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january 1 5, 1 997
raveyard rests in peace
After years of neglect, Texas A&M's historic cemetery still
stands as a monument to the school's respect for tradition.
As the eternal resting place for one of A&M's first
presidents, the cemetery has had its share of unofficial
caretakers who struggle to preserve its honor.
By Melissa Price
The Battalion
Littered with empty beer cans
and crumpled-up Cheetos bags,
it looks like the after-
math of a
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typical party. But looks can be
deceiving.
Hidden behind overgrown
trees and bushes, the Texas A&M
cemetery lies in peaceful silence
on the corner of Marion Pugh
and Luther streets, near Tree-
house Village Apartments.
The cemetery, which is
about half the size of a
football field, is home to
eight marked and two un
marked tombstones, in
cluding that of a former
A&M college president,
Lafayette Lumpkin Foster.
Foster, who was de
scribed as a self-made man
and served on the Texas State
Legislature for 17 years, was
asked to serve as president of
A&M after Lawrence Sullivan
Ross’ death in 1898.
Foster served as president of
A&M from 1898 until 1901,
when he became ill. He was
the first to be buried in a
college cemetery on the
present site of Duncan
Dining Hall in Decem
ber 1901.
In 1939, the re
mains and tomb
stones of the five
people buried there
were moved to the
current cemetery to
make room for Duncan.
The largest gravestone, that of
Foster, lies under a live oak tree
on the west side of the cemetery
and is surrounded by nine other
tombstones.
According to the Cushing Li
brary Archives, among those
buried in the nine other graves
are: C.O. Watkins, a long-time
employee of the College who
died in 1940; Ruth Watkins, a
daughter of C.O. Watkins, who
died one day before her father;
Joseph Allison Riggs, a College
janitor; Allison Smoot, head
milkman at the dairy barn dur
ing the Harrington Administra
tion; and Charles H. and Lottie
L. Alvord’s infant child, who died
in 1908.
According to Cushing Archives,
a spokesman for Foster said in
1901 that “it is indeed fitting that
his remains should repose in the
soil he loved.”
In 1955, a cemetery committee
was formed to investigate the
possibility of moving the graves
again, to an unnamed cemetery
in College Station. Although the
committee reportedly tried to
contact survivors of Foster and
others buried in the cemetery for
permission to move the remains,
they were unsuccessful, and the
remains were never moved.
In a letter written to G. Smith
in 1955, D.B. Gofer, an A&M
archivist, said he was disappoint
ed in how the remains of L.L.
Foster were being handled.
“It’s a crime the way President
Foster’s remains have been treat
ed,” Gofer wrote. “Maybe with the
help of Professor Leland’s ceme
tery committee and alumni
working together, a suitable plot
could be provided and cared for.”
Don Simons, a former station
manager of KAMU-TV, said he,
along with other members of the
Brazos Genealogical Society, have
been mapping out cemeteries in
the Brazos Valley since 1982. He
said there was something unique
about one of the people in the
A&M cemetery.
“Ruth Watkins was the best
friend of my wife’s mother,” Si
mons said. “We thought that was
really interesting.”
Simons said that in the early
1980s, the Genealogical Society
decided it wanted to expand and
do something for all of Brazos
Valley. In 1984, the Society partic
ipated in the Big Event, and
about 500 A&M students helped
them clean up cemeteries in
Bryan-College Station.
Although the east side of the
A&M cemetery is filled with litter,
the rest of the cemetery and
gravestones are generally well-
kept. Simons said the A&M Phys
ical Plant started maintaining the
cemetery at his request in 1987.
Since then, Simons and his
wife have collected 21,700
names of people buried in Bra
zos Valley and entered them into
a computer database. Although
the listings have not been pub
lished, there are copies in both
the Bryan and College Station
public libraries, the Sterling C.
Evans library and the Brazos Ge
nealogical Society offices.
Kyan Rogers, The Battalion
Lafayette Lumpkin Foster, a former president of A&M College, is
buried under this tombstone in a University-owned graveyard.
The Board suggested a study
be conducted by the Association
of Former Students or the A&M
Simons said the Genealogical
Society has mapped 85 cemeter
ies in the Brazos Valley since
1982, but they are constantly
looking for more. Simons said
that anyone with information
concerning the location of
cemeteries in the Brazos Valley
should contact the Brazos Ge
nealogical Society or visit them
on the internet at www2.cy-
net.net/-bga/.
