RED MUD CEMETERY
- A Historic Texas Cemetery -
DICKENS COUNTY, TEXAS
INTRODUCTION
Directions: From Spur, Texas take Farm Road 261 southwest about 11 miles.At the cemetery sign, turn right on unimproved road and go a half mile or less.
306_026 - Red Mud Creek, for which the cemetery was named (June 2003)
| From earliest times, a reunion was held annually on June 6. The cemetery
would become quite weedy during the year, especially with johnson grass, and
rattlesnakes were usually found. In early times there were a number of large elm
trees that provided shade. It was a real work morning, hoeing and repairing
graves. A huge lunch followed, spread on makeshift tables. After lunch there
would be a variety of entertainment; group singing, quartets, duets, and solos.
All the kids were expected to exhibit whatever talent they had; including singing,
reciting poems, or playing the piano. A few decades ago, the annual date was changed to the first Saturday in June. The number of attendees has dwindled to about 50 people each year. Most of the upkeep is now hired with Cemetery Association funds and the reunion morning is dedicated primarily to visiting the graves and one another. The noon meal proves that latter-day cooks are still "as good as grandmother," if not better. An Association business meeting concludes the afternoon gathering. According to the records of Red Mud historians, Georgia Martin Pace (deceased), and her daughter, Winona Pace Rinehart, the June 2, 2001 reunion was the 96th such gathering, and the old tabernacle was 81 years old. The old building was replaced in 2003 with an all-metal pavilion. Across Texas, many old community meeting houses were called "tabernacles." |
506_044 - Historic plaque at the cemetery entrance
26_47 - Harry Bob Martin, President of the Red Mud Cemetery Association
Dedication of Red Mud Cemetery as a Historic Texas Cemetery, 1 June 2002
|
 |
|
| cr04 - View of the cemetery and tabernacle from the hill on the north.
The far south horizon is the location of the Ambrose Brantner farm, known in the early days as the "Brantner Sandhills" (June 1998) | ||
cr03 - The tabernacle with its wood shingle roof, as it looked in the 1970s.
cr02 - The old tabernacle building about as it looked in 2002.
It served well, but it was in very poor and unsafe condition. See below.
306_020 - The new all-metal pavilion erected in 2002-2003 (7 June 2003).
| Page: | Index |
| Home | Pedigree Chart | Obituaries | Cemeteries |
| CHURCHES AT TAP TEXAS
On the Dickens County RootsWeb |