slower pace and very time consuming. We still have to get to Texas for the next project before too long. Since I already had a geocache found in the next county, Phelps, I jumped back onto the parallel I-44 to quickly put some miles behind us.

Exiting back off into Pulaski County, we make a stop for our next geocache and our first ghost town in a while. "A Gathering of Hookers" geocache (GC174AZ) brings you to the only remnants of the small community that was once called Hooker, MO. Built in 1900, this church building and cemetery are the only evidence of the early pioneers. The slow curving Old Route 66 (1926-43 alignment) passed by right in front of the church. When the new and improved 4-lane US-66 was built (1943-77 alignment), it was straightened and by-passed many of these communities.

A few Route 66 curves later and we arrive at the Devil's Elbow. A small lumberjack settlement began here after the Civil War around 1870. The name derived from a tight U-shaped bend in the Big Piney River. When the lumberjacks would send their logs downstream, they often got jammed up in "a devil of an elbow," which became known as Devil's Elbow.

Also here at the Devil's Elbow are my next three geocaches (GC175JD, GC1TG2P, GC17E9W). I'm just gonna give you a brief description of my two photos below before telling you about a great web page to go look at for more. This bridge was actually built in 1923 as part of the MO-14 state road connecting the communities. Three years later it became part of the original Route 66 alignment. However with the 4-lane realignment of Route 66 in 1943, came a new bridge. This was used only for local traffic and without regular maintenance, it was eventually condemned. Route 66 enthusiasts saved, restored it in 2013, and now open for vehicular traffic once again.

Following the curve around a half-mile to higher ground you get a good look at a section of the Big Piney River where the double truss railroad bridge crosses over.

Now for more historical information and lots of old and new, before and after photos, if you really get into history like I do, take a look at this web page I found on the Devil's Elbow community. It's a quick read and along with the photos and map will give you a better understanding of the Route 66 alignments. As well as some of the businesses that came and gone, and a revealing photo of the 2017 flood.

Making my way further westbound, we arrive in the town of Waynesville, still in Pulaski County, and our next two geocaches. The "Wire Road Stop" virtual geocache (GCE7E0) brings you to an old Stagecoach Stop listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Originally built as a complex with two log cabins in the 1850's, it was later rebuilt with wood in the antebellum style. A stagecoach stop for the Burden and Woodson Stage, also a tavern, used as a hospital during the Civil War, and a hotel after the war. Later abandoned and rundown it had been condemned by the city in 1982. Local citizens got together and saved the historical building. It is now the Old Stagecoach Stop Museum.

The other geocache was at the Talbot House (GC46FPX). One of Waynesville's oldest homes, it was constructed in 1885 by the Rev Albert Washington Davis. Dr. C.A. Talbot purchased the home in 1915 and used it as a residence for his family as well as an office for his medical practice for the next 30 years. After his death in 1945, his widow then rented rooms to boarders. Today, the current owners use it as an Antiques, Collectibles, and Gift Shop business.

Moving on down the road into Laclede County and some more geocaches along the Mother Road. The Gasconade River Bridge (GC8V6TP) is next on the list. I love these old bridges. Like the Devil's Elbow Bridge, this bridge was built during the construction of Missouri's State Highway 14 a few years before Route 66. And again with the new expanded 4-lane Route 66, the lack of maintenance and repairs led to the closure and condemnation by the state in 2014. The Route 66 enthusiasts are trying to rescue and restore this bridge as well.

My next two geocaches are in Lebanon, MO. A quick stop and find for the Graffiti Tunnel (GC8AVN3).

The other geocache has over 500 favorite points and is the second largest cache that I've ever found, with the old Space Coast Geocaching Store cache in Florida being the largest. This one is called Jolly Green Giant (GC1MDCE) and is Missouri's largest ammo can.

There was just one more geocache we stopped for right before leaving the county. Nothing really to see here. But it was a Challenge cache (GC41F8V) that required you to have found a cache in at least 25 states before claiming the find. Well we've found one in 49 states, so I figured I'd stop quickly and sign the log sheet.

