Perry Cemetery
Cypress, Harris County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Perry Cemetery The first marked burial at the Perry Cemetery is that of Charles B. Grant (d. 1878), son of physician James W. Grant who once owned land in the southern part of the T.K. Wheeler Survey. Dr. Grant and his wife, Mary, are also buried here. Thomas and Drucilla (Dowdell) Perry were early landowners here, and it is from them that the cemetery takes its name. When they sold the northern half of the Habermacher Survey in 1886 to Christian and Caroline Rumpel (also Rumbel), they stipulated that the existing graveyard be preserved, along with one and a half acres. After Caroline's death and burial here in 1903, Christian sold the property, adding an additional acre to the cemetery, and left Texas. The cemetery has been in use by the community's residents since the late 1870s. Family names include Anderson, Grant, Franklin, Hargrave, Mccracken, Park, Perry, West and Williams. Descendants continue to be buried here, among the many veterans, community leaders and families. Cemetery features include family plots as well as a strangers' rest, where those not associated with the larger community or with families interred here could be buried. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2002
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Perry Cemetery grew up around the graves of the Grant and Perry families in the southern part of Harris County, its first marked burial dating to 1878. When Thomas and Drucilla Perry sold their land in 1886, they insisted the existing graveyard be preserved, and later owners added still more acreage. Family names like Anderson, Franklin, Hargrave, and Williams fill its rows, alongside a "strangers' rest" set aside for those without local kin.
Why it matters
A community burying ground that survived every change of ownership shows how deeply nineteenth-century Texans valued keeping their dead among the living landscape.
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Related people
- · Charles B. Grant
- · James W. Grant
- · Thomas Perry
- · Drucilla Dowdell Perry
Themes & tags
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