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This cemetery, named for the pioneering Goodgame family, has served the area since the Civil War era. Purchasing acreage in 1857, Floyd Crockett Goodgame (b. 1807) migrated from Alabama to Henderson County with family including his wife, Hulda Crowson (Fulton) and his two sons, James Allen (b. 1829) and John Anderson (b. 1832). The two sons served in the Civil War, becoming officers in the Confederate army. James Allen and Floyd Crockett Goodgame both passed away in 1869. John Anderson Goodgame, a schoolteacher before entering military service, continued to teach after returning from combat. He married Martha Malinda Chandler (b. 1836), with whom he raised ten children. He was also a determined civic leader, vital to the establishment of the community of Turkey Creek. One of John Goodgame's daughters, Mary Ann, died while he was at war. Hers is the first recorded burial (1863) in this cemetery. In 1901, Goodgame officially deeded two acres of land here for one dollar to three cemetery trustees: Benjamin McGee, E.B. Stokes and Levi Trammell. Among those interred in Goodgame Cemetery are veterans of military conflicts, including the Civil War, World War I, World War II and the Korean War. The cemetery features curbing, interior fencing, grave slabs and Woodmen of the World gravestones. The Goodgame Cemetery Association cares for the burial ground. Today, this cemetery continues to serve the community and carries on as a reminder of the hardworking pioneers of Henderson County. Historic Texas Cemetery – 2006 |