Another chance to make up some time as we already have Webster County, I jumped onto I-44 over to Greene County. There were two geocaches (GC2ZFAA, GC2Z72F) near the intersection of I-44 and US-65 that had some favorite points because of their creativity. They were easy to get to and easy to find. Had an interesting containers. What I liked most and wasn't even mentioned on the geocaching listing, was the historical pioneer cemetery just down the short trail.

It was the Union Campground Cemetery which was established in 1840 by the Presbyterian Church for open air camp meetings. Historical research by locals and decedents put the number of burials at around 200. However, documentation has only confirmed 84 burials.

Staying on the Interstate to get through Springfield, I took the first exit into Lawrence County to once again pick up the Old Route 66. Knowing that Route 66 was being built to the west following the old stagecoach trail, Sydney Casey purchased some property in 1925 in the small community of Spencer near Johnson Creek. There he built his businesses in a row of connected buildings, kinda like a mini shopping center. There was a gas station / garage, barber shop, cafe, and grocery store.

Strategically placed on the right just past the Johnson Creek Bridge (GC7TE1D) which was built two years earlier, Casey was open for business from the Route 66 travelers crossing the bridge. Looking west through the bridge, you can just make out his shops on the right past the Jeep. Then another 1/4 mile beyond and further up the hill was the Camp Lookout Cabins for the weary travelers looking for a break from the road.

The businesses prospered until the new Route 66 alignment a couple miles to the north bypassed this section of the original roadway in 1960. Then eventually killed any thru traffic with the construction of Interstate-44. The cabins no longer exist except for a couple of the foundations can be seen in the grass. Fortunately with the historical interest and fans of Route 66, what does remain here in Spencer has been rescued and slowly restored. Along with the geocache on the bridge, there are 4 easy multi-caches going up the hill using clues gathered from the shops (GC7RPV0, GC7RPY7, GC7RPZ0, GC7RQ04).

Passing through west into the community of Phelps, I spotted this old school building. The Phelps School was a one-room school built in 1888. Classes were held there until 1952. It was later abandoned and fell into disrepair in the 1980's. Eventually the community got together and restored it.

Entering into Jasper County and approaching the town of Carthage, we arrive at our next geocache. The Jalopy (GC4QMA6) is another example of artist Lowell Davis creations, an old car driven by a hillbilly and his hound dog.

Well that's our quick tour of Route 66 through Missouri. One day in the future, probably after retirement, we'll get to take a slower and complete roadtrip stopping in all the small communities. But it's late now and we made it to Joplin. Believe it or not we found a great Greek restaurant called Mythos. Time for a bite to eat and then get some sleep! She got the grilled chicken salad and I got the sampler platter.

To follow along on our travels and keep up with my latest blogs, you may do so here of course by clicking the "Follow" button to the right. But also by using one or more of your favorite of these social media platforms: Facebook, MeWe, Gab, Reddit, Parlor, Twitter, GETTR, Instagram, and TruthSocial. These all link directly to my profiles. Again, please feel free to comment and / or share.

2020-11-22: Geocaching and Sightseeing in Houston, Texas and a Visit to Howard Hughes

Welcome back fellow RV'ers, Jeepers, Geocachers, and travelers. Having a day off from the jobsite, we decided not to hand around the campground but go off on another little roadtrip adventure. Now of ALL the places I've been to, having visited 49 states, from big cities to ghost towns, my two least favorite cities have been Atlanta and Houston. 

Well today we're taking a drive up to Houston, Texas to see if it can redeem itself. Mostly because there's a HUGE cemetery there that I want to go see which happens to have a geocache at the final resting place of Howard Hughes. So climb aboard the GeoJeep and let's go for a drive.  

Arriving in Houston, we stopped for a quick drive by virtual geocache (GC73BD). "The Dancers" virtual geocache would have been cute. But some people are just taking this whole mask wearing thing to the extreme. These topiary bears would look fun, but do you really need to put masks on plants? 

Our next stop was at Hermann Park. This is a huge park near the center of Houston with all sorts of things to see and do. There's the Miller Outdoor Theater (GC5W8YR), the Houston Zoo (GC84FF), a golf course, a Japanese Garden, the Museum of Natural Science, and a small train that runs throughout the park.

