A Tour of the Field Store Cemetery

This is written from the point of view of Nick Wallingford and the other children of John Roland Wallingford and Doris Corinne Ogg Wallingford Farrar. Any references to "Momma and Daddy" refer to them...

The Field Store Cemetery has a long and interesting history. Probably the best introduction is the application for the historical marker that is pictured above. Interestingly, the application was championed by Jimmie Rene Ogg, one of Mum's relatives.

Application for a historical marker

There are various listings of burials at Fields Store, some more up to date, some more accurate. I base most of my own work on some material I got several years back. I've found it to be pretty good when I'm looking to find a plot number to help locate people, but it isn't perfect...

Burials at the cemetery

The Field Store Cemetery (formerly called the New Hope Cemetery) has the graves of a very large number of our relations - not at all surprising given how many of them have lived in that immediate area.

Even before you get there, coming from north Houston out on FM1488, you'll encounter the Ogg family area - it is about 5 or 6 miles before you get to Field Store, just around the Montgomery County-Waller County boundary. FM1488 makes a bend to the left, and there is a road called Oak Hollow Boulevard that goes off to the right. Just before you get to that road, on the left side of FM1488 is the old Ogg homestead. Henry Warren Ogg Sr, Momma's grandfather, was born there and later built his own house on that land. Momma's father, Henry Warren Ogg Jr, would have been born and raised there.

Now over to Daddy's side - his grandfather, Thomas Ginn Wallingford, came to Field Store about 1876 or 1877, though he had been a bit further north near Retreat and Courtney since the middle 1850s. He owned various bits of land in the area, but the homestead was on the other side of FM1488 from the cemetery - as you're coming toward the cemetery (before you get to that turnoff) there is a cluster of businesses on the left, and Bunting Road goes off almost parallel to FM1488. The old homestead was on the left, about half way along the length of the road.

If you were to drive on a bit further, FM1488 makes a hard turn to the left. I'm almost certain that Andrew and Maggie Campbell - Bessie's parents - lived just a short ways along on the right after than turn. They had moved into the area, along with a lot of other relations on Mom's side of the family, in late 1886. Bessie Campbell, Momma's mother, was born there the following May.

OK. Now to the cemetery itself.

Let's first summarise how much of our family are there. This is only talking 'direct' lines, not all the brothers, sisters and cousins...

Our parents are buried there.

Momma's parents, Henry Warren Ogg, Jr and Elizabeth 'Bessie' Campbell Ogg are there.

Bessie's parents, Andrew Monroe Campbell and Margaret 'Maggie' Robertson Campbell are there.

Maggie's parents, Jesse Wiley Robertson and Mary Elizabeth Dorris are buried there.

Daddy's parents, John Pinckney Wallingford and Mina Edna Hegar Wallingford are buried there.

Edna's parents and one set of her grandparents are in the Hegar Family Cemetery - about 5 miles south of Field Store - but the other grandparents are here, John Isaac and Tabbitha Loyd.

And Momma's father's parents - Henry Warren Ogg Sr and Emmaline Anderson Ogg are buried back in Magnolia - only 10 miles away.

John Pinckney's parents, Thomas Ginn Wallingford and Annie Tucker Wallingford are buried there.

So here in Field Store cemetery are our:

Parents - John Roland and Corinne Wallingford
Maternal Grandparents - Henry and Bessie Ogg
Paternal Grandparents - John and Edna Wallingford
Maternal Maternal Great Grandparents - Andrew and Maggie Campbell
Maternal Maternal Maternal Great Great Grandparents - Jessie Wiley and Elizabeth Robertson
Paternal Paternal Great Grandparents - T.G. and Annie Wallingford
Paternal Maternal Maternal Great Great Grandparents - John Isaac and Tabbitha Loyd

And in nearby Hegar Family Cemetery:

And in Magnolia Cemetery:

All of our 4 grandparents.

