Texas State Cemetery overloaded with historical graves

hi welcome to this episode of History Hunters as you can see here I'm in a beautiful Cemetery this is the Texas state Cemetery in Austin Texas which is the state capital of Texas join us as we visit some of the graves of some very famous people a lot of them are governors of Texas join us on this episode of History Hunters [Music] [Music] I spotted this grave from a distance because of this fantastic artwork Willie James L Diablo Willie James well he was with the Negro Leagues in 1924 to 1948 he began his career with the St Louis stars and began baseball's first Power hitting shortstop he was an eight-time All-Star for the stars and teams in Chicago and Newark he also starred in Canada Cuba Mexico and Puerto Rico he was also in 1997 inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown New York joining other Negro League greats it looks like he passed away in 1989 check out that fantastic bronze sculpture on his grave that grave was not on my list so that was a pleasant surprise there are a lot of authors and writers who are in the cemetery and this is Fred Gibson he lived from 1908 to 1973 he was a writer and screenwriter he is best known for writing the 1956 novel Old Yeller which became a popular 1957 Walt Disney movie you might have seen that one it was actually born in a farm near Mason in the Texas Hill Country and after a variety of farming and ranching jobs he went to college I went to University of Texas at Austin in 1933. he also wrote for the daily Texan and the ranger but he left school before graduating to become a newspaper journalist here's the grave of Hugh McLeod he was a graduate of West Point 1835 under the army of Texas 1836 he was commander of the Santa Fe Expedition from 1841 representative Galveston in the second legislature 1847. there's a colonel the first Regiment of the Texas infantry for the Confederate States of America he died Dumfries Virginia January 2nd 1862. here's Charles Graves Chase uttermeyer actually this is where he's going to be buried he's not dead yet he was a state representative he was assistant Secretary of the Navy in the 80s under Ronald Reagan assistant to the President George Bush and then he was Ambassador Qatar from 2004 to 2007. he's going to be buried here I guess people like to see their graves before they die Cactus Richard s Pryor masterful humorist looks like he was probably on the radio here because that's a radio and there's a likeness of him right there this is a very cool Cemetery most the people who are buried here I guess had some affiliation with state government here in Texas here's a very cool grave that I just found I was coming up to the tall one then I saw this one here Sheamus Pinkney Henderson he was the first governor of Texas from 1846 to 1847 he was a major general in the Army charge of the Texas forces in the Mexican War 1846 and seven it was the U.S senator he died in Washington D.C June 1857. now can you imagine hauling his body all the way from DC to Austin Texas to be buried in 1857. right over here is a grave that I wanted to find it was a friend of Lyndon Baines Johnson well first let's talk about Preston Smith his wife he died in 2003 but Preston Smith was governor of Texas from 1969 to 1973 he has a very nice red granite or marble marker here the Texas emblem up here right over here is JJ pickle he was a congressman he was a good friend of Lyndon Johnson's one of the things that he used to do is when he would appear in parades he would pass out these little plastic pickles to advertise his name and that was his little gimmick James Gerald Jake pickle lived from a 1913 to 2005. and check it out U.S House of Representatives symbol here on his tombstone of course this white Barrel is buried next to him the back of this marker shows that Jake pickles served in Congress from 1963 to 1994. it was a student body president in 37. that's funny he mentions that lieutenant in the Navy from 42 to 45 employment commissioner in the 60s and he was a distinguished alumnus at the University of Texas why did you decide now was the time to retire well I've always thought that a person in public office uh ought to choose his time to step aside I've been in Congress now 31 years and I thought after that length of time I just thought I couldn't come home so that's what I've done right over here is the grave of Thomas Pliny plaster who meant one of the twin sisters cannon at the Battle of San Jacinto he was a veteran of the Mexican War 1847. as you can see it was a native of Tennessee he died in 1861. this was erected by the state of Texas in 1936 the very tall marker here is for Edmund Davis he was the governor of Texas from 1870 to 74. there are a lot of Governors buried in the cemetery Mr Davis being one of them I'm just impressed by all the dignitaries who are here and oh my goodness this is the kind of the main grade that I came to see and guess who's buried here he's U.S Secretary of the Treasury from 71 to 72. and he was the governor of Texas John B Connelly of course he was the governor who was riding with President Kennedy in the motorcade and he was shot and seriously wounded the bullet passed through Kennedy's throat and then passed through chest and ribs broke some ribs and then landed in his wrist