Staff Writer ***Please read this important announcement and then continue reading for more historical information about Hillcrest Cemetery. Thank You!*** For all my life, I have felt secure and free to use Hillcrest Cemetery for burials, for historical research, and for leisure-time walking–all the way back to my childhood, the younger days of my children when we lived right down Pacific Street and took evening walks there, and now as I get older and attend the services for my family members and friends.
But, it has come to my attention that, while not to unduly alarm anyone, the Cemetery Board of Directors feels we should relate to the public what has happened recently so that everyone can take just a little more caution when visiting the sacred grounds.
Ann Stewart, a Board Member who was “working” on the Hillcrest grounds, fell victim to the following incident.
“A woman and her male accomplice stole money and a credit card from me on April 13, 2023. I didn’t see the woman.”
“I was at the Cemetery with our ‘grave digger,’ getting ready for a burial. A male parked his car very close to my vehicle, so that there was no room to walk between them. He asked me if I could help him find his grandfather’s grave.”
“I called for information from our records, and was told there is a grave with that name. I told the inquirer that information, and he asked if I would walk with him, because he couldn’t find it. He said he knew it was in front of Dollar General, which was opposite the direction I was facing.”
“While I was helping the male, apparently the female companion got into my car and stole money and a credit card from my belongings, but I never saw her do it!”
“I thought it was odd that the man drove off without stopping at the grave for which he was supposed to be looking!”
“She got my credit card and Sam’s Club membership card. Fortunately, that was all she got, along with $300.00. They went straight to Sam’s in Grand Prairie and tried to buy $4,672.00 worth of items. My card company sent me an alert is how I found out. The card company said the man and woman swiped my card three times trying to get it to go through. They found out really quickly that they tried to rob a poor person. The next day, I also found rhinestones that apparently had fallen out of her fingernails onto my car seat.”
**PLEASE, EVERYONE! Lock your vehicles when leaving them, even for a few brief moments, at the Cemetery– and BE AWARE! I know that many ladies, and probably some gentlemen, “jump out and leave the car running” while “changing out” flowers at the grave site(s) of loved ones.** UPDATE/FOLLOWUP: (message from Ann Stewart) “We had another incident at Hillcrest Cemetery this morning, April 27, 2023.”
“The wife of a recently deceased ‘Forneyite’ reported a male kept circling her car on the cemetery road, acting like he was going to bump it! He stared at her, and when she looked back at him, he turned his head so as not to let her see his face. She filed a police report.”
“I am not sure exactly what the Board and Forney citizens should do, but we all should be aware, and it probably would be a good idea not to be there alone.”
Pieces of Information about How and When Our “CREST OF THE HILL” Cemetery Came into Existence (A)…..Soon after the end of the Civil War in 1865, the economy of this area began a remarkable recovery, and immigrants “poured in” from the states of the deep South. These were people who had been emotionally devastated by the losses of loved ones in battles and prison camps and financially ruined by the destruction of the WAR, the EMANCIPATION of slaves, and the general economic collapse of what we now call the “Old South.” However, many of them were relatively well-educated, and many had been businessmen, professionals, and/or craftsmen in their home states, and their talents served Kaufman County well. Around 40 (give or take a few) Civil War veterans, both Confederate and Union, are buried in Hillcrest Cemetery in Forney, Texas, and a “scattering” are buried in outlying cemeteries, such as SHELTMAN, BLACKLAND, and VALLEY VIEW. Almost all of them were living elsewhere at the time of the WAR!
(B)…..The railroad was built simultaneously from its west end at Dallas and its east end at Longview. It is said that a saloon was built by a Mr. West (probably John J. West) in the very early days of Brooklyn on the site of present-day Hillcrest Cemetery. Judging from this location, which would have been adjacent to the railroad right-of-way, one would suspect that the saloon operated there during the construction of the railroad for the convenience of the hard-working, harddrinking, IRISH laborers!
(C)…..Brooklyn’s, and latestablished Forney’s, first community cemetery was the SHELTMAN CEMETERY, which was at first a private family graveyard, but was soon made available for public use as the neighborhood grew! Although several of the burials in Sheltman Cemetery were eventually moved to Hillcrest Cemetery, many of Brooklyn’s earliest pioneers still rest there. It is located several hundred yards west of the present dead end of CR 209. Hillcrest Cemetery, first simply called the FORNEY GRAVEYARD, was established in 1878, when the land was purchased for burial purposes by a committee, composed of J. T. Ayres, William Burgett, David H. Newton, D. Graham McKellar, R. R. Ridgell, Dr. Ninus E. Shands, Richard P. Pinson, and James C. Crawford. The first known burial in this cemetery was that of Blanch Ivey, who died on 18 July, 1879.
(D)…..At least 38 Civil War veterans are known to be buried in Forney’s Hillcrest Cemetery, four at Blackland Cemetery, two at Daugherty Cemetery, one at Sheltman Cemetery, and one at Valley View Cemetery.
(E)…..Following disincorporation in 1895, a group of idealistic and determined businessmen organized under the name of the Forney Commercial Club, which became a sort of “self-appointed” government of the town. And, (believe it or not), the group did amazing things– brought Forney water, electric, sewer, new industries and business, interurban railway system, BEAUTIFICATION of the CITY CEMETERY, and many other needed things!
(F)…..1912: “Women of the East End Civic League” had a “Hillcrest Cemetery Clean-Up Day,” apparently a type of annual event! (see photo of this group and another of Ewell and Nan “McKellar” Smith) (G)…..Although Hillcrest Cemetery, the white graveyard, was platted in 1880 with a section of 15 lots reserved for indigent black residents, there is no surviving evidence that it was ever used for that purpose– though there are brown, black, white, and a variety of ethnicities and backgrounds in Hillcrest Cemetery.
(H)…..The Sheltman Cemetery is situated on a wooded knoll, overlooking the East Fork Bottoms near the route of the old Kaufman–Dallas Road and Edward’s Crossing. Even though it bears the name of the Sheltman Family on whose land it was established, this cemetery, from its earliest days, was a neighborhood burial ground! The earliest “marked” grave is Jacob G. Sheltman’s, who died in 1868, but at least two “unmarked” burials–Joe Nowlin and Neal M. McGaffey–are known to date from earlier in the 1860s. The last “known” burial was that of W. P. Brooks in 1928. This cemetery served not only the neighborhood but also Brooklyn and “early Forney” prior to the establishment of Forney’s Hillcrest Cemetery, when several of the Sheltman burials were exhumed and moved to Forney’s Hillcrest. In 1998, eight “marked graves” still existed in the Sheltman Cemetery, plus 30 “known un-marked” graves and probably several unknown!
CONCLUSION: In 1873, when the Texas and Pacific Railroad was built through this area and Brooklyn was re-named, FORNEY, its early burial ground was no longer convenient to the citizens; therefore, in 1878, Civic Leaders organized the FORNEY GRAVEYARD COMPANY and purchased five acres of land for another cemetery– earliest documented burials were Blanch Ivey and Isaac Sorey, who had both died in 1879. Irregular maintenance was first addressed in 1911–about the same time the graveyard was becoming known as HILL CREST CEMETERY (note the two words: Hill Crest). A perpetual care fund was in 1976. Many veterans of several wars are interred here. HILLCREST CEMETERY CONTINUES TO BE A CHRONICLE OF FORNEY SETer TLERS. Please take care of it and help support it in any way(s) that you can. Thanks to all of you who have done so and continue to do so– AND BE SAFE!
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