Morse-Bragg Cemetery
Houston, Harris County, Texas, USA
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undeveloped vestige of the old Pleasant Bend Plantation, and is the burial place for many pioneer families of
the area.
The cemetery has had a rough existence. In 1929, a developer stripped the cemetery plot from Morse heirs in a
lawsuit, and ten years later it was platted as part of the West Oaks subdivision. By a 1939 deed, a central part was maintained as "Reserve B," jointly owned by all subdivision lot owners (B and C), and also was used as a site for the subdivision's water works. Many residents and descendants remember the tombstones and juniper trees of the neighborhood's cemetery in the 1950's to 1970's. Vandalism and efforts at development in the 1970's and 1980's led to theft of most of the markers. Two headstones were kept for safekeeping by concerned neighbors in the 1990's, when development and litigation was in the air, and have
recently been recovered. Archeological studies conducted in 1992 and 1993 show that Reserve B contains the central core grave rows of the old family cemetery.
The Cemetery is still in Danger:
South Wynden Gardens LP petitioned Harris County District Court in August 2014 to declare the cemetery ‘abandoned' and allow the bodies to be removed,
presumably to ready the Cemetery land for development. Application was made by descendants in June 2014 to the Harris County Historical Commission for a County
historical marker, but that process was delayed, following a complaint by the current claimants to the property, who obviously wish for no such historical designation.
The alleged owners have also petitioned the Texas Historical Commission to remove the 2010 Texas Historic Cemetery designation.
The Morse-Bragg Cemetery Association, and family descendants of the deceased, are opposing the petition for abandonment, with a District Court hearing expected in
early 2015. To date, over 200 direct descendants of Morse, McFee, Walker, Bell and other pioneer families have been found by genealogical research, and many
affidavits requesting that the bodies be left undisturbed have been prepared and signed. Church records, family diaries and pioneer autobiographies have been
successfully searched for documentation of mid-nineteenth century burials at the site - no mean task, given the frontier, rural nature of the area at that time.
undeveloped vestige of the old Pleasant Bend Plantation, and is the burial place for many pioneer families of
the area.
The cemetery has had a rough existence. In 1929, a developer stripped the cemetery plot from Morse heirs in a
lawsuit, and ten years later it was platted as part of the West Oaks subdivision. By a 1939 deed, a central part was maintained as "Reserve B," jointly owned by all subdivision lot owners (B and C), and also was used as a site for the subdivision's water works. Many residents and descendants remember the tombstones and juniper trees of the neighborhood's cemetery in the 1950's to 1970's. Vandalism and efforts at development in the 1970's and 1980's led to theft of most of the markers. Two headstones were kept for safekeeping by concerned neighbors in the 1990's, when development and litigation was in the air, and have
recently been recovered. Archeological studies conducted in 1992 and 1993 show that Reserve B contains the central core grave rows of the old family cemetery.
The Cemetery is still in Danger:
South Wynden Gardens LP petitioned Harris County District Court in August 2014 to declare the cemetery ‘abandoned' and allow the bodies to be removed,
presumably to ready the Cemetery land for development. Application was made by descendants in June 2014 to the Harris County Historical Commission for a County
historical marker, but that process was delayed, following a complaint by the current claimants to the property, who obviously wish for no such historical designation.
The alleged owners have also petitioned the Texas Historical Commission to remove the 2010 Texas Historic Cemetery designation.
The Morse-Bragg Cemetery Association, and family descendants of the deceased, are opposing the petition for abandonment, with a District Court hearing expected in
early 2015. To date, over 200 direct descendants of Morse, McFee, Walker, Bell and other pioneer families have been found by genealogical research, and many
affidavits requesting that the bodies be left undisturbed have been prepared and signed. Church records, family diaries and pioneer autobiographies have been
successfully searched for documentation of mid-nineteenth century burials at the site - no mean task, given the frontier, rural nature of the area at that time.
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Houston, Harris County, Texas, USA
- Total memorials284
- Percent photographed92%
- Percent with GPS73%
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- Percent photographed33%
- Percent with GPS0%
Houston, Harris County, Texas, USA
- Total memorials209
- Percent photographed94%
- Percent with GPS64%
Houston, Harris County, Texas, USA
- Total memorials4k+
- Percent photographed99%
- Percent with GPS5%
- Added: 1 Dec 2014
- Find a Grave Cemetery ID: 2561560
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