Sunday, June 12, 2016

A Grave in Brownwood

Well, I'm back. Back, that is, from another journey to the land of the in-laws. As I've mentioned, our established route happens to take us through Brownwood, Texas, where Robert E. Howard spent part of his life, went to school, and was ultimately buried. Today we timed our transit so as to attend evening mass at the local parish (coreligionists being scarce in this part of the state), but arrived twenty minutes early, and so decided to find Howard's grave in the interim.

As I now discover, the site lies almost within sight of our route, just off US 377, in Greenleaf Cemetery. A highway sign marks the cemetery entrance, which is on the south side of town, between Howard Payne University (the Baptist university where Howard took classes) and the big 3M and Kohler factories.


The Howard family grave is at the second right on the main road shown above. Thanks to a historical marker, it's very easy to find.


All three family members were buried together. "They were lovely and pleasant in their lives and in their death they were not divided."


And here is what the Texas Historical Commission has to say about the matter:


Yesterday was the eightieth anniversary of Howard's suicide, a fact that somehow did not occur to me until just now.

About twenty or thirty miles to the south on US 377, there's a picnic area marking the (approximate) geographical center of the state. So it's fair to say that the mortal remains of Robert E. Howard repose in the heart of Texas.

Bored? Intrigued? Peruse some of my other ruminations on "Two-Gun Bob" and my forays into the Cross Plains area:

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