Bracken Cemetery
DeBerry, Panola County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Pioneer settlers Thomas and Mary Bracken brought their family to this area in the 1830s. Part of their land was set aside as a burial ground for family members and for the surrounding community. The earliest marked grave is that of Clarence Liston (d. 1876), the infant son of Perry and Acenie Bracken Liston. Others interred here include pioneers of early area settlements: Grand Bluff, Elysian Fields, DeBerry, Pulaski, Bethany, and Pleasant Grove. Dan Briggs, the Brackens' son-in-law, formally deeded the site as a cemetery in 1891. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Pioneer settlers Thomas and Mary Bracken brought their family to this corner of East Texas in the 1830s and set aside part of their land as a burial ground for their family and neighbors. The oldest marked grave belongs to the infant Clarence Liston, who died in 1876, and the cemetery holds pioneers from a scattering of early settlements—Grand Bluff, Elysian Fields, DeBerry, and others. Their son-in-law Dan Briggs formally deeded the site as a cemetery in 1891.
Why it matters
Frontier family cemeteries like Bracken preserve the names of the pioneering settlers who claimed and worked the East Texas countryside, mapping the reach of early Anglo-American settlement one community at a time.
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Related people
- · Thomas Bracken
- · Mary Bracken
- · Dan Briggs
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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