4 of our 8 great grandparents (and the other 4 within 10 miles).

And 4 of our 16 great great grandparents.

Just about all of these are in the 'old' part of the cemetery - I don't think I've hardly ever even wandered over into the newer parts! Sometimes hard to find the graves - there are a lot of them. But they all do have plot numbers, and you'll find small square markers every so often to let you know where you are, so it is just a matter of getting into the right area and walking and looking!

All of our relations except the Robertsons are in well marked graves. The Robertson's don't have any markings to indicate who they are - I think we oughta do something about that!

OK. You're at the gate into the cemetery. We'll go find some of Momma's relations first and work back from there. Turn to the right and go about 2/3 of the way to the end. Andrew Campbell and Maggie Campbell are in a well-marked grave quite close to the fence, plot number 201(01) and 201(02).

Andrew with grandchildren

Maggie with daughters and daughter-in-laws

Check out the small piece of pottery left on the grave. I've no idea who put it there or when. It would have been after WWII, as it refers to it being made in occupied Japan - but not sure which of the many, many relations would have left it there for them!

In the next row further from the gate is the unmarked graves of Maggie's parents - Jesse Wiley and Mary Elizabeth Robertson. Both were born in Tennessee and moved to Texas in the late 1840s, first to Montgomery County, then up to Colorado County (Weimar area) then back to Fields Store in 1886.

Jesse Wiley Robertson

Mary Elizabeth Dorris Robertson

It looks like J.W. Robertson's grave did have a marker of some sort at one time...

Finding those sites, and confirming they were the Robertsons, was a lot of fun! I'd found several references in other peoples' genealogy work to the fact they were in the cemetery, but never could get anything definitive. Then, I made contact into the Robertson family, and some very friendly and helpful people they are! As well as the photos of Jessie Wilie and Elizabeth above, one of them had a map. It had been drawn back in 1940 by a relation - who happened to be the head surveyor for the State of Texas! It is an excellent source to confirm these locations!

Mary Elizabeth was born with the last name "Dorris" - and it would be from that that "Uncle Dorris", Bessie's brother got his name - and it was from him that she named our mother Doris - it actually appears as Dorris on her birth certificate! Jessie is in 202(1) and Mary Elizabeth in 202(2) - her sister is there, too, in 202(3).

You may also see a Robert Earl Campbell in 201(12) - he was a twin to Jessie Pearl. They were children of Andrew and Maggie, brother and sister to Bessie. Robert died in infancy, and Jessie Pearl only a couple of years later.

Uncle Dorris and Aunt Gertrude are around there somewhere - plots 329(1) and 329(2).

Dorris Hayden Campbell

Uncle Dorris was Momma's favourite uncle - he was Thelma and Cregor's father, if you remember them... Henry Warren Ogg Jr (Momma's father) died one day after Joan turned one year old. Momma took Joan to the funeral, and when she got there her Uncle Dorris came over and took Joan from her - she didn't think anyone else could take care of her without her crying like he was able to. It was from Dorris and Gertrude that our parents later rescued the old curved glass china cabinet.

The way Momma told me the story in 1994, it went "The house needed painting, and there wasn't much room for all the furniture anyway, so Henry Warren told Dorris that if he were to paint the house, he could have the china cabinet. Momma had always told Gertrude that if she ever wanted to get rid of it, to let her know. One day she got a somewhat grubby postcard from Gertrude, pretty much just saying "Come and get it", though she says it must have had an address. It was at a rental house in Conroe. Roland, Corinne, Johnny and a friend of his Joe Angel took the Plymouth station wagon to pick it up (it had a roof rack of sorts). When they got there, there were workmen in the house. Roland reached down to 'heft' the cabinet to see how much it weighed and said "They've nailed it to the floor!". Without the workmen to help, they would never have gotten it on the car; she can't remember how they got it off the car. When Leo was fitting the replacement curved glass (it had to be ordered from California, after careful measurements of the size and curves) Corinne had to leave the room - with Leo leaning into the cabinet tapping with a small hammer on the tacks through the oak beading, she was sure he'd break the glass again!"

