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Cousin Ham LbNA #69376

Owner:Boots Tex
Plant date:Nov 6, 2015
Location: Davison Family Cemetery
City:Drew's Landing
County:San Jacinto
State:Texas
Boxes:1
Found by: Wry Me
Last found:Mar 15, 2020
Status:FFaFF
Last edited:Mar 4, 2017
This box was reported missing. When I checked on it, indeed it was gone, so I replaced it on 3-3-17 and changed the clues. Please print new clues after this date.


Alexander Hamilton (Ham) Washington was a second cousin of George Washington. Ham's father, Warner Washington, was George's first cousin. Ham Washington cut a wide swath through Polk and San Jacinto counties before and after the Civil War, but finding any physical reminder of his 28 years in East Texas is almost impossible. Born in 1805 on a farm near Berryville in Virginia, Washington moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1838 to practice law while living with his sister, Mary Herbert Beazley and her family. When the Beazleys gave Washington money and land to invest in the Republic of Texas, he exchanged the property for the William Logan League, now in San Jacinto County, and took the title in his own name with the intention of giving the property to his sister. A will in 1860 established his intent. Settling at Drew’s Landing on the Trinity River in the 1840s, Washington developed one of the area’s largest plantations in a great horseshoe bend of the river. As he was building his home on the river, Washington also supervised the construction of a road from Drew’s Landing to Lynchburg, a shipping point on Galveston Bay, with the recognition that the export of cotton would stimulate East Texas’ economy. Washington’s home was similar to the plantation homes of the Old South. Enhancing the home’s beauty was a formal flower garden, a favorite hobby of Washington. As a lawyer, Washington had a large library filled with law books and two indoor bathrooms with hot water furnished by a boiler, a rarity on the Texas frontier. The home also contained a room for his Coushatta Indian friends--who lived in a village on Washington’s plantation--with pictures and paintings of Indians and horses. The Coushattas’ customary dress of long deerskin shirts prompted riverboat travelers to call the place “Shirt Tail Bend.” Known for his eccentricity, Washington had a personal worth of almost $75,000 in real and personal property before the Civil War, but he was always behind in paying his taxes. There were rumors at Drew’s Landing that Washington, a bachelor, buried a large cache of gold on his plantation. Another story is that he lost his fortune in a New Orleans bank failure. When the Civil War erupted, Washington volunteered for service in 1862, and was commissioned an aide under Major General John B. Magruder, commander of the military district of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. Washington was assigned to supervise government works in a wide area of East Texas to defend the lower valley of the Trinity River, and to enlist his Indian friends in the South’s war efforts. At the end of the war, Washington was nearly bankrupt and in declining health. Though he held 51 slaves in 1864, he had to take large loans after the war to keep his plantation in operation. Washington sold his plantation to William B. Denson, who moved into the house with Washington. In 1868 Washington wrote a will giving all of his assets to Denson in return for settlement of his debts. He died on June 30, 1868, and was buried in his flower garden. Denson disputed Washington’s first will to his sister, but in 1873 she established that the will was valid. As the year’s passed, Washington’s grave was lost, but his descendants placed a tombstone in the Davidson Cemetery, near Drew’s Landing, defining his Confederate service. The passage of decades has left the cemetery unmarked, entangled in forest growth, and--like Washington’s final resting place--difficult to find. (From an article written by the late Bob Bowman of Lufkin). A few years ago, after some research, I was able to locate the cemetery, Davison Family Cemetery and, like Mr. Bowman said, it was difficult to find, lying on private property and overgrown, with no sign of any kind. I don't know where Mr. Bowman got the information that the marker is only a memorial because it looks like a grave to me. There are only four marked graves. I went to the San Jacinto County courthouse and they sent a crew out to cut back some of the undergrowth and I was able to photograph the headstones and register the cemetery on www.findagrave.com. Unfortunately, the county doesn’t keep up this little cemetery (I would call it a graveyard), so it is again overgrown and hard to find.

Directions: From Shepherd, Texas, go north on U.S. 59 (I-69) 2.5 miles, then turn east on FM 1127. Drive 5.5 miles and you will come to Lake Station Baptist Church on the right. You can either park in the parking lot at this church and walk east about 0.4 miles to the cemetery on the right or drive 0.2 miles to a gate entrance to a cleared grassy field and park in front of the gate, then walk 0.2 miles (the third telephone pole on the right) to the cemetery. There isn't a good place to park on the side of the road. There is another gate past the cemetery at the next clearance if you prefer.

To the box: This graveyard is not recognizable as a cemetery. There is no sign and the tombstones are not visible from the road. Look for a chain link fence with a gap which you can walk through. The fence, depending on the time of year, may be overgrown with shrubs or thorny vines. Dress accordingly. Gloves would be a good idea. Carefully make your way through the vines and weeds a short distance, maybe 10 yards, where you will find the headstone of Maj. Washington. The box is behind the stone, with a rock placed on top. Be very, very careful, and only attempt to find this box during daylight hours. There are those who say this cemetery is haunted.

Hike length: 0.5 miles