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Dr. James Addison Abney, commonly known as Dr. Jim, was born in Tennessee in 1846. At 3-years-old, he came to Texas with his family.

In 1868, he was serving in the Confederate Army at Camp Ford, near Tyler. During this time frame, he married Susanna Davis, and became a doctor. Dr. Jim practiced medicine in Homer (East Texas) and Lufkin.

They moved to Lampasas due to his wife’s poor health, and stayed there after her passing. He came to be one of the town’s leading physicians.

He later married Almonta Bartlett, who was the daughter of one of Lampasas’ oldest families. His new wife owned a ranch near Blanket, so they moved to Brownwood to be near it. He was actively engaged in ranching, and purchased more acreage on the Colorado River, near Eden.

In Brownwood, Dr. Jim formed a partnership with Dr. Turney and Dr. B. A. Fowler. Their medical practice helped establish Brownwood’s first hospital in 1896

The Frisco Railroad was extended from Brownwood to Brady, passing through Dr. Abney’s land on the Colorado River. He and E. H. Broad, owner of a nearby ranch, each decided to build towns along the railroad tracks. Broad tried to start a town called Broadwood, while Dr. Jim chose for his new town the name Winchell, after the president of the Frisco Railroad. The railroad endorsed Winchell, but not Broadtown. Winchell quickly grew into a small town. It had a small newspaper, blacksmith shop, with other businesses following soon after. At one time, Winchell had three cotton gins and two churches.

At one time, Dr. Jim sold 500 steers, which had to be delivered to Barnhart by way of a cattle drive. They moved about ten to twelve miles each day, for three weeks, and didn’t lose a single head of cattle.

In 1906, Dr. Jim and his son Fred, who was a pharmacist, opened the original Citizens National Bank, in Brownwood. In later years, he sold his ranches and invested most of his money in the bank.

Dr. Jim lived to be almost 101.

Most of this information is from a 1965 Brownwood Bulletin. Pictures are from FindAGrave.com.

 

In 1942, James Lathem Ables was the only letter man on the Brownwood High School football team. After he graduated in 1943, he became an Air Force cadet, and served in the Air Force during the final days of WWII. After the war, he went to college at the University of Texas, graduating in 1949. He then went to work in Washington DC as an administrative assistant for Representative O. C. Fisher.

In 1950, the young officer was called back to active duty. He wanted to be where the action was, so he chose to join the Marines. He went to Korea in command of a rifle platoon with the 1st Marine Division.

 

Latham was killed in action while fighting the enemy in Korea on April 29, 1951.

Second Lieutenant Ables was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Action Ribbon, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation, and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.   -Freda

Greenleaf Cemetery has seen over 20,000 burials, from the mid nineteenth century all the way through today. As I walk through Greenleaf, I can’t help but wonder who all these people are. In fact, it has almost become an obsession for me. The more I research and talk to people, the more I know, but there are still thousands of mysteries.

Being an old, historical cemetery, through the course of the years there were no policies about grave markers. There are hundreds of unmarked graves, some of which just never had markers erected, and some had markers of wood or field stone. Those just wore away in the weather. There are elaborate stones surrounded by curbing, and others that are so small there is only room for names and birth/death years. Some headstones are intricately carved in granite or marble, and others are homemade, from cement or sandstone, sometimes inlaid with broken colored glass or marbles.

There are people buried at Greenleaf with well-known stories: Robert Howard, for instance. Many others will require lots of digging and asking to find an answer to the question, “Who are they?”

I intend to add a blog post ever day or so, answering that question about SOMEONE. Every single person who has been laid to rest at Greenleaf has a story. They have each had a life worth living and worth remembering.

The headstone pictured above is the stone for Ireen Day. Ireen died in childbirth when she was sixteen years old. That wasn’t uncommon in the 1920s. Her husband was my granddad, Ancie Fred Day. I don’t really know much more, except that their baby, Fred, Jr., grew up to become a doctor. In other places, I have seen her name spelled “Irene,” so I suspect it is misspelled on the grave stone. My grandparents have a double grave marker, and Ireen is buried to the side of my granddad, her husband.  -Freda

 

On October 2, 1925, near where St. John’s Church is now, B. T. Clements bounced out of the back of a truck.  He died three hours later at Medical Arts Hospital of a fractured scull at 40 years old.  B. T. was a clown with the Sells-Floto Circus, which was performing in Brownwood. He was known in the show as Spot.

Clements was born in England, but lived in Chicago.

After his death, the circus troupe led a parade to Greenleaf Cemetery and placed a wreath on his grave. According to the headstone, “Stone erected by members of IABP&B and IATSE.” IATSE is the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, but I haven’t been able to find what IABP&B is.  -Freda

This memorial stone is nestled amidst the trees in one of the oldest sections of Greenleaf Cemetery. It isn’t actually a gravestone, but a dedication to a high school sweetheart. The couple would park under the trees to spend time together. After she passed, he brought this memorial stone and laid it under the trees. It got broken, and the Greenleaf Grounds Supervisor mounted it on a base to save it from further damage.

Photo by Steve Harris. Story as told by Shane Agan.