Texas Historical Marker #11735
Seaton Cemetery. The community of Lost Prairie-Seaton was settled in the 1880s by Czechoslovakian immigrants, and at one time contained a post office, school, store and saloon. Charles Motl, Sr., donated two acres of land for a community cemetery following the death of Tomas Ondrasek in 1896. The Seaton National Cemetery Association was formed in 1897, and was eventually renamed the Seaton Cemetery Association. Among the 1,150 burials are those of veterans of World Wars I and II, and the Korean conflict. The cemetery continues to serve the community. (1997) #11735
?, Temple vicinity, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #06486
Stokes-Nelson Cemetery. Standing as a reminder of Bell County's pioneer heritage, this small family cemetery is representative of many similar graveyards in Texas. Peter and Mary Isabella Stokes came to this area from Virginia in the late 1850s, along with their children and Mrs. Stokes' parents, Nathaniel Bacon and Mary Speed Nelson. This family graveyard was begun on the Stokes farm in 1858 with the burial of a relative, Robert Venable. Among the ten graves here are those of Peter and Mary Stokes and N.B. and Mary Nelson. The cemetery was restored in the 1980s. #6486
?, Temple vicinity, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #03431
Moffat. Founded in 1857 by New York native Dr. Chauncy W. Moffet and his wife, Amelia, the town of Moffat came to be known by a misspelling of their name. A Union loyalist during the Civil War, Dr. Moffet was impressed into Confederate service, but later also served the Union. He disappeared mysteriously after returning to the Moffat community in 1868. The town was platted that year by D.F. and Calista Wiswell. Moffat soon had 3 churches, a school, a post office, stores, and small industries. The Moffat Cemetery, begun before the Civil War, is still in use. (1985) #3431
?, Temple vicinity, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #03233
Maruna Meadow. This meadow is one of the few remaining sites in the area that illustrates what the first Bell County settlers saw upon their arrival. Czechoslovakian immigrants who came here in 1881 found the Blackland Prairie of Central Texas to be similar to the type of farmland they had left behind. Over the years, while other parts of the prairie surrounding Maruna Meadow were plowed for farms, the Maruna family maintained this 18-acre area in its original state. The meadow now is one of the few remnants of Blackland Prairie in Bell County. (1984) #3233
?, Temple vicinity, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #03225
John Leggett Marshall. (June 13, 1811-January 11, 1897) A native of Illinois, John Leggett Marshall came to Texas with his family in 1829. A farmer and blacksmith, he enlisted in the army in March 1836 to fight in Texas' War for Independence from Mexico. A participant in the San Jacinto campaign, he and four of his brothers were members of Captain Gibson Kuykendall's Company E, detailed at Harrisburg during the Battle of San Jacinto. He went to California during the 1849 Gold Rush and settled in Bell County when he returned in 1853. Married three times, Marshall was the father of nine children. (1989) #3225
?, Temple vicinity, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #02267
Greathouse Cemetery. The Rev. Early Greathouse (1810-1885) was ordained to the ministry in Georgia in 1846. He moved to Alabama in 1852, where he served in the state legislature and the Constitutional Conventions of 1865 and 1867. In 1870 Greathouse and his family arrived in Texas and bought land south of the present site of Temple. He built the first cotton gin in the area, and soon organized both the Knob Creek and Mt. Vernon Baptist Churches. He also set aside a tract of land to be used for a cemetery, probably in 1871. Though originally used as a family burial ground, other people of the community were later interred here. The oldest marked grave is that of Mattie Lee Clopton (1863-1875), granddaughter of Early Greathouse. Also buried here are several former slaves who came to Texas with the Greathouse family, and veterans of the Civil War and both world wars, as well as one survivor of the Battle of San Jacinto. The Rev. Early Greathouse and his wife, the former Susan Talley, were the parents of ten children. In 1884 the Rev. and Mrs. Greathouse deeded a large tract of land to a daughter, who in turn sold one acre to the trustees of the Greathouse Cemetery Association of Bell County in 1908. (1986) #2267
?, Temple vicinity, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #01572
Farmers Mutual Protective Association of Texas (RVOS). The Farmers Mutual Protective Association of Texas (Rolnicky Vzajemne Ochranny Spolek Statu Texasu) was organized in the community of Ocker (400' NW) by nine men of Czechoslovakian descent on February 27, 1901. Created as a means of providing farmers and rural citizens with insurance coverage, the association was a cooperative effort of neighbors ready to help each other in times of need. By the rules of the non-profit organization, only rural property was insurable, and each member was obligated to pay a share of any losses sustained by fellow members. In 1933, city property became insurable. Association officers worked from their homes until 1946, when offices were rented in Temple. A home office was built on South 4th Street in 1950, and replaced by a new building at 2301 South 37th Street in 1981. Charter members of the association were: Joseph R. Marek (1856-1936), Martin Stepan (1859-1935), Joseph R. Schiller (1874-1918), Frank J. Wotipka (1847-1933), Josef Wentrcek (1860-1922), F. Vincenc Schiller (1849-1941), Jan Baletka (1858-1939), Joseph Schiller (1847-1929), and Jan Zabcik (1856-1916). (1986) #1572
?, Temple vicinity, TX, United States