Oliver Garland Brockett was born August 5, 1846, near Enfield in White County, Illinois, the son of William Winn Brockett and his wife Matilda Martha Bayley.
On September 20, 1876, in Hamilton County, Illinois, the Reverend Oliver Brockett married Mary Morrow Proudfit, the daughter of David Proudfit and his wife Mary Jane Walker. Oliver and Mary Brockett had three children: Ormus L., Zula M., and Edith.
Researcher Violet E. Poland reported that Oliver Brockett drowned in a flood. According to findagrave contributor Dirk Bailey, Oliver Brockett was a victim of the 1919 Hurricane, and he cites Texas death certificate 27660, noted as O.G. Brockett #20, Dairyman.
In response to a photo request, Contributor Judy Wilds visited Rose Hill Memorial Park where two staff members informed her they had no record of a burial for Oliver Brockett. It seemed possible that he was laid to rest in a mass grave for storm victims at Rose Hill, most of whom were unidentified victims. Judy continued her research and posted a news clipping which verifies that Oliver Brockett was eventually buried at White Point. Although his death certificate says he was buried at Rose Hill, Judy learned that many storm victims were initially placed in temporary graves, presumably near where their bodies washed up, then interred elsewhere at a later date. (July 2021)
Site of White Point Mass Graves of 1919 Hurricane Victims
On Saturday, September 13, 1919, the last swarms of vacationers who packed the Corpus Christi beaches were warned that a massive hurricane, which had gathered strength in the Gulf for two weeks, was approaching the shore. Most ignored the warnings in favor of the last weekend of the summer season. By Sunday afternoon the buildings on North Beach, battered by winds up to 110 miles per hour and storm tides up to 16 feet, began to break up. By Monday morning, bodies and debris had begun to wash up on the shore at White Point. Black oil from the storage tanks near Port Aransas covered everything. Over the next few days, more than 200 people worked to rescue survivors and retrieve the dead. Bodies were taken to the West Portland schoolhouse on this site. Identifying the remains proved difficult; the bodies were broken, covered in oil, and in some cases whole families had perished, leaving no one to identify them. The remains were weighed on a cotton scale and taken almost a mile back toward the beach where they were found. They were laid to rest in a mass grave dug with a slip scraper. More than 30 separate graves were dug from Indian Point near Portland to a spot about 20 miles up Nueces Bay. Some of the larger graves measured 1400 feet wide and 3200 feet long. Evidence indicates that all the bodies were moved to Rose Hill Cemetery in Corpus Christi and to other sites about a month later. The official death toll was 284; estimates place the actual number, including those lost at sea, at about 1,000. Property damage from the 1919 storm was estimated at about 20 million dollars. This gravesite and the others serve as a reminder of the power of the elements. (from State of Texas Atlas, 2000)
For more information on the 1919 recovery efforts, Judy Wilds shares this link:
https://www.newspapers.com/image/31294861
On September 20, 1876, in Hamilton County, Illinois, the Reverend Oliver Brockett married Mary Morrow Proudfit, the daughter of David Proudfit and his wife Mary Jane Walker. Oliver and Mary Brockett had three children: Ormus L., Zula M., and Edith.
Researcher Violet E. Poland reported that Oliver Brockett drowned in a flood. According to findagrave contributor Dirk Bailey, Oliver Brockett was a victim of the 1919 Hurricane, and he cites Texas death certificate 27660, noted as O.G. Brockett #20, Dairyman.
In response to a photo request, Contributor Judy Wilds visited Rose Hill Memorial Park where two staff members informed her they had no record of a burial for Oliver Brockett. It seemed possible that he was laid to rest in a mass grave for storm victims at Rose Hill, most of whom were unidentified victims. Judy continued her research and posted a news clipping which verifies that Oliver Brockett was eventually buried at White Point. Although his death certificate says he was buried at Rose Hill, Judy learned that many storm victims were initially placed in temporary graves, presumably near where their bodies washed up, then interred elsewhere at a later date. (July 2021)
Site of White Point Mass Graves of 1919 Hurricane Victims
On Saturday, September 13, 1919, the last swarms of vacationers who packed the Corpus Christi beaches were warned that a massive hurricane, which had gathered strength in the Gulf for two weeks, was approaching the shore. Most ignored the warnings in favor of the last weekend of the summer season. By Sunday afternoon the buildings on North Beach, battered by winds up to 110 miles per hour and storm tides up to 16 feet, began to break up. By Monday morning, bodies and debris had begun to wash up on the shore at White Point. Black oil from the storage tanks near Port Aransas covered everything. Over the next few days, more than 200 people worked to rescue survivors and retrieve the dead. Bodies were taken to the West Portland schoolhouse on this site. Identifying the remains proved difficult; the bodies were broken, covered in oil, and in some cases whole families had perished, leaving no one to identify them. The remains were weighed on a cotton scale and taken almost a mile back toward the beach where they were found. They were laid to rest in a mass grave dug with a slip scraper. More than 30 separate graves were dug from Indian Point near Portland to a spot about 20 miles up Nueces Bay. Some of the larger graves measured 1400 feet wide and 3200 feet long. Evidence indicates that all the bodies were moved to Rose Hill Cemetery in Corpus Christi and to other sites about a month later. The official death toll was 284; estimates place the actual number, including those lost at sea, at about 1,000. Property damage from the 1919 storm was estimated at about 20 million dollars. This gravesite and the others serve as a reminder of the power of the elements. (from State of Texas Atlas, 2000)
For more information on the 1919 recovery efforts, Judy Wilds shares this link:
https://www.newspapers.com/image/31294861
Oliver Garland Brockett was born August 5, 1846, near Enfield in White County, Illinois, the son of William Winn Brockett and his wife Matilda Martha Bayley.
