Pleasanton City Cemetery
Pleasanton, Atascosa County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Begun in 1865 as a family burial ground, the Pleasanton City Cemetery is a reflection of the history of the community from its earliest days. The first burial was that of three-year-old Gustave B. Doak, whose parents, Jonathan and Mary Elizabeth (Zumwalt) Doak, buried him on their property, which was then on the western outskirts of Pleasanton. Friends and relatives of the Doak family came to use the cemetery, which first appeared in county deed records when Jonathan Doak sold his property in 1884 to George Washington Marion Duck, reserving one acre for the cemetery. Additional donations of land over the years enlarged the acreage of the cemetery. Burials in the Pleasanton City Cemetery include a number of infants and children in the older section, reflecting the harshness of pioneer life in the community's early years. Also buried here are Dr. James H. Lyons (1805-1881), who served in the second Texas legislature, was a Mexican war veteran and twice mayor of San Antonio; Mexican War veteran captain Hartwell Coleman Fountain (1810-1886); Graves Peeler (1886-1977), who is credited with helping save the Longhorn cattle breed in the 1930s; and a number of local officials and community leaders. Known in the 19th century as the Doak Cemetery and as Sandhill Cemetery, the historic burial ground is maintained by the Pleasanton Cemetery Association. (2001)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Pleasanton City Cemetery began in 1865 as a family plot when Jonathan and Mary Doak buried their three-year-old son on the western edge of town, and friends and neighbors soon began using the ground as well. The many infant and child graves in its oldest section speak to the harshness of frontier life, while later burials include a Mexican War veteran who twice served as San Antonio's mayor and Graves Peeler, credited with helping save the Longhorn breed in the 1930s. Once called the Doak or Sandhill Cemetery, it remains a record of the community's founding generations.
Why it matters
The cemetery reads as a chronicle of a South Texas town's whole life—frontier hardship, Mexican War service, and the twentieth-century effort to rescue the iconic Texas Longhorn.
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Related people
- · Dr. James H. Lyons
- · Graves Peeler
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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Jourdanton United Methodist Church
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