Indian Creek Cemetery
Valley View, Cooke County, Texas
Marker Inscription
INDIAN CREEK CEMETERY TEN-YEAR-OLD WILLIAM J. BRAY WAS BURIED ON THIS PROPERTY IN 1867. ELEVEN YEARS LATER, HIS PARENTS, A.P. AND ARABELLA BRAY, DEEDED ONE ACRE TO ESTABLISH A CEMETERY. IN 1910, ELIJAH WILLIAM AND MARY ELIZABETH AUTRY DEEDED ONE-HALF ACRE, AND IN 1944, RAY AND LUCY COX DEEDED ANOTHER ONE-HALF ACRE. ORIGINALLY KNOWN AS BRAY CEMETERY, THIS BURIAL GROUND FEATURES HEADSTONES RANGING FROM ELABORATE GRANITE MARKERS TO HAND-ETCHED SANDSTONE SURROUNDED BY CEDAR TREES, IRIS, BLUEBONNETS, AND PEONIES. ALONG WITH PIONEER FAMILIES, MILITARY VETERANS, MASONS, AND MEMBERS OF THE ORDER OF THE EASTERN STAR ARE BURIED HERE. AN ASSOCIATION CARES FOR THE SITE, A TRIBUTE TO AN EARLY PIONEERING COMMUNITY. HISTORIC TEXAS CEMETERY – 2009
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The burial ground began in sorrow in 1867 with ten-year-old William J. Bray, and eleven years later his parents deeded an acre to formally establish a cemetery, expanded by later gifts in 1910 and 1944. Once known as Bray Cemetery, its headstones range from elaborate granite to hand-etched sandstone, shaded by cedars amid iris, bluebonnets, and peonies. Pioneer families rest here alongside military veterans, Masons, and members of the Order of the Eastern Star, tended today by a caretaking association.
Why it matters
Family burial grounds that grew into community cemeteries mark the deep roots of Texas pioneer settlements, honoring the generations who first broke the prairie sod.
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Related people
- · William J. Bray
- · A.P. Bray
- · Arabella Bray
Themes & tags
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