Feely Cemetery
Van Horn, Culberson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The nearby cemetery (250 yards S) was first used in 1910 for the burial of an infant son of J.H. Feely. The owner of a grocery in the railroad settlement of Plateau (2 miles north), he later served as the first sheriff of Culberson County when it was organized in 1911. Three years later he was killed in the line of duty and was buried in Van Horn (18 miles west). The burial ground here contains mostly unmarked graves of family members and pioneer area settlers. Only a metal fence has protected the site, which was unused and neglected for many years.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This West Texas cemetery was first used in 1910 for the infant son of J. H. Feely, a grocer in the railroad settlement of Plateau who went on to become Culberson County's first sheriff when it organized in 1911. Three years later he was killed in the line of duty. The burial ground holds mostly unmarked graves of family members and pioneer settlers, long neglected and protected only by a metal fence.
Why it matters
It memorializes the ordinary settlers and the first lawman of a raw frontier county carved out of the West Texas desert.
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Related people
- · J. H. Feely
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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