Cemeteries of the Covered Bridges: General H. B. Granbury & Southern Cross of Honor

Granbury is one of the loveliest small towns in the state of Texas. It has a long history dating back to 1866 with many residents of importance. The large Granbury Cemetery is located north of the main courthouse square on Moore Street and Hwy. 51 North. In 2001 the Texas Historical Commission erected an historical marker that reads in part:

“Granbury Cemetery. Part of an original school land survey, this parcel was already known as ‘the cemetery lot’ when deeded to the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in 1855 for use as a public burial ground.”

The thought crossed my mind that maybe it, too, has spirits attending the graves. As I wrote in my post about Ghosts in Lower School Hill Cemetery, if Dave Julian of “The Shadowlands” is to be believed, that “former school sites may have a buildup of psychic energies of emotional events having previously transpired there” and “is an open invitation to spirits”, then it seems to me the Granbury Cemetery would fit in that category nicely.

Some gravemarkers pre-date the 1866 founding of the city, the earliest being the one for John Edwards (1790-1853). At one time the Methodist Church was located on the courthouse square and graves from their churchyard were moved to the new location; it is, therefore, “difficult to know whether some burials were original to the site or were reinterments.”

In 1873, a high school was built on the property which fourteen years later became Granbury College. After the college closed, the church deeded the school land to the city in 1915 and College Hill was allowed full usage as a cemetery.

Today you can still see the Granbury Courthouse in the distance and part of Lake Granbury around which the town is built. The lichgate opens to Moore Street and looks out toward the courthouse.

Many veterans of our wars have their final resting place in Granbury Cemetery. A veteran of the War of 1812, John Bennett Dickson, is at rest here, as well as veterans from the U. S.-Mexico War, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

A Mississippian, Hiram B. Granbury, came to Texas in the early 1850s. He practiced law in the town of Waco, some 95 miles southeast of Granbury, and joined the Confederacy in 1861. He is noted for his command of the combined forces which made up Granbury’s Texas Brigade. He was one of six Confederate Generals killed at Franklin, Tennessee.

With a Southern Cross of Honor placed between the gravemarkers, his wife, Fannie Sims Granbury, is memorialized beside her husband in this cemetery that bears his name. The city’s namesake, Hiram B. Granbury (1831 – 1864) was reinterred here in 1893.

Southern Cross of Honor Symbol

BRIG GEN

HIRAM B GRANBURY

GRANBURY’S TX BRIGADE

CSA

Mar. 1, 1831

Nov. 30, 1864

KIA

Franklin, Tennessee

Wife of

HIRAM B. GRANBURY

FANNIE SIMS GRANBURY

Born 1833

Died Mar.20, 1863

Married 1858

Waco, TX

Buried in an Unmarked Grave

Magnolia Cemetery

Mobile, AL

Thanks to

Rebecca Drake, Historian

Mary E. Johnson, Researcher

Jane Embrose, Family Descendant

This Memorial Stone

Placed by the Hood County

Historical Society

2003

A two-sided, cast iron replica of the medal awarded by the Confederate States of America for loyal and honorable service to the South, it stands atop a metal rod placed into the ground at the veteran’s grave. “It is sometimes referred to as the “Iron Cross of Honor” or “SCV Iron Cross”. It is typically placed on Confederate graves by local chapters of the Sons of Confederate Veterans or by family members or interested parties related to the Confederate Veteran. The iron cross version of the SCH is available for purchase through several SCV chapters as well as several private foundries throughout the United States. The grave of any Confederate Veteran who served honorably is eligible for placement of this symbol.”

Other photos from Granbury Cemetery are below.