News and Events

Hays Historical Commission Donates DVD’s to Wimberley ISD

CAPTAIN JACK DVD'S GIVEN TO SCHOOL DISTRICT

HCHC Treats Sheriff's Department

Hays County Historical Commission members brought good thoughts and goods eats to more than 130 Hays County Sheriff's Department employees at the Law Enforcement Center this week. An HCHC contingent arrived at shift change just before the crack of dawn bringing mountains of donuts, breakfast tacos, and Starbucks Coffee to law enforcement officers. Representing both groups were (left to right) Larry May, Judge Bill Henry, Linda Coker, George Rosales, Brad Robinson, Marianne Moore, Sherman Brodbeck, HCHC Chair Kate Johnson, and Josh Alba.

San Pedro Cemetery 100th Anniversary

Everyone is invited to come celebrate the 100th anniversary of the San Pedro Cemetery, located at the corner of Posey Road and Old Bastrop Hwy (21/El Camino Real) in San Marcos on Saturday, November 7 from 2 to 4 pm. Unlike many cemeteries in Hays County, its park-like setting is popular with families today, full of colorful blooming plants and lush greenery.

Over the past hundred years families have been marking the graves of their loved ones at San Pedro with living plants. For some, plants were the only markers left to indicate a burial. Maybe the trauma of the loss was so great... or maybe it was the cost, but the end result is beautiful, a landscape of crosses interspersed with drifts of flowers. And when the wind is just right, coming over the rise, through the trees, you can almost hear the faint sound of a baby crying, giving San Pedro Cemetery the nickname "Crying Baby Cemetery." There are many small graves in the cemetery, and for some the only marker is a drift of bright yellow, Mexican Mint Marigold flowers set within a small, narrow concrete coping.

Mexican Mint Marigold and red Cramoisi Superior and Eutin roses are in full fall flush now, along with other pinks and lavenders, just in time for La Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) or All Souls Day on November 2 and All Saints Day on November 1. Dia de los Muertos is traditionally the day Mexican-American family members visit cemeteries to remember relatives who have died and spruce up their graves.

Crosses, saints and virgins, which are a defining characteristic of Mexican-American cemeteries, cover the San Pedro Cemetery landscape and come in many forms and materials. Some crosses are the Spanish 'clover', while others are made in straighter lines with stone cement and tile. The most colorful and common is the mosaic tiled cross. The mosaic tiled cross memorial, El Madero, built in 1933 in the center of the cemetery, has a stepped pyramid shaped base constructed of stone and cement with shells embedded along the edges. The most popular saint depicted in this cemetery though is the Virgin of Guadalupe, who is considered to be a national symbol of Mexico.

Local Mexican-Americans established the San Pedro Cemetery Association in 1909 when most cemeteries in Texas were segregated by ethnicity. Luis Rosales and others helped collect money to purchase approximately two acres of land at the corner of Posey Road and Old Bastrop Highway. The cemetery by-laws list forty-seven men as founders and stated that persons of all means and all faiths had the right to bury their loved ones. Records from 1915 indicate the association had grown to almost three hundred members. With their numbers still growing, another two acres was purchased in 1933.

Local Mexican-Americans established the San Pedro Cemetery Association in 1909 when most cemeteries in Texas were segregated by ethnicity. Luis Rosales and others helped collect money to purchase approximately two acres of land at the corner of Posey Road and Old Bastrop Highway. The cemetery by-laws list forty-seven men as founders and stated that persons of all means and all faiths had the right to bury their loved ones. Records from 1915 indicate the association had grown to approximately three hundred members, so in 1933 another two acres was purchased.

If you have never visited San Pedro, now is the time. Put November 7 from 2 to 4 pm on your calendar. Family members with relatives or friends buried there are encouraged to bring photos to share as well as stories of loved ones. In case of rain, the ceremony will take place November 14, same time... same place. For more information call 512-557-0274.

Hays Historical Commission to Screen New “Captain Jack” Documentary

Captain Jack C. Hays and his Texas Rangers are riding again in Hays County, and the public is invited to watch the action unfold.

