HistoricSiteMarkers
Early Republic

Hamilton-Bragg Cemetery

Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas

Marker Inscription

The James Hamilton,Jr. family left Tennessee for Texas ca. 1841. Upon James' death in Arkansas, his wife Elizabeth and their children continuned the journey, arriving in Navarro County ca. 1846. Elizabeth Hamilton died on August 7, 1857, and is buried in Hamilton-Bragg Cemetery. The Hamilton's daughter, Julia (Hamilton) Bragg (d. 1900) is also buried at the site, along with her husband, Joseph O. Bragg (d. 1873) and four of their children. The earliest known burial in the cemetery is that of Joseph and Julia Bragg's son, James, who died on January 18, 1855. Today, Hamilton-Bragg Cemetery remains as a symbol of a pioneering Navarro County family. Historic Texas Cemetery -2005

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

The James Hamilton, Jr. family set out from Tennessee for Texas around 1841, but after James died in Arkansas, his widow Elizabeth pressed on with their children, reaching Navarro County about 1846. This family burial ground holds Elizabeth, her daughter Julia Hamilton Bragg and Julia's husband Joseph, and several of their children, with the earliest known grave dating to 1855. It remains a quiet record of one pioneering frontier family.

Why it matters

Small family cemeteries like this one document the hardships and staying power of the settler families who populated 19th-century Texas.

Own a business near here? Add it to the map.

Related people

  • · James Hamilton, Jr.
  • · Elizabeth Hamilton
  • · Julia Hamilton Bragg

Themes & tags

Westward ExpansionFrontier HistoryMemorial

Nearby & related markers

The Fortson Family

Rice, TX

The Fortson family came from Mississippi to Navarro County in the 1840s, and Civil War veteran James T. Fortson married into another pioneer family before settling near Rice. His son Joe B. and brother John built up large farming and ranching holdings and became local pillars—running a cotton gin and mercantile, founding the First State Bank of Rice, and organizing levee districts to aid area farmers. Joe B. also served on the school board, and the family's home was built at this site in 1904.

Dunn-Johnston Cemetery

Eureka, TX

James and Isabella Dunn brought their family to Texas in 1832, and their son James Dunn, Jr., moved to Navarro County in 1850 with his wife and his cousin David J. Johnston. A log building known as Dunn's Schoolhouse rose nearby in that decade, and the cemetery began with the 1865 burial of James Jr. on his own property. His wife and members of the Johnston family, several in unmarked graves, joined him here among the area's earliest settlers.

Love-Anderson Feud

Richland, TX

In the volatile years of the Republic of Texas, the Navarro County frontier saw clashes with Native peoples and an empresario contract granted to Charles Fenton Mercer to stabilize settlement, pitting established "old Texian" families like the Loves—veterans of San Jacinto—against later arrivals such as colony agent Dr. William Nicks Anderson. When Love killed Anderson on Nubbin Lane in 1855, the grievance passed to their kin: Anderson's widow vowed revenge, and Love was slain near the same spot in 1873. The bloodshed spread across Texas, and the feud is remembered still among the many descendants living in the area.

Elm Branch Cemetery

Bardwell, TX

The vanished community of Elm Branch once centered on a school, a Methodist church founded in 1886, and this cemetery, serving the scattered farm families of the area. Its earliest documented burial dates to 1877, and its graves hold veterans spanning from the Civil War to the Vietnam War. Though the church moved to nearby Bardwell in 1909, the cemetery remains active as a link to Ellis County's early settlers.