Cook Cemetery in Lampasas, TX

While planning our out-of-town trip to Lampasas, TX, where my husband grew up, I mentioned to him that I needed to visit an old cemetery for my history class.  He asked me in surprise, "you haven't seen the one off 190?!"  I replied, "no, where, and how far does it date back?"  "like....1800's", he responded.  "Really?!" I said disbelievingly.   He was determined to show me from that point.

While driving into town, after a four-hour journey from our home in Spring, TX, he points at the cemetery as we draw near, located off of the main hwy, 190.  Of course I missed it all these times we've come to Lampasas!  It's barely visible and hard to notice, unless you were a native to the city of Lampasas.  The poor cemetery didn't look much like a burial ground at all, aside from the few headstones that were erect.  Parts of the cemetery looked as if someone had thrown large stones in random places.  The little burial site looked neglected.

He pulls into the entrance of the Tractor Supply Store off of Hwy. 190, where the cemetery is located, and gets out of the truck with me to have a look around.  It was there, at Cook Cemetery, that he proved the city of Lampasas has been around for quite some time.  I have never visited a cemetery that dated back to the mid-1800's.  It was quite interesting.

The engraving on the headstones that you could make out dated back to the 1800's.  The youngest death we saw was of a one-year old child.  The oldest didn't reach 60 years of age.

Brief history on Cook Cemetery 

Established in the mid 1850's as the first, marked burial.  Named after Arkansas natives, 

William and Cynthia Cook.

Less than one year old

Possibly a family plot

This plot consisted of both small and large headstones.

Citizen of the Republic of Texas

Largest family plot located at the cemetery

Stones scattered to designate plots

As you can see in this photo, there didn't appear to be an organized plan when burying the deceased.  It does seem that some families had more money than others and were able to afford headstones and sometimes engraving.

William B. Pace, Capt. Confederate States Army
Aug 9 1814 - April 29 1873
It appears that the lower engraved stone was added some time after he passed away.
Possibly, because his original headstone is a bit difficult to read.

Another plot with a wall built around
This may have been for one individual.  The family may have had extra money to build a surrounding wall.

No headstone, only a gathering of stones

The larger of the stones must serve as what you would typically be the headstone.

J. S. BROWN
July 20, 1818 - Aug 11, 1878
Age 25 yrs, 25d

Another site with flat stones used to surround the grave

Multiple Graves

In this view of the cemetery, you can see that burial places differed from one to the next.  There is no consistency in the aesthetics of the cemetery as you see in today's time.