Cow Creek Cemetery
Dublin, Erath County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1871, Jesse Van donated land for a community cemetery for Cow Creek residents. The community included a school and the Cow Creek Methodist and Live Oak Baptist Churches. The first recorded burial was on March 15, 1874 for the infant daughter of J. P. and Indiane Martin. Earlier burials are possible, especially among 65 unidentified graves. The most historically significant burial was in 1895 for William Carroll Crawford, last surviving signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. In 1936, the state of Texas reinterred his remains in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin. The cow creek cemetery association formed in 1971 to preserve this reminder of a rural settlement and its stories of the past.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1871 Jesse Van donated land for a community cemetery serving the Cow Creek settlement, which supported a school and two churches. Its most notable burial was William Carroll Crawford, the last surviving signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, whose remains the state reinterred in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin in 1936. Among some sixty-five unidentified graves, the earliest recorded burial dates to 1874.
Why it matters
The cemetery links a modest rural Texas settlement to the founding of the Republic of Texas through Crawford, the final living signer of its declaration of independence.
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Related people
- · Jesse Van
- · William Carroll Crawford
Related events
- · Texas Declaration of Independence
Themes & tags
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