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Jackson Hawkins Griffin (1818-1864) came to Liberty in 1835. A member of the Liberty Volunteers during the Texas Revolution, he participated in the Siege of Bexar. His home near this site was often used as a boarding house for families new to the area. Jesse Daniel Lum (1775-1846) and his son, Jesse Daniel Lum, Jr. (1822-1900), rented rooms in Griffin's home soon after they arrived here from Louisiana in 1843. When the elder Lum died in 1846, Griffin provided space on his land for use as a burial site. From that time, the plot of land was known locally as Griffin Cemetery. Jackson Griffin enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1862 and was killed in the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee, in 1864. His heirs sold his land to Dr. James P. Cooke (1836-1892), who in turn donated the cemetery property to the Liberty Methodist Church in 1881. Dr. Cooke was interred here in 1892, and the burial ground is also known as Cooke Memorial Cemetery. The Methodist church maintained the graveyard as a private burial ground until 1981, when a restoration program was undertaken which reopened the cemetery to public use. This historic cemetery serves as a reminder of Liberty's past. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986 |
