Pidcoke Cemetery
Gatesville vicinity, Coryell County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Serving the rural Pidcoke and Harman communities, this cemetery dates to at least 1885, the year six-year-old Mattie Jeter was buried here after dying in a fall from a wagon. Local landowners H. S. (Tip) Perryman and W. H. Belcher formally deeded portions of their land for a community graveyard in 1896, and members of both the Perryman and Belcher families are interred here. The Pidcoke community was named for English colonist the Rev. Richard Burton Pidcocke's sons, Hartley and Reginald, who began a successful ranching enterprise in the area in 1857. Stock raising and other agricultural pursuits sustained the economy until the acquisition of land for Camp Hood in 1942 resulted in the relocation of many families. Generations of families are buried in the Pidcoke Cemetery, including that of H. S. Perryman, a native of Arkansas, who drove cattle to Kansas and served as Coryell County tax assessor (1876-1886). Perryman died in 1897, soon after donating land for the cemetery. Others interred here include veterans of the Civil War, World War I, World War Ii, Korea and Vietnam. The Pidcoke Cemetery Association, dating to at least 1936, cares for the cemetery. The association has conducted a census of the cemetery, worked to provide markers for unmarked graves and acquired additional land in 1985. The graveyard remains in use as a reminder of Pidcoke's settlement and heritage. (2001)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Serving the ranching communities of Pidcoke and Harman, this cemetery dates to at least 1885, when six-year-old Mattie Jeter was buried here after a fatal fall from a wagon. Local landowners deeded the ground formally in 1896, and generations of the founding families lie here, their stock-raising economy sustaining the area until the 1942 creation of Camp Hood forced many families to relocate. Among the graves are veterans of the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.
Why it matters
The cemetery records both the pioneer ranching heritage of Coryell County and the dramatic disruption of World War II, when the Army's land acquisition for Camp Hood uprooted long-settled rural communities.
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Related people
- · H. S. (Tip) Perryman
- · W. H. Belcher
- · Rev. Richard Burton Pidcocke
Related events
- · Establishment of Camp Hood (1942)
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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