Among
the towering monuments in the Texas
State Cemetery at Austin is the
simple grave of John Alexander Greer of San Augustine, a Republic of Texas Senator,
a lieutenant governor and a one-time candidate for governor.
But in East
Texas, where Greer spent his life, there is the lingering question if his
bones really lie beneath the Austin tombstone.
Greer was born in Shelbyville,
Tennesee, in 1802, moved to Texas in 1830 from Kentucky,
and was serving as Texas’ Lieutenant Governor when he died in 1855 while campaigning
for Governor. He was buried on his farm nine miles west of San
Augustine.
In the 1930’s, when the Texas Centennial Commission decided
to honor many of the state’s early heroes by reburying them in the state
cemetery, Greer’s remains were among those designated.
A Centennial
Commission official came to San
Augustine to speak to a relative, Jack Greer, about moving the grave. Greer,
however, said he felt his ancestor’s bones should stay at home.
In a few
weeks, however, a Centennial Commission team came back to San
Augustine, armed with a court order, and asked Greer to direct them to the
cemetery. They had been advised that Greer was buried in one of two graves, but
they didn’t know which one.
Green walked over to a grave, hammered an
old wagon axle rod into the grave, and told them, “This is the one.”
When
Greer’s bones were buried in Austin,
Jack Greer’s wife questioned the action, and said, “I hated to see John Alexander
leave here.”
“Don’t worry,” said Greer, “John Alexander didn’t go anywhere”.
“You remember those fellahs from Austin
who came over here on Friday, the 13th. They had some bad luck. They left with
the wrong bones.”
As it turned out, Greer had driven his axle rod into
the grave of a well-known reprobate in San
Augustine, who just happened to be resting nearby.
In an Austin cemetery
filled with politicians, maybe it is just as well. Bob
Bowman's East Texas
March 21, 2010 Column
A weekly column syndicated in 109 East Texas newspapers
Copyright
Bob Bowman
Austin
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