Hancock Cemetery
Dublin vicinity, Erath County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The earliest marked grave on this site, once known as "North Bolton Cemetery," is that of Asa L. Anderson (1875-1876), who was buried here during the ownership of the James and Louisa Franks family. The Franks sold the land to T. W. Bolton in 1879, and the Caudle family purchased it in 1883. The Hancock name comes from the family of Benjamin T. and Elizabeth (Ruyle) Hancock, settlers who came to this area in about 1887. Most of those interred on this site are related to the Hancocks, many of whom helped found the nearby communities of Alexander and Purves. The cemetery contains about fifty graves. The last marked grave was that of Charles Martin Knorzer (1852-1943). The burial ground is a chronicle of the pioneers of Erath County. (2000)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This burial ground, once called North Bolton Cemetery, holds its earliest marked grave from 1876, dating to the era when the Franks family owned the land. After passing through the Bolton and Caudle families, it took the name of Benjamin T. and Elizabeth Hancock, settlers who arrived around 1887. Many of the roughly fifty people buried here were kin to the Hancocks, families who helped found the nearby communities of Alexander and Purves.
Why it matters
A country cemetery like this is a ground-level chronicle of the pioneers who settled Erath County and knit its first small communities together.
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Related people
- · Benjamin T. Hancock
- · Elizabeth Ruyle Hancock
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Caudle Cemetery
Dublin vicinity, TX
Once called South Bolton Cemetery, this Erath County burial ground holds its earliest marked grave from 1879, from the years the Franks family owned the land. The Caudle family bought the property in 1883, and matriarch Rebecca Clayton Caudle was buried here in 1886. Among the poignant stories is Fannie Caudle, who died on her wedding day in 1895 and was laid to rest in her bridal dress; descendants rediscovered and restored the neglected cemetery in 1997.
Alexander Cemetery
Alexander, TX
This burial ground has served southern Erath County since the late 1800s, when the railroad town of Alexander—first called Harper's Mill—was thriving. Confederate veteran Thomas Pinckney Tidwell established the cemetery after a Mexican family's child was refused burial in a local graveyard; he opened it to all, regardless of religion or ethnicity, and his family donated an ornate cross to mark the child's grave. Among its burials are community leaders and veterans of conflicts dating back to the Civil War.
Pecan Cemetery
Dublin vicinity, TX
Dating to 1880, Pecan Cemetery was the main burial ground for the Purves Community, which grew up around James Purves's blacksmith shop in Erath County. Its oldest marked grave is that of infant Horace F. Adams, and a memorial stands for Civil War casualty Daniel Turney, though he is actually buried in Tyler. When nearby Friendship Baptist Church disbanded, its materials were used to build a tabernacle here where funerals and annual cemetery-working gatherings were held.
Pecan Cemetery Tabernacle
Dublin vicinity, TX
In 1884 J. W. McKenzie deeded three and a half acres in the Purves Community for a church and cemetery, though burials had begun there as early as 1880. When the Friendship Baptist Church disbanded in 1915, its lumber was reused in 1922 to build this open-air tabernacle—a well-preserved example of the group meeting shelters that hosted revivals and gatherings across rural Texas.