Also located within Hermann Park was this large reflection pool. The Mary Gibbs and Jesse H. Jones Reflection Pool is about half the size as the reflection pool at the National Mall in DC at 740 feet long and 80 feet wide. At the north end is this huge statue of Sam Houston, the city's namesake.

Samuel Houston (March 2, 1793 - July 26, 1863) (GC5X8PB) played a major role in the Texas Revolution and became the first President of the Republic of Texas. After serving a second term as the third Texas President, he went on to be one of the first two individuals to represent Texas in the United States Senate after statehood.

Within a few blocks of Hermann Park were two more virtual geocaches. The first was at the Children's Museum of Houston (GC8576). The other was at the Holocaust Museum of Houston, pictured below (GC8501). On March 3, 1996, just 13 years after Siegi Izakson first dreamed of the idea, Holocaust Museum Houston was officially opened for admission with Izakson proclaiming, “This means the Holocaust story will not go away.”

After a $34 million expansion, the Museum reopened in June 2019 after more than doubling in size to a total of 57,000 square feet. Ranked as the nation's fourth largest Holocaust museum, the new three-story structure houses a welcome center, four permanent galleries and two changing exhibition galleries, classrooms, research library, café, 187-seat indoor theater and 175-seat outdoor amphitheater. With more than 50 screens, mini-theaters and interactive terminals are featured throughout the Museum.

Finally arriving in Glenwood Cemetery, we're ready to grab some geocaches (GC8M3QH, GCTNRF, GC5CXCW, GC8M3QC) and take a walk through Houston's history. Glenwood Cemetery was established as a private cemetery in 1871 by the Houston Cemetery Company, which was incorporated by an act of the Twelfth Legislature of the State of Texas on May 12, 1871. After construction, Glenwood opened for business in the summer of 1872.

The gravesite on my bucket list was that of Howard Robard Hughes Jr (GCGZFY). Born December 24, 1905, Howard Hughes was the Elon Musk of the mid-1900's. He was an American business magnate, investor, record-setting pilot, engineer, film director, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and financially successful individuals in the world. He first became prominent as a film producer, and then as an important figure in the aviation industry.

Later in life, he became known for his eccentric behavior and reclusive lifestyle—oddities that were caused in part by his worsening obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), chronic pain from a near-fatal plane crash, and increasing deafness. He died of kidney failure on April 5, 1976 and is buried here with his parents at Glenwood Cemetery.

The Priester family plot contains the burials of six family members starting in 1906.

One of the many garden like settings within Glenwood Cemetery.

The Crump family plot is a little more cheerful, though I'm not sure if the girl statue is a part of it. The large dog with a bird on it's head is. The plot contains 34 year old Jason Crump, who passed away in 2006, and his father 79 year old James Crump who passed away in 2019.

Throughout Glenwood Cemetery are these beautiful huge oak trees. They kinda make you want to go climbing.

There are many other notable famous people that permanently reside within the cemetery. If you have a moment, visit the Find-A-Grave website for a list of some of them. Such as J.S. Cullinan, the founder of Texaco. Or how about Rienzi Melville Johnston who, at the age of 12, enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1961 and served as a drummer. Thomas Saltus Lubbock Sr., a Confederate Army officer and namesake for the city and county of Lubbock. And actress Gene Tierney.

Across the Buffalo Bayou and a few blocks away was our last geocaching stop at the Founders Memorial Cemetery (GC4TEJE). There are 139 interments dating back to 1836 and all but seven are pre-1900. Here you'll find many participants in the war for Texas independence and the United States Civil War. Check out the entire list at Find-A-Grave.

The one that I wanted to highlight the most was for John Kirby Allen, co-founder of the city of Houston. In 1836, the area of Buffalo Bayou was a humid swamp overgrown with sweet gum trees and coffee bean weeds. In this spot, two brothers from New York recognized the future commercial hotspot of Texas.