After months of planning, filming and editing, the Hays County Historical Commission has completed a new documentary on Hays, entitled “Captain Jack, The Story of John Coffee Hays.” The 30-minute film tells the story of Hays County’s namesake from his arrival in Texas in late 1837 to his death in Oakland, California, in 1883.

Several screenings of the documentary are being offered to the public free of charge at various locations throughout the county. All will be at 4 p.m. The schedule includes the following:
• Oct. 11 at Jack C. Hays High School (4800 Jack C. Hays Trail in Buda)
• Oct. 18 at the Alkek Theatre at Texas State University (The theater is located on the first floor of the Alkek Library, which is situated behind the LBJ Student Center. Parking is free on Sunday afternoons, and the closest parking will be in the Alkek Parking Garage just off Comanche Street or the Wood Street Parking Garage by the Student Center)
• Oct. 25 at the Wimberley Playhouse (450 Old Kyle Road in Wimberley)
• Nov. 1 at Thurman’s Mansion in Driftwood (Located near the Salt Lick at 17900 FM 1826)

“Captain Jack” features historical re-enactments of Jack Hays meeting with Sam Houston, recruiting Texas Rangers in San Antonio, patrolling south Texas, surveying land, and meeting his future wife, Susan Calvert. Additional scenes cover Hays and his Rangers fighting Comanche Indians on Walker's Creek, leading a wagon train west to California, becoming the first sheriff of San Francisco, and founding the city of Oakland.

The project was directed by Richard Kidd and produced by Kate Johnson with period music from the Celtaire String Band and The Gillette Brothers. The Celtaire String Band will be featured at the San Marcos showing to perform a short set of their songs. The Gillette Brothers will be on hand for the Driftwood screening.

Support for the project came from many citizens, foundations, and companies in Hays County, along with the County Commissioners.   
Groups interested in scheduling a showing of the documentary may contact Richard Kidd at .

Jack C. Hays Documentary

Ingalsbe Funds Cementerio del Rio Project

Hays County Commissioner Debbie Ingalsbe graciously funded the full cost ($1500) for a special cemetery restoration project. Ingalsbe’s funds enabled HCHC to secure the professional stone conservator services of Wimberley’s Don Hudson in righting and leveling four large Woodmen of the World tombstones. Those stones had fallen over the many years of neglect at Cementerio del Rio, where HCHC restoratiion efforts continue.

Earlier this year, Richard Gomez of San Marcos contracted to complete the fencing of the over four acre site, deeded to Hays County in 1873. Prior to the fencing project, cattle from adjoining property had freely roamed the historic old Hispanic cemetery on their way to and from the San Marcos River. The site sadly shows too many scars from almost a century of neglect, though HCHC work in the 1990s brought it back from the edge of extinction.

Ofelia Vasquez-Philo video gets public debut

San Marcos Academy was the site for a delightful HCHC-hosted July evening debuting the video history of Ofelia Vasquez-Philo. The second production from the studio of Richard Kidd offered to the public in the summer of 2009, the instant classic is the latest in the “Voices of Hays County History” series.

More than sixty people enjoyed the beautiful Academy library setting, among them a sizable contingent of longtime HCHC member and community leader Vasquez-Philo’s family. Commission Vice-Chair Shelly Henry served as the site host and welcomed the enthusiastic crowd that included friends and supporters from across the county. Chairman Kate Johnson offered her welcome, as well, updating the group on HCHC’s other current projects that include producing a documentary on the life of Jack C. Hays…and restoring the 19th Century Hays County Jail.

The “Voices of Hays County History” is a continuing project of the HCHC oral history committee. More than a dozen Hays County “Voices” have been videotaped, with Richard Kidd handling production, Bonnie Eissler providing technical support, and several members, including Shelly Henry, Betty Harrison, and Jim Cullen interviewing.

Hays County Historical Commission Commemorates Jack C. Hays in California Trek

HCHC shows Barton-Johnson video

Highlighting onetime “Buda Boys” Bob Barton and Moe Johnson, the Hays County Historical Commission recently presented its latest “Voices of Hays County History” installment on the longtime friends and Goforth-Buda-Kyle civic pioneers. The occasion was a gathering of Hays CISD, Kyle, and Buda residents at Hays High School’s Burdine Johnson Theatre. Retired HCISD administrator Betty Harrison interviewed Barton and Johnson, assisted by HCHC member Bonnie Eissler, with the entire piece, as always, professionally produced by Richard Kidd. An appreciative crowd of almost 60 attended, among those in the audience HCISD’s first board president, Red Simon, and its newly-arrived superintendent, Dr. Jeremy Lyon.