and I know for some time he was in the hospital and he could not even cite his name he had to use his other hand because it had been so badly damaged I have a book that uh his wife here wrote detailing their experiences John Connolly almost became president of the United States John Bowden Connolly as you can tell he lives 30 years after almost 30 years after the assassination attempt it's very nice black marble statue oh he's got some verbiage in the back here it's not the critic who counts not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of Deeds could have done them better credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena whose face is marred by dust and it's wet and blood who strives valiantly who airs and comes short again and again because there is not effort without error and shortcoming but who does actually strive to do the Deeds who knows the great enthusiasms and great devotions who spends himself at a worthy cause who at best knows the end of triumphs of high achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while during greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid Souls know neither Victory nor defeat Theodore Roosevelt and as you can see it was used in the eulogy of John Connolly though Gravely wounded during the assassination of President John F Kennedy on November 2nd 1963 Connelly recovered to complete three terms as a popular Governor whose enduring Legacy is for the placement of Education or the advancement of education for all Texans now probably a lot of you don't know that in 1973 Sparrow Agnew because of Scandal resigned as vice president and Nixon accepted the resignation it was then his duty to appoint a successor a new vice president he ultimately picked Gerald R Ford and then you know in August 1974 Nixon resigned from Office himself Ford became president what a lot of you probably don't know is that he was very strongly considering appointing John B Connally as vice president which would have made him president of the United States Connolly himself ran for president I believe a number of times in the 1970s and just didn't get any traction with his party a lot of you probably also don't know that Connolly was a democrat in the 60s and later became a republican so that's how he ran for president as a Republican this cemetery is like the who's who of Texas politics I just spotted one over here and I thought Kay Bailey Hutchinson a former U.S senator from Texas is buried here but she's not buried here that's her grave I'll show it to you her husband passed away but she's got to be buried over here as well there we go here's the grave of Ray Hutchinson Texas house are Representatives and this beautiful Eagle up here and there's where Senator Hutchinson has got to be buried she served in the U.S Senate she's not deceased yet but you may hear about her passing and this is where it's going to be they loved and served Texas here we go there's a marker here for Elton Ray Hutchinson he served in the Navy during the Korea or passed away in 2014 here's the grave of the famous coach Thomas Wade Landry I like how people who served in World War II always make it a point to let us know that they served he was the first lieutenant in the Army Air Forces in World War II of course it wasn't an Air Force per se back in World War II it was called the Army Air Forces apparently this airport is right underneath the flight path for the Austin Airport he has on his marker here a passage from Matthew 25 21 well done good and faithful servant Tom Landry I was a professional football player and Coach he was the first head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League position he held for 29 Seasons during his coaching career he created many new formations of methods such as the now popular 4-3 defense and the flex defense system made famous by the Doomsday defense squads that he built during his tenure with the Cowboys his 29th consecutive years from 1960 to 1988 as the coach of one team is an NFL record along with his 20 consecutive winning seasons which is considered to be his most impressive professional accomplishment Tom Landry ladies and gentlemen and there's this trademark hat that he always wore sure that they've engraved that on his Tombstone because it was a very very familiar trademark of this coach memory of a Pioneer Patriot and Statesman Ash Bell Smith came to Harris County Texas in 1837 from Connecticut and was appointed Surgeon General the army of the Republic it was minister of France from 1842-1845 he joined General Taylor's Army in 1846 in its March upon Mexico it was Colonel of the second Texas imagery the Confederate Army he served in the state legislature in 1866 that's one that I did not expect to find there's just so many graves here that there's no way I'm going to be able to get to it but this is definitely one that I just spotted I need to get to it's funny that the claim to fame here is a teacher this of course is the grave of Barbara Jordan 1936 to 1996. she was the one who eloquently spoke during the impeachment proceedings against President Nixon I believe she was the first black congresswoman from a Southern state in U.S history she was also the first lesbian legislator you may remember her eloquence when she spoke Barbara Jordan's right here and