John Kirby Allen was born in Orrville, New York, in 1810. Along with his older brother, Augustus Chapman Allen, a professor in mathematics, the two moved to Texas in 1832. John Allen was an astute businessman and natural leader. At the beginning of the Texas Revolution, the Allen brothers did not enlist in the militia but instead worked on supplying and arming the troops, often at their own expense or at cost. He and his brother soon saw the area around Buffalo Bayou could readily become a major seaport. Immediately after the Battle of San Jacinto, the Allen Brothers carefully chose the site of future Houston.

On August 24 and 26, the brothers paid $9,428 for 6,642 acres of land originally granted by Mexico to John Austin, a pioneer colonist. He and his brother ran advertisements in Texas newspapers proposing a new townsite called Houston, a name that Augustus' wife Charlotte had come up with in order to capitalize on the popularity of Sam Houston. 

John Allen continued with his businesses as well as city planning, running a partnership in a shipping business with future first governor of Texas James Pinckney Henderson. Dedicating his short life to building the city he and his brother built from nothing, Allen never married. He died of congestive fever on August 15, 1838, and was buried in Founders Memorial Park, Houston, at the age of 28.

Augustus Allen eventually moved to Mexico in the 1840's. There he served as U.S. Consul for the ports of Tehauntepec and Minotitlan and was engaged in various business enterprises. In 1863, Augustus traveled to Washington, D.C., where he contracted pneumonia. He died there at the Willard Hotel on January 11, 1864. Unable to have his body returned to Houston, his widow Charlotte had him buried in Greenwood Cemetery, in Brooklyn, New York. 

That's it for our tour of Houston history. It has improved on my opinion about Houston, though slightly. We went and found ourselves a nice Greek restaurant before heading back to the RV park in West Columbia. I hope you enjoyed todays adventure.

To follow along on our travels and keep up with my latest blogs, you may do so here of course. But also by using your favorite of these social media platforms: Facebook, MeWe, Gab, Reddit, Parlor, Twitter, RVillage, GETTR, Instagram, and TruthSocial. These all link directly to my profiles. Again, please feel free to comment and / or share.

2020-11-14: Visiting the Kreische Brewery Monument Hill and the German Pioneers of Texas History

Todays little road trip took us up to the Kreische Brewery Monument Hill state historical sites in La Grange, Texas. Not only the site of a German immigrant's home and business, but the final resting place of 53 Texans who were killed in the continued skirmishes with Mexico after the Texas Independence. So let's go for a ride and take a walk through history. 

Kinda hard to drive straight there without stopping for a few other geocaches along the way. Our first stop was for an old geocache that has been around since February 2001 (GC29B). The geocache container was a second mailbox a half mile up along a geocachers driveway painted in the colors of the Texas state flag.

The next three geocaches were quick cemetery caches. The Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery (GC4GW6K) has over 1400 interments dating back to 1899. The Lissie Community Cemetery (GC4773G) is a small but well kept community cemetery with less than 150 interments dating back to the early 1890's. And the Lakeside Cemetery (GC47W3A) in Eagle Lake which has over 2600 interments which begin all the way back to the 1860's.

And then there's those unexpected crazy roadside things that make you do a u-turn and snap a quick photo! So here's this giant metal skeleton, probably left over from Halloween, now decorating a Christmas tree. The business is Fusion by Chris Vaughn. I checked out their website and he's a fabricator / designer of some really cool and unique home décor pieces.

Arriving at the Kreische Brewery Monument Hill state historical sites in La Grange, Texas, we stop first at the Monument Hill Tomb as seen at the top of this page. Even after the Republic of Texas won its independence from Mexico, Texans continued to battle in skirmishes with Mexico in continuing border disputes.

