In 1866, Mrs. Katherine Bray, an immigrant from Ireland, donated 10 acres of land on the outskirts of the city to the Catholic Church for the establishment of a cemetery. She had bought the land in 1851 from Henry Kinney, the city’s founder for the sum of one dollar. In 1869, Mrs. Bray sold another 20 acres of adjacent land to the church. The cemetery was originally known as Mt. Calvary, but the name was later changed to Holy Cross Cemetery. Mrs. Bray died in 1883 and is buried alongside her daughter in the Mt. Calvary section of Holy Cross, the oldest part of the cemetery. The cemetery is located directly across the street from Buccaneer Stadium.
After 1866, Holy Cross became the final resting place for many of the city’s early residents who had immigrated from Old Mexico and Europe. Headstones include the names of many pioneer Corpus Christi families….Dunn, Gollihar, McBride, Mussett, Ybannes, Carroll, Sanchez, McGloin, Givens, Rodriguez, and Gussett to name a few. Records indicate that about 6,450 people are buried in Holy Cross. The earliest birth date listed on a headstone is 1797 and the earliest death date is 1855.
In Holy Cross Cemetery, one can find the gravesites of Civil War veterans, victims of Corpus Christi’s yellow fever epidemic of 1867, early Bishops and priests of the Corpus Christi Diocese, and victims of the 1919 hurricane. Holy Cross is the final resting spot of Corpus Christi's first casualty of World War II. Warren Joseph Sherrill, a sailor aboard the U.S.S. Arizona, was killed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. The grave of my own fourth cousin, Corpus Christi lawyer and City Attorney, Delmas Givens, is also located in Holy Cross.
Immediately to the south of Holy Cross and adjacent to it is Rose Hill, another historic Corpus Christi cemetery. It was established in 1914 by Clifton R. Breckenridge of Ft. Smith Arkansas. Breckenridge, the former U.S. ambassador to Russia, led an investment group that spent $40,000 to develop Rose Hill. Landscaping for the new, 40-acre cemetery was designed by C.W. Hughes, one of the most prominent landscape engineers in the United States. A chapel and restroom were constructed at the entrance and an artificial lake was included in the original plans. A fund was set aside for the perpetual care of the cemetery. Over 100 years after its establishment, Rose Hill remains one of the most beautiful and well-maintained cemeteries in the city.
A walk through Rose Hill is like a walk through a history book of early 20th-century Corpus Christi. Just inside the entrance is the gravesite of Dr. Arthur Spohn. Former Corpus Christi mayors like Dan Reid, Roy Miller, Perry Doddridge, Oscar and Perry Lovenskiold, Edwin Flato, Dr. Jackson Giles, and A.C. McCaughan have gravesites in Rose Hill. Corpus Christi’s most famous Native American, Chief William Red Fox….who witnessed the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876…rests in Rose Hill. Famed educator, Moses Menger and legendary civil rights leader, Ben Garza also have a place in Rose Hill. Family plots in Rose Hill include such prominent citizens as Bluntzer, Borden, Dunn, Farenthold, Cole, Sidbury, Timon, Galvan, Barnard, and Mussett.
Rose Hill Cemetery is also the final resting place for scores of victims of the 1919 hurricane. An eight ton granite boulder marks the spot of a mass grave of unidentified victims from the storm, many of whom had washed ashore at White Point on the back side of Nueces Bay. The Elks Band played as hundreds of spectators looked on at the dedication ceremony on January 25, 1923.
The beautifully maintained grounds of Holy Cross and Rose Hill Cemeteries honor the dedicated citizens of Corpus Christi who came before us and who transformed Corpus Christi into the first class port city that it is today.
Robert Parks is a special contributor to KRIS 6 News. Parks was a history teacher at Carroll High School for 19 years and is now retired. His knowledge of Corpus Christi history makes him a unique expert in the subject.