Creedmoor Community Cemetery, Creedmoor, Texas

Grave Mapper Nancy Hickman of Austin, Texas, recently mapped the Creedmoor Community Cemetery in Creedmoor, Texas. She is so gracious to share her mapping experience with us at Grave Mappers and to give us a history of this small southern town and its cemetery.

"It was fun trying out (the Names in Stone) format. I am new at genealogy research and the cemetery that I added to the site was my first...

"Before learning about Grave Mappers, I had thought that it was nice to have the list of inscriptions from cemeteries in the order of placement and having them in alphabetical order made it even easier to find a name, except when it came to figuring out which inscription belonged with what family. I realized that was not the case for anyone researching a family and not having that family history.

"The website is definitely a solution to the problem. It allows you to record exactly where a headstone is located, with additional information. It gives anyone searching an opportunity to see if any other headstones in the vicinity belongs to that family.

"I did this little cemetery as a contribution to the Texas Tombstone Transcription Project since it was one that I was going to in search of my GG Grandfather, Edmond Green Horne, who lived in the Creedmoor, Texas area.

"Here is the link to the information provided for the Texas Tombstone Project, the second picture shown of the lone headstone does not belong:

http://www.austintxgensoc.org/cemeteries/creedmoor.html

"The comparison of what can be done on Names in Stone and what was done for the Texas Tombstone Project tells it all."

"There are 41 Headstones and the earliest date of burial is for William Hardin Aiton, Feb 25, 1896 (age 23 yrs 10 mos & 22 days) - more than likely the grandson of Thomas Aiton M.D. b. Sep 12, 1858 d. Feb 14, 1902. The name caught my attention; the following is all I could find on him:

Newspaper Date:

April 8 1880 - Newspaper Article:"__Dr. Thomas Aiton has removed to Creedmoor, Travis County, Texas where he requests his correspondents to address him hereafter. Alluding to the season down there in his letter he says: `Most too much rain for planting. Farmers very busy planting cotton. Corn looks well, wheat and oats fine, grass excellent. Herds of horses, mules and cattle moving north.'"

Pike County Democrat, April 8, 1880, Pike County Illinois

CREEDMOOR, TEXAS.

Creedmoor is at the intersection of Farm roads 1327 and 1625, fifteen miles southeast of Austin in southern Travis County. Though in the 1850's the site had general stores, a grocery, a meat market, a drugstore, a barbershop, a blacksmith shop, and an ice cream parlor, the name Creedmoor did not appear until the establishment of the community's post office in 1880.

Some sources say the town was originally called Willow Springs; others say it was first called Creekmoor, but was renamed Creedmoor by settlers who wanted the name to express their faith. Dr. Jacob T. Wilhite, once the country's foremost authority on rabies and the founder and director of the Pasteur Institute at the Austin State Hospital, was born in Creedmoor. The town's population grew from twenty in 1896 to 150 by 1915.

In 1921, a cyclone destroyed its four-room school and one of the local gins. The town suffered a drought in 1925. A 1946 map showed Creedmoor with a school, two churches, seven businesses, and more than thirty dwellings.

In the 1950's, it had two gins, and cotton was still a major local industry. Under threat of annexation by Austin in 1982, Creedmoor became the ninth community in Travis County to incorporate. In 1990, Creedmoor reported a population of 194, a store, a post office, and the San Francisco Catholic Church. The population in 2000 was 211, with three businesses.

Thanks, Nancy, for your great work! At Grave Mappers, we are sure your contributions to Names in Stone will help future researchers find the records they seek! Click here to see Nancy's map of the Creedmoor Community Cemetery at Names in Stone.

Eagle Scout Project - Leader Message

Grave Mappers received this message from one of the leaders who accompanied the Boy Scouts as they mapped the Fairfield, Utah Cemetery.

"I was impressed with this group of scouts as they mapped the Fairfield, Utah Cemetery. They worked very hard for several hours mapping, photographing, and transcribing information from headstones.

"It was intriguing to watch them. They came to support their friend, but most of them had no previous experience with cemeteries. As they worked, they became curious and then interested in the cemetery and its occupants. I saw some of them bent over, reading monuments and headstones. They wondered about headstones that had many small items around them left by family and friends. They were touched by three headstones right in a row that said, "Killed by Indians." Sometimes they tried to piece together family relationships by seeing the burials that were next to each other. I've included a few photos of things that peaked their interest.

"I believe that mapping a cemetery was a great way to get these young men interested in family history and genealogy. I hope more Boy Scouts will take the opportunity to do this kind of project."

Eagle Scout Service Project: Map a Cemetery

As many of you know, to earn the rank of Eagle Scout, a Boy Scout has to do a service/leadership project that totals 80 to 150 hours.

Adam D. of American Fork, Utah decided that for his service project, he would map the Fairfield, Utah cemetery. Adam's plan was to lead a group of Scouts in transcribing headstone information, mapping the nearly 300-grave cemetery, photographing each headstone, and then creating an online map of the cemetery at Names in Stone.

Early in November, Adam recruited 6 other scouts and two leaders who made the trip to Fairfield, located west of Utah Lake in Utah County. Adam split the group into three teams and held a brief training exercise to make sure the Scouts knew their goals and responsibilities. Each team had a photographer, a mapper, and a recorder. They divided the cemetery into three sections and the teams went to work.

Adam's scout committee wholeheartedly approved his project and are excited about his choice to map a cemetery. They are encouraging other scouts to consider mapping a cemetery for their Eagle Projects.

Adam says that the first phase of the project at the cemetery was a great success and he is currently creating the cemetery map on the NAMES IN STONE website. Adam has some great ideas for other Boy Scouts who might be interested in mapping a cemetery for their Eagle Scout Service Projects.

Cemetery tips:

• Use graph paper to draw the cemetery map. With several scouts drawing maps, it can be hard to keep things consistent. Graphing paper helps the mappers keep things lined up and in order. It also helps the person creating the map on the website be more accurate in placing graves.
• Make sure that the mapper, photographer, and recorder stay together and map one grave at a time. If someone goes ahead things get confusing and people make mistakes.
• Use string, or some other kind of marker, to make a dividing line in the cemetery so the teams don't overlap.
• Periodically check quality and accuracy of each team's work - make sure everyone is using the same system and that there are no misunderstandings or mistakes.

Mapping tips:

• Divide the hand-drawn map into several sections. Place graves for a whole section at a time and then go back and enter the data for each grave.
• Upload each headstone photo at the same time you enter the record.
• Use two person teams to enter the records. One person can enter the data and the other person can check for accuracy of the written record compared to the headstone and make sure the computer entry is correct.

Adam and his friends really enjoyed mapping this cemetery. Adam says, "I had the feeling that we were helping the descendants of the people who are buried here find their ancestors. I know that what we're doing will help keep their memory alive."