Meeting at great oak tree in downtown La Grange, Captain Nicholas Dawson gathered a company of 54 volunteers to help as Texas fought Mexico in and around San Antonio. On September 18, 1842, Dawson and his men made their way to join other Texas forces at the battle of Salado Creek near San Antonio. Along the way they were intercepted by Mexican troops and fighting ensued. Later known as the Dawson massacre, the conflict leaving 36 Texans dead -- including Dawson. Their remains are entombed in a granite crypt on a bluff overlooking the town. (GC3XF1C)

To prevent other attacks, President Sam Houston ordered General Somervell to march about 750 men towards the border. Upon reaching the Rio Grande, the general stopped the men from going forward due to a shortage of supplies. However Colonel Fisher and a group of 300 men continued on down towards the Mexican city of Mier to look for supplies. Fighting started but Fisher's men were outnumbered and eventually surrendered. The remaining men were then marched to prisons in southern Mexico.

During the forced march, the captured Texans managed to escape into the mountains at Hacienda Salado. There, many died without food, water, and shelter. While five managed to returned to the Republic, the remaining 176 men were recaptured. It was decided that every 10th man would be executed. To determine this, each prisoner would draw a bean. If they drew a white bean they live. If they drew a black bean they die. After writing letters home, the condemned men were lined up, blindfolded, and executed as depicted in the mural below. Known as the Black Bean Episode, the event cost 17 men their lives.

To ensure that these men were properly honored and interred, the La Grange community selected this hill for their final resting place in 1848 in a sandstone vault. The Kreische family did its best to care for the grave during their ownership of the property, but it suffered from a lack of formal oversight. In 1905, the state authorized acquisition of .36 acres here and the Daughters of the Republic of Texas raised funds for a new cover for the tomb in 1933. During the 1936 Centennial celebration, the 48-foot shellstone shaft with a stylized art-deco influenced mural was erected to mark the mass grave more prominently.

As for the Kreische family, German immigrant Heinrich Kreische (1821-1882) purchased nearly 175 acres of property in Fayette County in 1849. A stonemason by trade, he built a house, a barn, and smokehouse here on the high south bluff above the Colorado River.

In the 1860's, Kreische began brewing bluff beer near his homesite. Situated on the spring-fed creek, the brewery (GC1D2BQ) included an elaborate tunnel system to provide temperature control for the brewing process. Bluff Beer was sold throughout central Texas and was produced until 1884, two years after Kreische died in a work related accident. The Kreische complex stands as a reminder of German heritage and culture in this region of the state.

Our last stop of the day was a virtual geocache of European settlement history in Texas (GCGG9Q). The Wendish migration to Texas was impelled, in part, by the Prussian insistence that the Wends (or Sorbs, as they called themselves) speak and use the German language, even to the extent of Germanizing their names. The oppression of the Wendish minority extended to working conditions, with Wends being denied the right to do the skilled labor for which they were trained. If they were hired at all, they received less pay than their German counterparts. Prussian agrarian reform laws of 1832 dispossessed the Wends of their real property so they were, in effect, vassals to their Prussian lords.

But most intolerable was the requirement that the Lutheran Wends join the Evangelical Reform churches in one state-regulated Protestant body. The Wends believed this action would dilute their pure Lutheran faith and, rather than accept this decree, they made plans to immigrate to the New World.

In December of 1854, an English sailing vessel, the Ben Nevis, docked in Galveston harbor loaded with some 500 immigrants from Lusatia, an area in eastern Germany comprising parts of Saxony and Prussia. These Slavic pioneers who were to settle in Lee County made the journey from their homeland, not in search of prosperity, but rather in search of religious liberty and the right to speak their Wendish tongue.

On the 150th anniversary of Serbin, Texas, this monument was erected by the church and cemetery. The historical marker states: "Dedicated to the loving memory of those lost during the 1854 Wendish migration from Germany to Serbin. From September 10, 1854, until the dedication of the church cemetery on March 17, 1855, eighty-three men, women, and children perished in route to this place. Most were buried at sea."

Well that was it for this little road trip through Texas history. Better than sitting in a classroom reading from a book, getting out and visiting the small rural towns along America's backroads is very interesting to me and hopefully to you too. Thank you for riding along.

To follow along on our travels and keep up with my latest blogs, you may do so here of course. But also by using your favorite of these social media platforms: Facebook, MeWe, Gab, Reddit, Parlor, Twitter, RVillage, GETTR and Instagram. These all link directly to my profile. Again, please feel free to comment and / or share.