right over here is the grave of Stephen Austin he is probably the most famous grade here and it's got a little marker down here talks about how he was born in Virginia in 1793 and he bought the first 300 anglo-american colonists to Texas in 1821 he became known as the father of Texas shortly after his appointment as Secretary of State of the Republic of Texas Austin died of pneumonia he was originally buried at Peach Point Texas in 1836 and his remains were brought to this Cemetery in 1910 by an active governor bronze sculpture was completed at the same year in 1910s that goes back to let's go around to the front so I can show you what this looks like Stephen Fuller Austin father of Texas talks about how he was born in Virginia and died in Texas 1836. wise gentle courageous and patient he was the founder of a mighty Commonwealth Stephen F Austin entire Town's named after him I understand at one point this Cemetery was in pretty rundown condition Governor George W bush and his lieutenant governor helped push for the renovation of the cemetery and it's really a beautiful cemetery and you can tell that a lot of these older markers uh maybe they're gone but there's a lot of newer markers for people who've been here for quite a while August bugle I guess I'm saying that right killed at the Battle of Pleasant Hill in Louisiana April 15 1864. we know that those who for their country die through Glory live again immortally of bred an officer of Germany an officer in the Foreign Legion in France knighted by the queen for gallantry and the Carlos war in Spain also a pashan and the Turkish Army there's just so many Grays with symbols on there I know I'm just gonna do it some injustice I know I'm missing somebody Bailey Hardiman sign over the Texas Declaration of Independence Secretary of Treasury of the Republic now this grave on the ground looks like it's probably one of the oldest ones here dates back to 1849 Mosley Baker and Eliza Ward Baker she died 1849. Mosley Baker captain of the Texas volunteers Battle of San Jacinto member of Congress Republic of Texas he died 1848 this marker here was erected in 1899 this of course is a newer marker for General Mosley Baker I guess the entire rundown of his accomplishments I've noticed that there's a lot of people who walk through the cemetery for exercise they're not looking at Graves and they're just using the hills here for some exercise it's a little after lunch so if you watched the movie Highwaymen it was a story about the two Texas Rangers who were hunting down Bonnie and Clyde the figure of ma Ferguson who was the governor of Texas comes into play in that movie Kathy Bates played Texas governor Paul Ferguson who was involved with appointing Texas Rangers to go after Bonnie and Clyde and some other famous Outlaws at that time the real football Ferguson is buried right here she was the governor of Texas after her husband James Ferguson was recalled from Office let's talk first about James Ferguson who was a governor of Texas from 1815 to 1917 he was actually indicted and impeached during his second term he was forced to resign and barred from holding any office here in Texas now unable to run under his own name Ferguson ran his wife's campaign for governor Marion Ferguson was known as ma Ferguson if you want to know where Ma comes from her initials were well her name is Miriam a Ferguson so they used ma from that she was twice elected as governor she served two non-consecutive returns from 1925 to 1927 and 1933 to 1935 1925 should became the first female governor of Texas after campaigning as a stand-in for her husband James Ferguson so he became the first gentleman of Texas for her two terms I guess a little biographical Rundown and right here life's race well run life's work well done life's Victory one now cometh rest Miriam Ferguson governor of Texas even though her husband was removed from office during her campaign she made it clear that she was a puppet candidate for her husband saying the voters would get two Governors for the price of one her speeches are rallies consisted of basically introducing him and letting him take the platform though a common campaign slogan was me for Ma and I ain't got a darn thing against Paul during the Great Depression there was a issue with letting go of a lot of employees and Texas Rangers were no exception the number of commissioned officers for the Texas Rangers was reduced to 45 and the only means of transportation afforded the Rangers were free railroad passes are using their horses a situation worsened for the Rangers when they entangled themselves in politics in 1932 by publicly supporting Governor Ross Sterling in his re-election campaign over ma Ferguson that didn't sit well with her so she slashed a lot of the budget and reduced their numbers to about 32 so as a result Texas became a pretty well-known Hideout for people like Machine Gun Kelly and Pretty Boy Floyd Bonnie and Clyde the Hasty appointment of many unqualified Rangers to stop the increasing criminality proved ineffective I don't think it's ever a good idea to form State policy based on personal grudges but that was the case here well this is definitely great that I wanted to find and this talks about this being Confederate field soldiers were buried in the cemetery during the