 

Hays Historical Commission Honored

The Texas Historical Commission recently recognized Hays County with the 2008 Distinguished Service Award. The honor was presented during a special reception April 16 at the THC's Annual Historic Preservation Conference in Lakeway.

The award recognizes county historical commissions that have demonstrated a dedication to several of the THC's programs as well as preservation efforts that lead to a greater understanding of state and local history.

"The commitment of Hays County's preservation efforts demonstrates an enthusiasm for saving the real places of Texas," said THC Executive Director Larry Oaks. "Your service has helped to enrich the lives of others through history, ensuring the preservation of our state's past into the future."

The Hays County Historical Commission has a number of ongoing projects including cemetery research and preservation, recording oral histories, and planning the renovation of the old county jail. The group meets monthly at historic locations throughout the county. More information can be found on the HCHC website, www.hayshistoricalcommission.com.

Cemetery Committee Visits Driftwood

HCHC Cemetery Committee members Bob Flocke, Dorothy Gumbert, Linda Coker, and Jim Cullen enjoyed a March 23, 2009, visit to a pair of isolated Hill Country cemeteries near Driftwood. Following the unfailing directions of the Hays County Cemetery Inscriptions, Vol. I book written by Jo Ann Hearn and Dorothy Kerbow, the group contacted Scott Marshall for a successful visit to the Reaves Cemetery, then sought out the site of Driftwood’s Old Community Cemetery.

Marshall has contained the Reaves Cemetery with a chain link fence to protect the gravesites from livestock, for which he is to be thanked, and he continues periodic maintenance at the site. As described by Hearn and Kerbow, the Old Community Cemetery—not far from Reaves Cemetery as the crow flies—contains only one stone, that of a mother Darthula and daughter Nettie, marking their same day, October 1, 1883, deaths.

Burns Sons’ Hill Country Gravesite Re-Consecrated

Hays County’s most recently recognized (the first in at least 15 years) and documented Historic Texas Cemetery, the Burns Sons’ Gravesite, was officially re-consecrated in a Saturday, March 7, 2009, ceremony on the Rocking P Ranch south of Dripping Springs.  Luther Ulmer Burns (March 2, 1878—August 5, 1879) and Carl Sydney Burns (February 15, 1881—February 16, 1881) share a tombstone enclosed by a small rock fence on the ranch currently owned by Scott and Pam McAfee.

Scott did the research on the Burns Sons’ Gravesite, a history rolling back to the site’s early Hays County landowners. The Texas Historical Commission has officially designated the site as historic and the official state marker will soon be placed at the site. Approximately 35 people attended the re-consecration, the Hays County Historical Commission represented by Jim and Luanne Cullen.

Newly appointed members to the Hays County Historical Commission

Newly appointed members to the Hays County Historical Commission met recently at the Hays County Courthouse in the County Commissioners Court Room in San Marcos for an organizational meeting. Chairman Johnson told them they would become "the arms and legs for the county, state and nation historic trusts. That the commission members would know everything about how to apply for any historic designation." It's a tall order, but newer members were cheered by long-term members like Ofelia Vasquez-Philo, who have served ably since the commission's inception.

“Journey to California” Documentary Completed and Available for Group Showings

The Hays County Historical Commission has just finished a documentary about Capt. Jack
C. Hays and his 1849 trip to California and becoming the first sheriff of San Francisco.
Members of the Historical Commission recreated this trip west and traveled the same trail
to San Francisco, visiting the Hays burial site in Oakland and with the current San Francisco Sheriff, Michael Hennessey. It's a great opportunity to learn more about the
famous Texas Ranger that Hays County is named after.

This documentary is available for free showing to your group or meeting. Please contact
Richard Kidd at 512-858-4443 or , to make arrangements.