Abshier Cemetery
Hankamer, Liberty County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The families of Benjamin and Hannah (Weed) Abshier and Benjamin and Sarah (Hanks) Weed came to this area of Texas from Louisiana in 1843. The extended families purchased land and established farms in this vicinity. In June 1852 the Abshiers' 27-year-old daughter, Lucinda Abshier Higginbotham, died, leaving a husband and six children. She was laid to rest on the Abshier family farm, in a plot of land which would become a family graveyard. Since that time, members of many generations of Abshier, Weed, and related families have been interred in the cemetery. Among those buried here are veterans of the War of 1812, the Texas Revolution, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, and Korea. A number of unusual and elaborate grave markers can be seen, including tree-trunk-shaped monuments of the Woodmen of the World Lodge, a 19th-century fraternal organization. There are also a number of unmarked burials. Established in 1896, a cemetery association maintains the historic graveyard. The original two-acre plot was enlarged to three acres in 1938. The cemetery continues to serve as a reminder of early Liberty County pioneers. (1990) Historic Texas Cemetery
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When the Abshier and Weed families came from Louisiana in 1843 to farm this corner of Liberty County, they could not have known the family plot begun with Lucinda Abshier Higginbotham's burial in 1852 would grow into a community graveyard spanning generations. Those laid to rest here served in nearly every American conflict from the War of 1812 through Korea, and their graves include striking tree-trunk monuments of the Woodmen of the World. A cemetery association has tended the grounds since 1896.
Why it matters
A single family burying ground becomes a roll call of American service across a century and a half, preserving the memory of the pioneer families who settled the Texas Gulf Coast.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
In 1843, Texas was still an independent republic. It would not join the United States until a few years later, and much of its land along the upper Gulf Coast was thinly settled prairie, marsh, and woodland. The Republic encouraged settlement, and families from neighboring states, including Louisiana, came west looking for land and a fresh start.
Life on these early farms was demanding. Families cleared land, raised crops and livestock, and depended heavily on relatives and neighbors. Moving as extended families, as the Abshiers and Weeds did, was a common way to share labor, offer protection, and keep traditions alive in a new place.
In those days, many rural Texans buried their dead on their own land. There were few churches and towns nearby, so family graveyards often began with a single grave on a farm. Over time, many of them grew into community cemeteries, tended by the descendants of the families who started them.
People & events
The marker tells of two related families arriving together from Louisiana in 1843: Benjamin and Hannah (Weed) Abshier, and Benjamin and Sarah (Hanks) Weed. They bought land and set up farms in this area, building new lives side by side.
In June 1852 tragedy struck. The Abshiers' daughter, Lucinda Abshier Higginbotham, died at just 27 years old, leaving behind her husband and six children. She was buried on her family's farm, and that grave became the first in what grew into the Abshier Cemetery. It is a touching reminder of how young many pioneer parents were, and how fragile life could be on the frontier.
Over the generations that followed, members of the Abshier, Weed, and related families were laid to rest here. Among them, the marker notes, are veterans of the War of 1812, the Texas Revolution, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, and Korea. Some graves carry the distinctive tree-trunk monuments of the Woodmen of the World, and others remain unmarked. A cemetery association formed in 1896 to care for the grounds, and in 1938 the cemetery was expanded from two acres to three.
Its place in the American story
Few places tell the story of American service as compactly as a cemetery like this one. In a single rural graveyard, you can trace nearly every major American conflict from the early 1800s to the mid-1900s. Each of those soldiers came from the same small community, and many from the same families.
The tree-trunk grave markers connect this place to a fascinating chapter of American social history. Fraternal organizations were enormously popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Woodmen of the World offered its members life insurance and, famously, distinctive grave monuments shaped like tree stumps or logs. You can find these striking markers in cemeteries across the country, and they speak to how ordinary Americans looked after one another before modern insurance and social safety nets.
Finally, the cemetery reflects how so many American communities began: not with grand founding ceremonies, but with families farming, raising children, and burying their loved ones close to home. Those private family plots became shared community spaces, preserved by descendants who wanted their ancestors remembered.
If you visit
A visit to the Abshier Cemetery is a quiet, reflective experience. Walk slowly and read the stones. Look for family names repeated across generations, and see whether you can spot graves that might belong to veterans of the many conflicts mentioned on the marker.
Keep an eye out for the tree-trunk monuments of the Woodmen of the World. Their carved bark, branches, and sometimes ferns or tools make them some of the most memorable grave markers you will find anywhere. Remember, too, that the marker mentions unmarked burials, so tread respectfully, especially in open areas.
If you are traveling the Gulf Coast between Houston and Beaumont, this makes a meaningful short detour. Cemeteries like this are still active, cared-for places, so be considerate of families who may be visiting. Take your time; places like this reward patience.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Lucinda Abshier Higginbotham
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Near Site of the Signing of Turtle Bayou Resolutions
Anahuac, TX
In June 1832, after fighting broke out at Anahuac over the heavy-handed rule of Mexican agent Juan Davis Bradburn—who had jailed colonists including the young William B. Travis—settlers gathered at Turtle Bayou. There they drafted resolutions condemning President Bustamante's violations of Mexico's 1824 constitution and calling Texans to the cause of civil liberty. Many who signed would fight in the Texas Revolution just four years later.
Mission Nuestra Senora de la Luz del Orcoquisac and Presidio San Agustin de Ahumada
Wallisville, TX
Founded near here in 1756, the mission of Our Lady of the Light and its companion Presidio San Agustín de Ahumada were among Spain's most star-crossed outposts in Texas, planted to block French expansion from Louisiana and to minister to the Orcoquisac people. Fever, biting insects, brackish water, meager supplies, and cruel officers wore the little garrison down; the promised colonists never came, and conversions failed. By 1767 an inspector urged closure, and in 1771, fearing an Apache attack, the Spanish abandoned both posts entirely.
Events at Anahuac Leading to the Texas Revolution
Anahuac, TX
In the spring of 1832, Col. Juan Bradburn, commanding the Mexican garrison at Anahuac, jailed William B. Travis, Patrick C. Jack, and other American colonists and refused to hand them over for civil trial. Alarmed settlers rallied at Liberty and marched on Anahuac, and when Bradburn broke his promise to free the prisoners, they sent to Brazoria for men and cannon—precipitating the Battle of Velasco on June 26. The standoff ended when the Mexican commander from Nacogdoches released the colonists and arrested Bradburn.
On this Site First Known as Perry's Point
Anahuac, TX
On this bluff first called Perry's Point, General Manuel Mier y Terán established a fort in 1830, naming it Anahuac after the Aztec name for Mexico City. The post was meant to halt Anglo-American colonization, but the imprisonment of settlers from Stephen F. Austin's colony provoked the first open rebellion against Mexican rule in 1832.