The Cushing Archives show the
A&M cemetery went virtually un
noticed by the University until
1993, when the Texas A&M Board
of Regents passed a bill to build a
cemetery near Easterwood Airport.
This bill would allow A&M to build
a perpetual care cemetery for for
mer students.
University Development Foun
dation to determine the interest
for an “Aggie Field of Honor,” a
cemetery built primarily for Ag
gies. There is no record of
whether such a study has been
conducted.
Simons said that keeping
records of who has died and
where they are buried is both im
portant and interesting to him
and his wife.
“We’re deeply involved in it,
though we know of no one
buried in Brazos County,” Si
mons said. “We’re all interested
in genealogy and protecting the
records of the past.”
JP0N
GS!
Home Sweet Home for the Holidays
Spending time with family over the break brings time for reflection
Columnist
1th o ugh the
Christmas sea
son brings the
enjoyable traditions
of trimming the tree,
spending time with
family and unwrap-
oing presents, it is
lot necessarily the
Host pleasant time
ifyear at my house.
moved home the
iveek before Christ-
nas, greeted by my
ister. What used to be my room
snow hers. I unpacked my be-
ongings and quickly filled the
pace she offered me: half a
lookshelf and a cardboard box.
Then she lectured me about
low we need to get along this
fear for Mom and Dad’s sake. I
eally thought she was going to
April Towery
Sophomore journalism
major
start singing “We Are
the World” or some
thing like that.
My mother was al
most too excited about
my return home. She
spent days cleaning the
house while listening to
the Michael Bolton
Christmas album, and
scheduled evenings for
“enforced family time.”
Enforced family time
is my parents’ idea of
the four of us spending time to
gether whether we want to or
not. Such time usually includes
having to clean off the kitchen
table for a family dinner, then
going to a movie only one of us
wants to see.
This does not have to be a
bad thing, but it usually leaves
someone unhappy, much like
mealtime at my house. Agreeing
on dinner dishes is also difficult
because my parents and sister
are health food junkies, whereas
my four basic food groups are
chocolate, fried foods, pizza
and Twinkies. The money I have
spent on junk food probably
bought Little Debbie a new
beach house.
Family desserts are a real
treat. Instead of the traditional
fruitcake, my father has a thing
for buying week-old pies. You
know, the kind with the bright
orange stickers that read,
“Oops, we baked too many.”
I understand the logic be
hind buying a pie because it’s
half-price, but these pies don’t
make sense. They always have
weird combinations like mince
rhubarb walnut. My father is
convinced that it doesn’t matter
what you eat as long as it is hid
den under ice cream.
On Christmas Eve, we loaded
up for the trip to Grandma’s
house. The trip should be three
hours long, but my father insists
on stopping at every Sonic and
Dairy Queen along the way. The
ride also seems a little longer be
cause my mother reads out loud,
my father counts roadkills and
my sister sings.
When my sister and I were
younger and would argue
throughout the duration of the
car trip, my dad would get mad
and throw our Barbies out the
window. On this trip he threat
ened to throw us out the window.
And there were times that it did
n’t seem like such a bad idea.
The fun began when we ar
rived at the home of my grand
parents. My grandmother actu
ally put a cloth napkin on her
head and called it her “do-rag.”
My great aunt told me I’d
gained weight, then made a fee
ble attempt to try to convince
me that was a compliment.
But the highlight of the
evening was when everyone
gathered around the tree to un
wrap presents.
Before gift-giving, we have a
family tradition of reading the
Christmas story from the Bible,
then singing Christmas carols.
This year, our version of “Joy to
the World” somehow became
“Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog.”
Opening presents was inter
esting, to say the least. The first
present I opened was a gift-
wrapped box of Lucky Charms
from my grandmother. My 21-
year-old sister received this
sleeper thing that zips up the
front and has built-in feet. My 20-
year-old cousin passed out cash
to his aunts and uncles. It ap
peared to be a nice thought, but
unfortunately, he was just paying
off an installment of the money
he owed the fools who co-signed
for his CD player and various
other electronic necessities.
In spite of an eventful holi
day season at home, I found
myself wishing I had spent
more time with my family. My
grandmother tells me that I
should spend my college years
growing closer to my family
members, but it’s just so hard to
take advice from someone with
a napkin on her head.
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