Bessie and Henry, Momma's parents, are in that same area, a bit further from the fence and a bit closer to the gate, I think - the graves are well marked and are plot 354(1) and 354(2).

Henry Warren Ogg Jr and Sarah Elizabeth "Bessie" Campbell Ogg on their wedding day

We have a number of photos of when Henry was buried - and that stone seems to have sunk! The main part of the stone, that part with the words, sits on a base of the same type of stone that is about 6 inches thick. But below that is a concrete 'plinth' that is about 1/3 as tall as the main part of the stone! Last time I looked, there was hardly any of it sticking out of the ground...

That same area has a lot of other related Ogg types - Aunt Sister in plot 354(5) and Uncle Ray in 354(4), Grandma Dovey Mae in 354(6).

Nearby are Lonnie and Cora Spraberry in plots 355(5) and 355(6).

Cora was another of Bessie's sisters, one of Momma's aunts. Lonnie, who married into Momma's family, had a niece - Earline Spraberry. She's the one who married Lee Wallingford - another crossover that is not at all uncommon for our families up here in the country!

And that same area brings us to some of Daddy's family. In plot 353(2) and 353(3) are Melvin and Eliza Moore. Melvin was first buried on the original Moore lot, but it filled up so that Eliza could not be buried next to him. This disturbed her so much that Arthur Moore, Sr, had Melvin's body moved to its present location. Melvin and Eliza are buried on Lot 1 of what was then the new part of the cemetery. Melvin was given Lot 1 as his fee for surveying and laying out the new section of the cemetery.

Melvin and Lide Moore with their two youngest children, Irene and Vernon, about 1915

Eliza "Lide" Wallingford Moore

Eliza was a daughter of Thomas Ginn Wallingford, part of his first family with Evaline DeBell (Our part of the family with Annie Tucker came some years later). She was known as Lide, pronounced as "lied". You may have met Arthur Moore, Jr. at one of the reunions - he's a grandchild of theirs.

A bit further away from the gate still are plots 711(1) and 711(2) - that is Harry Noe and his wife Minnie Noe.

Minnie was the sister of Alvin and John Pinckney - Daddy's aunt. Her middle name was Devoss - T.G. named her after the daughter of a man who married one of his nieces. He'd met the family in Ohio in the middle 1880s when he had gone up there and married Annie. We have some sad letters from John Devoss in the early 1900s - not long before both he and T.G. died. John Devoss had been in the Union army, and T.G. in the Confederacy. He spoke of wishing he could see T.G. once more, a "meeting of the Blue and the Gray". And the fact that he was quite alone in the world, with his wife and daughter Minnie both dead by then. He gave his best wishes to her namesake...

And somewhere nearby here is dear Leanne Moore Gaulden - I don't have a plot number for her, but if there is any sort of breeze, you can follow the sound of the lovely windchime.

Not far away at all are old Thomas Ginn Wallingford and Annie Tucker Wallingford - his first wife Evaline DeBell is buried somewhere about 10 miles north near a place called Retreat, where they lived before coming to Field Store. These graves are plot 305(1) and 305(3), a bit further away from the gate from Henry Warren and Bessie, and a little bit closer toward FM1488. The baby buried between them in 305(2) was a child of one of Uncle Alvin and Aunt Susie's boys - not sure when that occurred, but it is likely to have been after Annie died, even - not sure why it is here in the middle!

Thomas Ginn with Eliza and Robert Thomas, about 1875

Annie about 1939

Daddy arranged those stones, back in 1955. I'm guessing it was about the same time he would have sorted out the stone for his mother's grave - I'm not sure what John Pinckney had on the grave, but it looks like the stone now dates from about 1955.