On September 20, 1876, in Hamilton County, Illinois, the Reverend Oliver Brockett married Mary Morrow Proudfit, the daughter of David Proudfit and his wife Mary Jane Walker. Oliver and Mary Brockett had three children: Ormus L., Zula M., and Edith.
Researcher Violet E. Poland reported that Oliver Brockett drowned in a flood. According to findagrave contributor Dirk Bailey, Oliver Brockett was a victim of the 1919 Hurricane, and he cites Texas death certificate 27660, noted as O.G. Brockett #20, Dairyman.
In response to a photo request, Contributor Judy Wilds visited Rose Hill Memorial Park where two staff members informed her they had no record of a burial for Oliver Brockett. It seemed possible that he was laid to rest in a mass grave for storm victims at Rose Hill, most of whom were unidentified victims. Judy continued her research and posted a news clipping which verifies that Oliver Brockett was eventually buried at White Point. Although his death certificate says he was buried at Rose Hill, Judy learned that many storm victims were initially placed in temporary graves, presumably near where their bodies washed up, then interred elsewhere at a later date. (July 2021)
Site of White Point Mass Graves of 1919 Hurricane Victims
On Saturday, September 13, 1919, the last swarms of vacationers who packed the Corpus Christi beaches were warned that a massive hurricane, which had gathered strength in the Gulf for two weeks, was approaching the shore. Most ignored the warnings in favor of the last weekend of the summer season. By Sunday afternoon the buildings on North Beach, battered by winds up to 110 miles per hour and storm tides up to 16 feet, began to break up. By Monday morning, bodies and debris had begun to wash up on the shore at White Point. Black oil from the storage tanks near Port Aransas covered everything. Over the next few days, more than 200 people worked to rescue survivors and retrieve the dead. Bodies were taken to the West Portland schoolhouse on this site. Identifying the remains proved difficult; the bodies were broken, covered in oil, and in some cases whole families had perished, leaving no one to identify them. The remains were weighed on a cotton scale and taken almost a mile back toward the beach where they were found. They were laid to rest in a mass grave dug with a slip scraper. More than 30 separate graves were dug from Indian Point near Portland to a spot about 20 miles up Nueces Bay. Some of the larger graves measured 1400 feet wide and 3200 feet long. Evidence indicates that all the bodies were moved to Rose Hill Cemetery in Corpus Christi and to other sites about a month later. The official death toll was 284; estimates place the actual number, including those lost at sea, at about 1,000. Property damage from the 1919 storm was estimated at about 20 million dollars. This gravesite and the others serve as a reminder of the power of the elements. (from State of Texas Atlas, 2000)
For more information on the 1919 recovery efforts, Judy Wilds shares this link:
https://www.newspapers.com/image/31294861
On September 20, 1876, in Hamilton County, Illinois, the Reverend Oliver Brockett married Mary Morrow Proudfit, the daughter of David Proudfit and his wife Mary Jane Walker. Oliver and Mary Brockett had three children: Ormus L., Zula M., and Edith.
Researcher Violet E. Poland reported that Oliver Brockett drowned in a flood. According to findagrave contributor Dirk Bailey, Oliver Brockett was a victim of the 1919 Hurricane, and he cites Texas death certificate 27660, noted as O.G. Brockett #20, Dairyman.
In response to a photo request, Contributor Judy Wilds visited Rose Hill Memorial Park where two staff members informed her they had no record of a burial for Oliver Brockett. It seemed possible that he was laid to rest in a mass grave for storm victims at Rose Hill, most of whom were unidentified victims. Judy continued her research and posted a news clipping which verifies that Oliver Brockett was eventually buried at White Point. Although his death certificate says he was buried at Rose Hill, Judy learned that many storm victims were initially placed in temporary graves, presumably near where their bodies washed up, then interred elsewhere at a later date. (July 2021)
Site of White Point Mass Graves of 1919 Hurricane Victims
On Saturday, September 13, 1919, the last swarms of vacationers who packed the Corpus Christi beaches were warned that a massive hurricane, which had gathered strength in the Gulf for two weeks, was approaching the shore. Most ignored the warnings in favor of the last weekend of the summer season. By Sunday afternoon the buildings on North Beach, battered by winds up to 110 miles per hour and storm tides up to 16 feet, began to break up. By Monday morning, bodies and debris had begun to wash up on the shore at White Point. Black oil from the storage tanks near Port Aransas covered everything. Over the next few days, more than 200 people worked to rescue survivors and retrieve the dead. Bodies were taken to the West Portland schoolhouse on this site. Identifying the remains proved difficult; the bodies were broken, covered in oil, and in some cases whole families had perished, leaving no one to identify them. The remains were weighed on a cotton scale and taken almost a mile back toward the beach where they were found. They were laid to rest in a mass grave dug with a slip scraper. More than 30 separate graves were dug from Indian Point near Portland to a spot about 20 miles up Nueces Bay. Some of the larger graves measured 1400 feet wide and 3200 feet long. Evidence indicates that all the bodies were moved to Rose Hill Cemetery in Corpus Christi and to other sites about a month later. The official death toll was 284; estimates place the actual number, including those lost at sea, at about 1,000. Property damage from the 1919 storm was estimated at about 20 million dollars. This gravesite and the others serve as a reminder of the power of the elements. (from State of Texas Atlas, 2000)
For more information on the 1919 recovery efforts, Judy Wilds shares this link:
https://www.newspapers.com/image/31294861
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