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 Map copyright Google Earth 2011 |
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The Midfield Cemetery is situated on the west side of State Highway 71, 0.6 miles north of the intersection of Highway 71, FM 111, and FM 2431 in Midfield, Texas. The first person buried in what is now the Midfield Cemetery was Iva Nell Hale, the daughter of William & Eva Bennett Hale. Iva Nell, born November 5, 1896, died from appendicitis on July 17, 1913. William Hale, thinking that Hawley Cemetery was a private cemetery, asked W. B. Gaumer, land agent and president of the Midfield State Bank from 1911 to 1915, where he could bury his daughter. (Historic Matagorda County, Vol 2, pg 195) Recognizing the need for a cemetery in the Midfield Community, on August 23, 1916, W. B. Gaumer of Denver County, Colorado, deeded to J. T. Davis, M. I. Fortenberry, and F. Cornelius, Trustees of the Midfield Common School District No. 10, a tract of land bound by the line beginning 777 feet west and 999 feet south from the northeast corner of the southeast quarter of Section 9, Block 8, I. & G. N. Railroad Company's Surveys, Matagorda County, Texas; Patent Number 283, thence east 200 feet, thence south 200 feet, thence west 200 feet, thence north 200 feet to the place of beginning. The Midfield Cemetery Association held its first organizational meeting August 16, 1980. Present at this first meeting were Edith Hurta, Emmie Richardson, A. T. Richardson, Bertha Denbow, Grace Hale, W. E. Richardson, Mattie N. Hurta, and A. W. Hurta. Articles of Incorporation were filed with the Secretary of State on March 16, 1981. The non-profit corporation was organized (1) to care and maintain the cemetery; (2) to buy, sell, lease and deal in services, personal property, and real estate; and (3) to receive and hold gifts or bequests of land, money, stocks, bonds, pledges of money or labor, and buildings. The initial registered agent for the corporation was A. T. Richardson, and twelve directors constituted the initial board of directors: A. T. Richardson, Ruby Richardson, Emmie Richardson, Grace Hale, Harry Lane Powell, Wanda Neuman Rickaway, Bertha Denbow, Mrs. Pete Woodson, W. E. Richardson, Francis Denbow, Betty Lou Rickaway, and Cora Woodson. The Articles of Incorporation were signed by A. T. Richardson, Mrs. Pete Woodson, and W. E. Richardson. The original officers of the association were A. T. Richardson, President; Bertha Hale Denbow, Vice President; and Ruby Hahn Richardson, Secretary-Treasurer. R. B. Trull in a letter to A. W. Hurta, Midfield, Texas, dated May 3, 1966, stated the Trull Estate would deed as a contribution to the Trustees of Tidehaven Independent School District, the surface of a 50-foot strip of land adjoining the east line and the north line of the present cemetery site. The 50 feet on the north side were to be used for additional grave sites and the 50 feet on the east side to be used for either parking or additional grave sites. The property would be deeded to the school trustees because the present cemetery was deeded to the Trustees of the Midfield School District, and is now administered by the Trustees of the Tidehaven Independent School District. As a contribution to Matagorda County, the Trull Estate would also grant a 40-foot strip easement adjoining the present road on the north from the southeast corner of the cemetery to the right of way of Highway 71. This would allow widening of the existing road. Trull stated that the present road to the cemetery appeared to be off the tract to the south. The conveyance would be made upon the receipt of a survey of the ground as to the present road and cemetery site and being furnished a plat and field notes for use in making the conveyances. Also, Trull requested Hurta to construct a new fence all around the cemetery and along the north side of the new road. In August 1981, a flagpole was erected in the cemetery in appreciation of Mrs. Emmie Richardson and Mrs. Cora Woodson for their dedicated service to the Midfield Cemetery. On October 5, 1981, trustees of the Tidehaven Independent School District, executed a Warranty Deed (Matagorda County Deed Records, Vol 690, page 57-62) granting two tracts of land for the purpose of carrying on a cemetery, subject to certain reservations, exceptions, restrictions, and covenants, to the Midfield Cemetery Association, Charter 553-668, for so long as the association exists: the first tract being the tract received from W. B. Gaumer in 1916, and the second tract consisting of 0.517 acres out of the I. & G. N. Railroad Company Survey 9, Block 8, Abstract 287. The warranty deed was executed by James E. Davant, President, and Jake E. Foltyn, Secretary, of the Board of Trustees, Tidehaven Independent School District. A. T. and Ruby Hahn Richardson donated 2.210 acres to the cemetery association in August 1997, more than doubling the size of the cemetery. In February 2003, the cemetery association purchased headstones for unmarked graves in the cemetery. The 2004 directors of the Midfield Cemetery Association are Ruby Hahn Richardson, Bertha Hale Denbow, Rose Woodson, Francis Denbow, Betty Lou Rickaway, Lois Hammond Hall, W. E. Richardson, Margaret Bunge, Eva Hammond Coley, David Hammond, Linda Patterson, and Linda Saucedo. The original President, A. T. Richardson, and Secretary-Treasurer, Ruby Hahn Richardson, continue to serve the association in those capacities. Vice President Bertha Hale Denbow resigned her post in 1996, after 15 years, and Eva Hammond Coley is now serving as Vice President. The ground sextons are Francis Denbow and Rose Woodson.
The annual
meetings of the association are held the third Sunday in October at
the Midfield Community Center. Correspondence may be addressed to
the Midfield Cemetery Association, P. O. Box 148, Midfield, Texas,
77458-0148. |
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