Friday, November 8, 2013

Gainesville's Forgotten People

Gainesville, Cooke County, Texas

Gainesville's Forgotten People
The Families of the Great Hanging Victims

One has to wonder why a memorial has not been placed in Gainesville to remember the men who died in the Great Hanging of 1862.  In what some call "one of the worst atrocities of the Civil War" at least 40 men suspected of Union sympathies were hanged in Gainesville, Cooke County, Texas.  For the last 150 years, Gainesville has tried to hide from the Hangings and sweep them under the rug.

It has been five years since this blog was started in 2008.  Since that time, quite a few families of the Great Hanging victims have been found through research and with descendants sharing their family stories.  But the reality is that wives, children, parents, and siblings for many men are still unknownIt's as if history has forgotten them.  Each man who died in the hangings had parents, most probably had siblings, and the majority had wives and children.  Why has it been so hard to find them?

The main goal (mission statement) of the blog is:
Each family of a Gainesville Hanging victim has a story that needs to be told and shared.  Our goal is to remember all the men who died in the 'Great Hanging' and find their families – spouse, children, parents, siblings.

If you have a "Great Hanging" ancestor, or you are just interested in history, please help by sharing stories and research about the victims of the Great Hanging and their families.  There are many ways to share: write a book, start your own blog, post your family information on Ancestry.com or FamilySearch.org, leave a message on genealogy message boards, start a website, donate your stories to a historical society/library in Gainesville, post the information on this blog, and/or all of the above.

It is 2013 and 151 years since the Great Hangings.  The Great Hanging victims deserved to be remembered.

Note:
An update to this post titled, "Forgotten No More" can be found Here

7 comments:

Unknown said...

The Great Hanging Memorial Foundation is proud to announce the launch of our website.

www.greathanging1862.com

It will be updated on a regular basis with news, announcements regarding the Memorial progress and Dedication plans.
We welcome you to visit soon and often! Please share with your family and friends.

If you experience any problems using the new website or if you have any suggestions, please contact us. Our email address: greathanging1862@gmail.com


Respectfully yours on behalf of the Foundation Board,

-Colleen Clark Carri - Secretary/Treasurer

Unknown said...

The Great Hanging Memorial Foundation is proud to announce the launch of our website.

www.greathanging1862.com

It will be updated on a regular basis with news, announcements regarding the Memorial progress and Dedication plans.
We welcome you to visit soon and often! Please share with your family and friends.

If you experience any problems using the new website or if you have any suggestions, please contact us. Our email address: greathanging1862@gmail.com


Respectfully yours on behalf of the Foundation Board,

-Colleen Clark Carri - Secretary/Treasurer

Anonymous said...

Hopefully families for all of the victims of the Gainesville Hangings can be found. It's sad that peoples's lives are so easily forgotten. Good luck in your quest. Glad the city is finally doing something!
Kathie

Sissy said...

Why doesn't the Morton Museum have more information on the hanging?? There is more info on this blog than any place in Gainesville.
When people make the effort to travel to Gainesville to find info on their ancestor who was hanged, there should be something for them to find!!
Gainesville really is trying to forget these poor men who were hanged in 1862.

Anonymous said...

Does the local library or historical society have a display about the hangings? And do they have folders on each of the men who were hanged? Where is the best place in Gainesville to go to if one wanted to learn more about the hangings?

Anonymous said...

Why did they use an outdated list for the memorial. New information - some of which you have here on this blog - gives more information about the men who were hanged.
If it was going to be written in stone, more research should have gone into the list of victims!!

TexasRoots said...

I think the committee used the information in McCaslin's book. You may be able to add a paver with additional information on it.