Arthur Moore, Jr., another of T.G.'s great grandchildren, remembers his father taking him through the cemetery showing him the graves of people that old T.G. had killed! T.G. was involved in violent activities several times through his life - though I can't find the graves myself now, I know he was involved in some gunfights that resulted in deaths. Waller County was a violent place back in the late 1800s and early 1900s...

Lee and Earline are just there near T.G. and Annie - plots 305(4) and 305(5). Lee was Daddy's first cousins, and Earline was related to the Oggs - both her Uncle Lonnie and Aunt Lillie married siblings of Bessie Campbell!

I'm not sure exactly which way you'd need to go to see plot 243(3). That is Robert Thomas Wallingford, another of T.G.'s children by his first wife Evaline. His wife Virginia Deweese is in 243(4).

Tom has some interesting stories. When Robert Thomas (called Tom) was about 9 years old, he had pneumonia, was very ill and died, or so they thought. In those days, they did not embalm. They cleaned up and dressed the deceased as best they could and placed them on a table or pine coffin until family members could get there. Before they could hold the service and bury him, someone saw him move. Apparently he slipped into a little coma or something. Anyway, he did not die until many years later and death was due to pneumonia at that time too.

And the fact that he has two tombstones - the one at the foot of the grave was the original one.

It got stolen at some point, and re-appeared in Killeen. It was being used as part of demonstration about the dangers of drinking and driving. Robert Thomas' granddaughter Delores Thurman wrote a long story about how they got the stone back - and decided that though unorthodox, they wanted it there so decided to put it at the foot of his grave!

Quite a few other Wallingfords in that area of the cemetery.

And in 221(1) and 221(2) are James and Lula Milam.

Lula was one of Maggie Robertson's sisters - the two couples got married on the same day! They were part of the great movement of Robertsons and Campbells who came to Fields Store in about 1886.

OK, now imagine you're just coming in the gate again, and take a hard right and stay close to the fence. Not that far away you'll start finding a bunch of Loyds and Lloyds. I don't have a plot number, but you should be able to find John Isaac Lloyd and his wife Tabbitha. John Isaac has two stones - the one with Tabbitha, and another because he was a Confederate veteran.

John Isaac Loyd, about 1908

Always confusion in the name - some spelled it Lloyd and other Loyd, and some changed part of the way through their lives! These were the parents of Helen Loyd, who was Daddy's Mother's mother. She was the one who married Alfred Hegar - both Helen and Alfred are at the Hegar Family Cemetery.

And back past the gate and further on is Momma and Daddy. They're easy enough to find in 483(3) and 483(4).

Momma and Daddy with a range of grandchildren, 1980

And just there are John Pinckney and Edna, Daddy's parents, in 483(1) and 483(2). Daddy was living with his parents in the T.G. Wallingford house over on Bunting Road when his father died - John Roland was just a bit over 8 years old, Uncle Virgil bit quite 12 and Aunt Ruth only one week past her 6th birthday

John Pinckney and Edna on their wedding day, 1909

His father, John Pinckney, was a mail carrier. He delivered in a model T Ford which had to be hand cranked. On very cold mornings he would heat water on the wood stove and pour it over the engine to get it warm enough to start. He caught pneumonia one very bad winter. The day he died was a bitterly cold day. Roland walked over to Fields Store Cemetary and watched the grave digging. In those days friends dug the grave. They had a terrible time because of the cold and the frozen ground.

Uncle Alvin and Aunt Susie Wallingford are near there in 473(1) and 473(2). When Alvin died, they had the stone made up with Susie's name on it at the same time. Momma used to hate that, and told us that when Daddy died, there was no way she would allow her name to be there until she was dead, too...

Alvin and Susie on their wedding day, 1916

I've just done a count of my genealogy records and find that I have a record of more than 200 of the people buried in this one cemetery! They're not all 'relations' - some are relations of relations, etc - but every one of them can be traced up, down or sideways to some sort of connection to our family!