Mitchell Bend Cemetery
Granbury, Hood County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Mitchell Bend of the Brazos River and this area of Hood County are named for an early settler, Nelson Cooney Mitchell. He was convicted of a murder arising out of a feud with the Truett family in 1874 and was hanged one year later. Mitchell is buried in this cemetery, as are many other pioneer settlers and their descendants. The earliest marked grave is that of one-year-old James Earnest, who died in November 1872. According to local tradition, however, some of the unmarked graves may date to before the Civil War. (1989)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This bend of the Brazos and the surrounding country take their name from early settler Nelson Cooney Mitchell, whose feud with the Truett family ended in a murder conviction and his hanging in 1875. Mitchell lies in this cemetery among many other pioneer families, alongside the graveyard's earliest marked grave—a one-year-old child who died in 1872. Local tradition holds that some unmarked graves may predate the Civil War.
Why it matters
The cemetery preserves both the ordinary pioneers who settled the Brazos frontier and the rough, personal justice that sometimes governed it before courts fully took hold.
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Related people
- · Nelson Cooney Mitchell
Themes & tags
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