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MORE FAMILY GROUPS:
The Caldwell Family:
          One hundred years ago, the Caldwell family was one of the oldest and most influential families in this area of Texas.  The family owned a huge cattle ranch spanning thousands of acres which over the decades was sold off in pieces as America changed from being an agricultural and ranching-based society into a more urban and industrialized society.  Four years ago, the last remaining portion of the Caldwell ranch, an area of just over six hundred square acres, was sold off to real-estate developers to build million-dollar mansions.  Several members of the Caldwell family spanning from the early 1800’s to the present day are buried in the Haynie Chapel cemetery.


 


          This tombstone for Reverend Alfred Caldwell (February 16th, 1807-February 25th, 1854) is part of a group of other Caldwell tombstone on the right side in the front quarter of Haynie Chapel Cemetery.  Reverend Caldwell was born nearly two hundred years ago, making him the oldest person that I saw in this cemetery.  There were several other tombstones in this area that may have been older, but they were so deteriorated by time that their names and dates could no longer be read.  For being 150 years old, this tombstone is in good shape.  Several other graves had this white glazed style marker and they all seemed to be less-deteriorated that other stones of similar age.
          The inscription on the bottom of Reverend Caldwell's marker reads:
 


"Go to thy peaceful rest, 
For thee we need not weep 
Since thou art now among the best 
Go to thy rest, and while 
Thy absence we deplore
And though your sorrow shall beguile 
For soon we meet
To part no more."

       The tombstone of G.F. Caldwell (December 21st, 1811 - October 18th, 1902) looks as if has been recently replaced.  The tasteful, stylized floral pattern on this tombstone is repeated on some of the other Caldwell graves in this area. For someone who lived in the 1800's and 1900's, G.F. Caldwell lived to be a remarkable age - 91 years old.  To the right of Mrs. Caldwell's grave you can see Reverend Caldwell's grave.  Because of the close proximity of the graves and the birth years, this couple might have been brother and sister or husband and wife.  At the very least, they probably knew one another.

        I'm guessing that this pair of Caldwell graves, belonging to J.A. Caldwell (February 7th, 1849-May 5th, 1884) and L.M. Caldwell (June 22nd, 1851- December 12th, 1893) were a husband and his wife.  Both tombstones bear the same floral pattern as the grave of Mrs. G.F. Caldwell above.  L.M. Caldwell’s grave is partially covered by a large shrub. 

The Berdoll Family:
         The Berdolls are another influential Texas family.  They own the Berdoll Pecan orchard and Hal and Lisa Berdoll run a candy store in Del Valle, Texas.  Their store is off of Highway 71 just East of the Haynie Chapel cemetery and they sell candy and offer such treats as chocolate-dipped and white chocolate-dipped strawberries, caramel-pecan clusters, and pecan brittle.
 


          The headstone in the first picture belongs to Mr. Andy Berdoll (September 20th, 1883-July 15th, 1970) and all of the ones in the second photo belong to people bearing the last name Berdoll.  All of the graves are well kept and each of them has a bouquet of silk flowers in different colors.  The headstones are also similar in design and are all very uniform in appearance which serves to further the impression that they all belong together.
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