Hankamer, Liberty County
The families of Benjamin and Hannah (Weed) Abshier and Benjamin and Sarah (Hanks) Weed came to this area of Texas from Louisiana in 1843. The extended families purchased land and established farms in this vicinity. In June 1852 the Abshiers' 27-year-old daughter, Lucinda Abshier Higginbotham, died, leaving a husband and six children. She was laid to rest on the Abshier family farm, in a plot of land which would become a family graveyard. Since that time, members of many generations of Abshier, Weed, and related families have been interred in the cemetery. Among those buried here are veterans of the War of 1812, the Texas Revolution, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, and Korea. A number of unusual and elaborate grave markers can be seen, including tree-trunk-shaped monuments of the Woodmen of the World Lodge, a 19th-century fraternal organization. There are also a number of unmarked burials. Established in 1896, a cemetery association maintains the historic graveyard. The original two-acre plot was enlarged to three acres in 1938. The cemetery continues to serve as a reminder of early Liberty County pioneers. (1990) Historic Texas Cemetery