Walking through history: Group tours historic Rose Hill Cemetery By SAMMY ALLEN /Gazette StaffAmong the ornate headstones, life-size statues, wrought iron fences and the forever green cedar trees at Rose Hill Cemetery are pieces of Texarkana's history.And for a few hours Saturday the stories of some of the city's early inhabitants were told.Created in 1874, the cemetery is the final resting place of at least two members of the Texas Legislature, Confederate and Union soldiers, doctors, lawyers and members of the city's pioneer families. Over the past 126 years, the cemetery has withstood the ravages of time, weather and vandals. Some monuments have been overturned and others are covered with moss and rust. "Some of the headstones are so worn that you can hardly read the inscriptions," said Texarkana native Kathryn Osborne who served as one of the tour guides for the event."The tour is in conjunction with Halloween," said Guy Vanderpool, executive director of the Texas Museums System. "It was an idea for the fall and it gives a chance to discuss little known aspects of our city's history."The tour also included a skit by local university student Angela Dean. Dressed in late 19th century apparel, she portrays Rachael Moores, the wife of Texarkana businessman David Moores. The couple owned a home on the corner of what is now Main Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard"David Moores died before the house was completed. It is now a bed and breakfast," Osborne said.David Moores' brother, Eli, is said to have traded a yoke of oxen and a wagon for much of the land that is downtown Texarkana today.Amy Wilkinson, education coordinator for the museums system, said the play is adapted from a diary and letters belonging to Rachael Moores. "It is basically about her everyday life here in Texarkana," Wilkinson said. "She talks about the railroad and the lumber business. She talks about taking the train to Little Rock."The couples' gravesite is an unusual example of a cradle grave, encircled by a walkway. Others buried at Rose Hill include Francis Marion Henry, great-great-grandson of Revolutionary War patriot Patrick Henry, who is known for saying, "Give me liberty, or give me death."Others include the Rev. Charles Goldberg, a Presbyterian minister who had been of the Jewish faith. Interestingly, after becoming an ordained minister, Goldberg was asked to help with bar mitzvahs of local Jewish families."I can't even imagine why they would want him to do that; they were very strict back then," Osborne said.One section, once separated by hedges, was reserved for the burial of African American residents."The hedges were cut down, but as you can see they are starting to grow back again," Osborne said. Among the African-American residents buried there are three victims of the Paragon Saloon fire disaster of 1882, including Joe "Kye" Smith and John Lapton.Also buried at Rose Hill is Martha Adams Runnels, a former first lady of Texas. A plaque near her grave by the Texas Historical Survey Committee reads, "She was the wife of H.W. Runnels, member of the Texas Legislature 1857-59. For years she and her husband lived in the governor's mansion where she served as official hostess for her bachelor brother-in-law, Gov. Hardin Richard Runnels."Reva Threadgill of Dallas, who has visited numerous cemeteries in the South, was among those on the tour Saturday. "This has to be one of the most interesting cemeteries I've seen," she said. "It's a beautiful place to come and most people don't even think of it."