Civil War Texas fought on both sides of the Civil War while there were a few battles on Texas soil or in the Texas Waters the Battle of Palmetto Ranch near Brownsville was the last Landing counter in the four years and this one is a very impressive grade Albert Sidney Johnston now if you watched my video about Fort Point in San Francisco you'll remember that we talked about this gentleman because he was in charge of that Outpost and he is buried here underneath this marble statue of him laying in the grave asleep that is one very strange thing that he was a general in three different armies the texian Army the U.S Army and the Confederate Army he was in the Army for 34 years he fought at the Black Hawk War he found the Texas war of independence the Mexican-American War the Utah War and the Civil War he was considered by Jefferson Davis to be the finest General officer in the Confederacy before the emergence of Robert E Lee he was killed early in the Civil War the Battle of Shiloh on April 6 1862. Davis believed the loss of General Johnston was the turning point of Our Fate stuck my camera through the bars here so you can get a better look of the intricacies here shows him dead and marble right there is the grave of John a warden who was a major general of the Confederate States of America all right died April 6 1865. very close to the death of Abraham Lincoln said he came to Texas from Tennessee he was a prominent orator jerus and prosecutor Delegate for Texas secession Convention of night or 1861. he joined the Confederate Army as a captain Company B of Terry's Texas Rangers after Terry was killed Wharton elected Colonel and he led his famous regiment the Battle of Shiloh and the Kentucky campaign of 1862 and was twice wounded and made Brigadier General for bravery after brilliant fighting Chickamauga campaign valiantly LED Calvary corpse Red River campaign to prevent invasion of Texas in 1864. you would think that this is Hollywood because I've had I don't know multiple tour buses come through here guy that's doing the history is telling the stories and I'm telling you only you're getting it for free that's what history Hunters is all about you cut tree Western fans probably recognize this name Missouri Jeff Walker a gypsy song then no one else could sing the songs he's sung left from 1942 to October 2020 he died looks like just a week before my mother passed away and his wife is still living jury Jeff Walker was a leading figure in Outlaw country music movement best known for having written the 1968 song Mr Bojangles now a lot of people may know the song up against the wall redneck mother it's his song [Music] redneck mother face [Music] [Music] a lot of you probably remember this gentleman Chris Kyle it was definitely a patriot he lived from 1974 to actually was killed on February 2nd 2013. he was a Navy SEAL Sniper he served four tours in the Iraq War and he was awarded several accommodations for acts of heroism and meritorious service and combat he had over 150 confirmed kills and was awarded the Silver Star four bronze star medals as well as a number of other personal awards that he was discharged from the Navy in 2009 and he published his best-selling autobiography American sniper in 2012 and then there was a film made by Clint Eastwood starring Bradley Cooper as Kyle it was released in 2014 a year after Kyle was murdered by Eddie Ray Routh Rough Creek Lodge shooting range near chalk Mountain Texas Ralph was a former Marine with post-traumatic stress disorder and was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole he was shot and killed at a shooting range at what's very interesting is that there's hands I'm assuming that those who were family hand prints maybe Kyle had a handprints there as well Taya who would be his wife there have been a number of patriots who survived the horrors of Wars the dangers of war and they came back the United States and they faced their own danger here sometimes the streets of America are more deadly than on foreign soil here's the grave of Cedric Benson football player I'll show you the backside in a moment he died on my birthday in 2018 for me to live as Christ and to die is gain it's taken from Philippians 1 21. and on the back side here played for the Los Angeles Dodgers University of Texas he played for Chicago Bears assistant Addie Bengals and the Green Bay Packers not a very unique Barker they're the white marble marker belongs to Texas Governor Ann Richards who was just before George W bush in fact I think George Bush defeated her now Ed Richards was the one who was known I think she said at the 1988 Democrat National Convention poor George he can't help it he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth of course she was talking about George H.W bush well it looks like a lot of people have remembered her she was born September 1933 and she died in September 2006. a lot of people have left some mementos here for her foreign foreign [Music] foreign foreign [Music] thank you

Channel: History Hunters

Views: 47,661

Keywords: Texas State Cemetery, History Hunters, Austin Texas, Texas history, Stephen Austin, John B. Connally, JFK in Dallas, Famous graves, jbenziggy

Id: 0sSXh8JDZVw

Length: 28min 44sec (1724 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 25 2022