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Vivian Dennis-Monzingo, left, and Ryan Agee unveil one of two historical markers dedicated Sunday morning and afternoon. This marker is for Old Jefferson Road which ran through Hopkins County and linked the Dallas-Fort Worth area to Jefferson, a once-thriving port town. -
Hopkins County historian and Sulphur Springs Mayor John Sellers was present at both historical marker unveilings Sunday. He is the designated chairman for historical markers inside the county, and every marker application is checked and submitted by Sellers. To have two markers dedicated in one day is rare, something Sellers said he had never seen before. Staff photos by Todd Kleiboer
2 state historical markers dedicated in 1 day
Three years in the making, two markers from the Texas Historical Commission were dedicated Sunday at the Old Saltillo Cemetery and Old Jefferson Road, results of the hard work put by the late Dr. Montie Gene Monzingo.
“I’ve never done this before, two historical markers in the same day,” Sulphur Springs Mayor and county historian John Sellers said. “This is really exciting, and Saltillo gets both of them.”
Franklin County Historical Association Chairman B. F. Hicks added it was especially hard to gain approval for a marker now, comparing the process to writing a college term paper, and said having two on the same day is especially rare.
“My only wish is that our friend Montie Monzingo was here to see this,” Hicks said, turning and thanking his widow Vivian Dennis-Monzingo, who is also president of the Old Saltillo Cemetery Association.
For the marker at the Old Saltillo Cemetery, the cemetery had to be first designated as a historic cemetery, Sellers said, and its application along with the one for Old Jefferson Road were approved for markers in 2019.
“With many delays and everything that’s going on, the marker arrived,” Sellers said. “We’re really excited that it’s here today.”
Dennis-Monzingo also indicated just how competitive the selection of state historical markers is.
“At the [Texas Historical Commission] board meeting in 2019, it was announced that out of the 237 markers applications received, Hopkins County was awarded two historical designations,” she said, thanking Sellers for his own work and guidance.
During the Old Saltillo Cemetery’s Memorial Day, Dennis-Monzingo said the association is working to install new plates at the foot of weathered monuments, naming their person, listing their years of birth and death and showing their epitaph.
HISTORY
This appeared in the Summer 2021 Down Home East Texas story, “Making Their Mark.”
According to writing of the late historian Christine Dennis Skelley, the first burial at the cemetery occurred in 1870 though it is unmarked. The first marked burials happened in 1873, and the most recent person was interred in January. By the 1950s, there were roughly 400 graves.
“Marked graves and unmarked but identified graves, currently total almost 1,100, with total burials probably around 1,400 including its share of murder victims and suicides,” Skelley wrote.
The most common family name is Arthur, not surprising given John Arthur was the first settler of Saltillo, then Twin Groceries, but a close second is Agee. These families, along with the Reddings, Flemings, Hackelmans, Tittles, Griffiths, Bennetts, Willefords, Thomas’, Arnolds and Whitworths, were early settlers of Saltillo. A memorial day for the
A memorial day for the cemetery was originally held on Thursday in 1900s, day for families to tend to the graves of loved ones or ancestors. It was a day of removing weeds and cleaning headstones, and afterward, there was a picnic with a small soda stand nearby. When the day was changed to Sunday, the stand was closed.
Old Jefferson Road is in a way tied to the Old Saltillo Cemetery as some of its travelers were buried there. Jefferson Road linked the county and the surrounding area to Jefferson, Texas, a once-vital port that connected to the Red River and thus New Orleans.
The Saltillo area was an excellent camping ground for travelers, according to historian Thomas J. Minter, due to its good grazing and abundance of water. Some team drivers would leave grain for a return trip. The road brought some of the first Saltillo families as well.
Two stores were eventually set up in Saltillo on Old Jefferson Road, earning it the name “Twin Groceries.” One store was owned by John Arthur, the other by G. B. Hackelman. Arthur eventually chose to rename the community to its current name, after the town from which Santa Ana started with his soldiers to conquer Texas.