Leesburg Cemetery
Leesburg, Camp County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Dwight Hays Townsend (1834-1906) donated land for this cemetery about 1870. The graves of two children which were relocated here from the Leesburg schoolyard are thought to be the earliest burials on the site. The oldest marked grave is that of Tapley Wylie (1836-1870). This cemetery is the primary burial ground for the rural community of Leesburg. Those interred here include pioneer settlers, community leaders, a large number of infants and children, and veterans of the Civil War, World Wars I and II, Korea, and Vietnam. (1992)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Established around 1870 on land donated by Dwight Hays Townsend, this graveyard grew into the resting place of a whole rural East Texas community. Its earliest burials are believed to be two children reinterred from the old Leesburg schoolyard, and its oldest marked grave dates to 1870. Generations of pioneers, community leaders, and war veterans lie here, a stone record of the people who built and defended Leesburg.
Why it matters
A community cemetery is one of the most complete surviving documents of rural American life, tracing settlement, hardship, and service across more than a century.
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Related people
- · Dwight Hays Townsend
- · Tapley Wylie
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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