SAUL CEMETERY HISTORICAL MARKER - HUTTO, TEXAS
SAUL CEMETERY HISTORICAL MARKER, HUTTO, TEXAS
SAUL CEMETERY
HISTORICAL MARKER MARKER TEXT
The Saul family settled along Brushy Creek in Williamson County about
Maps
GPS Coordinates
Latitude
Degrees, Minutes , Seconds
+30°30'2.30", -97°30'42.77"
Address : 11881
FM 1660, SE of Hutto.Saul Cemetery
Historical Marker
Narrative by Mrs. Frances Lee
The Saul Cemetery is located on State Highway 1660, five miles southeast of Hutto, Williamson County, Texas. From 1870 to 1879, the cemetery was a family burying ground known as the Charles Saul Graveyard. Mr. Saul, the property owner, was the first person buried there on June 22, 1870. Nine other family members were buried during
this period.On November 20, 1897, [1] Charles Saul Jr. and his wife deeded the burial plot to nine Saul relatives for $50.00. It then became known as the Saul Cemetery. This transfer in ownership of the property was due to a change in ownership of the property, and it was felt the transaction should be legalized in order to assure the permanency of the Saul Cemetery
. Charles Saul, Jr. and his wife, by terms of the deed, retained a plot of ground that was their family burying ground. They also insisted that the deed specify that they were to retain a parcel of land six feet by nine feet on which Buck Saul, the son of an enslaved Negro, was buried. Buck Saul's monument has the following inscription, "Buck Saul - Born January 28, 1861. Died October 25, 1879."Rumor among the Saul descendants is that forty-seven slaves were buried in the western section of the cemetery. Many remember the crude "iron pipe stakes" that were driven into the ground in that area but
have since been removed.There are presently twenty-three marked graves in the cemetery dating from 1870 to 1918: (As of 1975)
During the early years of the cemetery families were responsible for maintaining their family plot.
But as years passed and families were scattered
over extensive areas, the cemetery gradually received less and less care, and it finally became an unsightly place.However, in 1975 Elizabeth Pumphrey Mason and Louise. Saul Overton, Charles Saul's descendants, began contacting. Interested parties to improve conditions at the cemetery. Volunteer contributions began coming in from far and near, and soon $750.00 was spent on making the Saul Cemetery presentable. [2] Since that time, Mrs. Overton has served as secretary-treasurer
for the group, and each year she sends reminders to interested persons for donations. Now the cemetery is cared for regularly, and very soon, a chain-length fence will be erected to improve further the overall beauty and permanency of this burying ground:Note: A copy of the original deed has been included because the
• deed has not been recorded in Williamson County.Most of the information in this history was derived
from interviews with Louise Saul Overton, who recalls the history of the cemetery and is interested in seeing that the cemetery is permanently maintained.
Historical narrative and Supplement from additional research by Myreta Matthews
In March 1975, the Saul Cemetery was surveyed and listed alphabetically by members of the Williamson County Historical Commission. [1] All inscriptions on the twenty-three gravestones were carefully copied. The Cemetery is described as
being located one-fourth mile west of Norman's Crossing, southwest of Taylor about eight miles, on Farm Road 1660, and five miles south of Hutto.Charles Saul was born January 8, 1818, and died June 22, 1870, and is buried in what was to be called Saul Graveyard. His is the
earliest marked grave; although there are many unmarked graves, some said to have been those of family enslaved people that may have been earlier.In 1897, the property changed hands, and a deed was done by a son of Charles Saul, also named Charles. Charles Saul and his wife, C.M. Saul, deeded the plot used for the Cemetery to nine family members: James Saul
, Mrs. Clara Saul, C.M. Saul, A.D. Barnett, Med Saul, J.G. Saul, James Sullivan, J.P. Saul, and C.P. Crews. The deed was witnessed by .E. L. Miller, Notary Public in and for Williamson County. [2]The Saul family came to Texas and settled on Brushy Creek in the
early days of statehood. Saul's Mill was an early mill on Brushy Creek, a short distance west of Rice's Crossing, and was named for the Saul family. [3]James Henry "Little Jim" Saul came to the county with his parents about 1850 and grew up in the cattle business about twelve miles below Round Rock on Brushy Creek.
