Kathleen Shanahan Maca

What an awesome picture book loaded with portraits and headstone photos, with a bit of history on some of those buried in the Broadway Historic Cemetery District, which are actually seven different cemeteries in one. Chapters are separated by Soldiers and Sailors, Businessmen and Philanthropists, Politicians and Community Leaders, All Walks of Society, Stone Masons and Funeral Homes, Effects of Storms, and Restoration and Renewal (which is ongoing).

The most interesting and shocking thing I took away from this book was the fact that the whole cemetery has been raised (or graded) three times, and only about 25% of the headstones, not the graves, were raised along with it. Others remain buried and lost forever. Some were just too large to raise. Those who could afford the financing to raise their loved one’s gravestone, paid the city who numbered each stone for temporary removal to an empty lot of the Catholic church across the street. The last time the cemetery was raised was in 1926, and it was raised anywhere from 2-6 feet. The oldest headstone currently in the Broadway cemeteries raised above ground belongs to Ira Day (c. 1808 - 1839). I don't feel very confident about this process at all. I bet there are headstones misplaced. Who would ever know? There had to have been mistakes made over years after three different gradings.

The other thing of interest is even before the Broadway cemeteries was designated for burials of persons who died on Galveston Island, they used to bury people in the large sand dunes that once lined the island along the Gulf of Mexico. Now we have the Strand with a barrier wall that protects the island from storms. Those graves are long gone.

I’m convinced now, more than ever, that I will never find my 2nd great-grandparent's (Joseph & Louisa Lawrence) first child, Laura Lawrence, who died in infancy on 19 Aug 1875, in Galveston, before the family left for Alabama sometime after the birth of their second child, George William Lawrence, born on 1 Nov 1876.

Galveston timeline: There doesn't appear to be anything detrimental going on in the area in 1875. Yellow fever hit Galveston twice, 1839 (250 died) and 1867 (750 died), and 1865 marked the end of the Civil War. The worse hurricane to ever hit the island was in 1900 where 8,000 people were killed. Many were buried where they were found…in yards, streets, and some that could be identified by their jewelry, were buried in Broadway cemetery. Others that could not be identified were piled onto barge floatillas, then thrown overboard out into the sea only to wash ashore a few days later where they were buried as found. At this point in time, if you have ancestors from Galveston Island, consider yourself very fortunate if you are able to locate a headstone for them.

Today, volunteers continue with cleanup and restoration. As of the publishing of this book, 2015, volunteers were still getting together, and under supervision of city and historical officials, they were continuing to dig stones from underground. In early May is the best time to visit this cemetery, as the blanket wildflowers overrun this place, making it the most beautiful cemetery you'll ever see.… (mais)