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  Texas : Features : Columns : All Things Historical


John Alexander Greer
The Wrong Grave

by Bob Bowman
Bob Bowman
Among the towering monuments in the Texas State Cemetery -- the final resting place for Stephen F. Austin and other state titans -- lies the grave of John Alexander Greer of San Augustine, a Republic of Texas senator, a lieutenant governor, and a one-time candidate for governor. But in East Texas, where Greer spent his life, there is the lingering question if his bones really lie beneath his Austin tombstone.

Greer died in 1855 and was buried in Greer Cemetery, a small graveyard in the Ironosa community near San Augustine.

But in 1929 when the Texas Centennial Commission decided to honor many of the Texas heroes of the last century by reburying them in the state cemetery, Greer's remains were among those designated.

Centennial Commission representatives traveled all over the U.S. to locate the graves of Texas heroes, exhumed their remains, and transported them to Austin for reburial.

In San Augustine, Greer's heirs, including grandson-in-law and author Harry Nobles, tells the story of how Greer¹s grave came to be filled in Austin.

In 1929, Avery Culpepper, a representative of the Centennial Commission, came to San Augustine to speak with Jack Greer about removing his grandfather's brother, John Alexander Greer. Culpepper wanted Jack Greer to help him locate the old pioneer's grave.

Greer, however, refused, telling Culpepper he felt his ancestor's remains should remain in San Augustine County.

A month or so later, Greer received a letter from Culpepper advising him the Commission had located Greer's grave in Greer Cemetery and would arrive soon in San Augustine to remove his remains. The Commission, Culpepper advised, was within its legal rights to exhume John Greer¹s body since he was a public official.

On Friday, September 13, 1929, two men arrived at Jack Greer's home, introduced themselves, and asked Greer to lead them to the family cemetery. Greer was cool, but cooperative.

After bouncing along the red-dirt roads northwest of San Augustine, Greer's car and the one carrying the Commission bureaucrats arrived at Greer Cemetery.

The Austin men told Greer they had been advised that John Greer was buried in one of two graves in the graveyard, but they weren't sure which. They asked Greer to identify the correct one.

Greer retrieved a wagon axle rod and a hammer from his car, walked over to one of the two graves, and hammered the rod into the ground of one. "This is the one you¹re looking for," he said curtly.

The Commission representatives left San Augustine, but returned with an undertaker on December 8, 1929, to remove the remains. The bones were reburied in Austin in time for the 1936 centennial celebration.

Shortly thereafter, Corrie Greer questioned her husband's decision. She mentioned that all of the Greers had loved the serenity of the Ironosa area with its red hills, deep sand, giant pines, maples, and white oaks. "I hated to see John Alexander leave here," she said.
"Don't worry about it, Corrie," said Jack. "John Alexander didn't go anywhere."

"What do you mean, Jack?" asked Corrie.

"You remember those fellahs who came here on Friday the 13th? They had some bad luck that day. The wrong grave got identified."

As it turned out, Jack Greer had driven his axle rod into the grave of a well-known reprobate in San Augustine County, who just happened to be resting by his ancestor.

In an Austin cemetery filled with lawyers and politicians, maybe it is just as well.
All Things Historical
November 4-10 , 2001 Column
Published with permission.
Bob Bowman is a former president of the East Texas Historical Society and the author of 24 books on East Texas history and folklore.


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A timely gift for any East Texan. Sample a little of East Texas here, a little there--and come away with a good helping of stories you might not know if you didn’t read this book.
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