In 1872 he took a thousand head of beef to Kansas with a crew
including Buck and Jack Blanton, the Crum brothers, Summers brothers, and Charlie Saul, his brother. He drove a 2,800 head herd to Nebraska in 1879 and 2,900 to Kansas the same year. [4]The Saul family members became large landholders and engaged in cattle raising and farming. The acreage was passed down from generation to generation. Some of it changed hands, but some of it is still in the hands of
descendants of the early owner, Charles Saul.The Texas Department of
Agriculture honored the Saul Ranch in 1974 in the TEXAS LAND HERITAGE REGISTRY Program "For a century or more of continuous ownership and operation as a family agricultural enterprise. To the dedication and perseverance of the founder and his heirs of these lands, we owe the basic wealth of Texas", so said John C. White, Commissioner of Agriculture.Some important
facts are given in the story of the land.SAUL RANCH 1862 — Six miles south of Hutto
Founder
: Charles Saul of Walker County, Texas1974Owner: John Russell Saul, Columbus
Six hundred forty acres were purchased on February 6, 1862, by Charles Saul for $1,700 - $1,000 in cash and $700 in mules. Charles married Louisa Dawson, and the land was divided among three sons, John, James Henry, and Charles. John Saul married Melvina Louise Meniel. He bought an additional 1,652 acres, and eventually, this property was given in equal portions to his children, Eugene, Mary Louisa, and John. The younger John Saul and Josephine Mabry were married, passing their land down to four children, Louise, John Jr., and Jack. The current owner inherited 385 acres from his father, John, Jr. Cattle, Hay, and
Grain are raised.SAUL RANCH -1862 -- Six miles south of Hutto [6]
( Editor's note: The following entry includes owners who were inadvertently omitted
last year.)Founder: Charles Saul of
Walker County, Texas1975 Owners: Jack
Saul II, HuttoJohn Saul, Hutto.
At least one of the Saul brothers seems to have been in the Civil War on the Confederate side. The name of
James Saul appears in the list of applicants for a Confederate pension. His approved number is 09911 from Williamson County.James Saul 1832 -- 1912 is
listed in the Saul Cemetery recorded list.8A study of cemetery lists reveals other Saul families
were early residents in the county. About twenty miles west of the Saul Cemetery in the Bagdad Cemetery [9] near Leander are the following gravestones inscriptions:John Saul
3-22-1794 9-10-1864Dicy Saul
5- 5-1798 -- -1861In comparing names and dates, these could have been the parents of Charles Saul, 1818--1870.
Also noted in the list submitted by Mrs. Overton is a Dicy Saul Barnett
, 1859--1882. She could have been the daughter of Charles, as Barnett is one of the nine mentioned in the deed to the cemetery.1. WILLIAMSON COUNTY CEMETERIES, VOL. I, pp 284,5,6 -Saul Cemetery, Compiled by
Mrs. Joe Hannah Forson, Miss Ruth Mantor, Mr.& Mrs. M.B. Garry of Taylor, 1975.2. Copy of Deed in the Appendix .
3 . Scarbrough, Clara Stearns, LAND OF GOOD WATER, A Williamson County Texas History p 451, SUN Publishing Co. Georgetown, 1973.
4. Ibid - p 203.
5. TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Texas Land Heritage Registry, First Edition 1974, page 138, Austin.
6 . Ibid, Land Heritage Registry, Volume 2 , page 130.
7. INDEX TO APPLICATIONS FOR CONFEDERATE PENSIONS, Page 225 - Archives Division, Texas State Library, Austin.
8. Ibid WILLIAMSON CO.CEMETERIES, Vol. I, Saul Cemetery, page 286.
9. Ibid CEMETERIES , Vol.II, page 21, Bagdad Cemetery.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ARCHIVES DIVISION, Texas State
Library, Austin, 1977INDEX TO APPLICATIONS FOR
CONFEDERATE PENSIONS -Revised Ed.Scarbrough, Clara Stearns, SUN
Publishing Company, Georgetown,1973LAND
OF GOOD WATER, A WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TEXAS HISTORYSAUL CEMETERY Deed
TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Austin
, TexasTEXAS LAND HERITAGE REGISTRY, VOL.I, 1974 - VOL. II
, 1975.WILLIAMSON COUNTY HISTORICAL COMMISSION, Georgetown, Texas
WILLIAMSON COUNTY CEMETERIES, VOL. I, 1975 - VOL. II, 1978-
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