Happy Veteran's Day and oh by the way thanks! I never got to know you but I will someday. Your young 20 year old body lies in St. James Cemetery in France where you were killed while serving your country.
There were several more that died along with you that day...your mom and dad, Grace and James, and your twin brother..my Dad...Roy....and your other siblings, Opal, Hazel, Bransford and Woodrow. All four of the sons were serving somewhere overseas and your mother Grace copied your letters and sent them out to you all.
Your family received the dreadful news and life was never the same. But on it went. I wonder about the girl you left behind, the wife you never wed and the children you never fathered. You were the Valedictorian of your class, a football star and a fine young man. My dad told me stories of you and those were some of the times I saw him cry. Today..you are together. You both served...he came home...you did not...but he lived your life within his and he did a great job I must say.
You have children named for you...James Ray my brother...Ray...my nephew and I'm sure others.
Anyway...just wanted to say Hey Thanks...in case you can read blogs in heaven!
Bulls Grace M 16-Feb 1882 18-Mar 1966 4455 41
Bulls James Robert 1-Nov 1878 25-Aug 1956 4455 41
Transcribed by Jo Shaller ,JoAnne Brown, Paula Hayworth
Plans to updating this information once a year. One mile south of Clarendon on Hiway 70 on east side of road. Clarendon is the oldest existing town in the Texas Panhandle. The earliest death recorded in this cemetery is 1885. Clarendon was moved from 5 miles north of its present location in 1889. Some of the graves and a memorial were moved at this time. There are eleven headstones that state “Saints Roost Colonist 1878”. The memorial states: 1878 - 1886 In this first cemetery of Donley County, sixteen rods west, lie the first dead of old Clarendon. Here white civilization sank its roots in sadness and from the graves in this sacred acre, strong pioneer spirits turned to face the future with greater love for the land and a firmer determination to build for a tomorrow, which we know today. To those of the old Clarendon Colony who first found rest on the bold promotory and to their survivors, this stone of imperisable Texas granite is loyally and lovingly dedicated.
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