Purves Live Oak Cemetery
Dublin vicinity, Erath County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The earliest marked burial on this site is that of an infant who was born to the Ascue family on July 20, 1880, and died the same day. Though no deed to the cemetery has been found, deeds to the surrounding property refer to the four-acre burial ground. The Purves community was named for John Purves, who founded a church in the area in 1890, and William M. Purves, who became the town's first postmaster in 1897. Among the pioneers represented here are members of the Ascue, Bruner, Case, Currier, Daniel, Harris, McCurdy, McGee, Munch, Rasmussen, Stephens, Tatum, Turnbow and Whisenant families. With 359 graves in 1999, the cemetery continues to serve the community of Purves and the surrounding vicinity as a burial ground and a chronicle of history. (2000)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the ranch country of Erath County, this four-acre burial ground took root in 1880 with the grave of a newborn from the Ascue family and grew alongside the small farming settlement of Purves. The community took its name from John Purves, who founded a local church around 1890, and William M. Purves, who became its first postmaster in 1897. Generations of pioneer families—Bruners, Daniels, McCurdys and others—came to rest here, turning the cemetery into a quiet ledger of the people who settled this corner of North Texas.
Why it matters
Rural pioneer cemeteries preserve the names and kinship ties of the ordinary settlers who built Texas's farming communities, a grassroots record that formal histories rarely keep.
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Related people
- · John Purves
- · William M. Purves
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Pecan Cemetery
Dublin vicinity, TX
Dating to 1880, Pecan Cemetery was the main burial ground for the Purves Community, which grew up around James Purves's blacksmith shop in Erath County. Its oldest marked grave is that of infant Horace F. Adams, and a memorial stands for Civil War casualty Daniel Turney, though he is actually buried in Tyler. When nearby Friendship Baptist Church disbanded, its materials were used to build a tabernacle here where funerals and annual cemetery-working gatherings were held.
Pecan Cemetery Tabernacle
Dublin vicinity, TX
In 1884 J. W. McKenzie deeded three and a half acres in the Purves Community for a church and cemetery, though burials had begun there as early as 1880. When the Friendship Baptist Church disbanded in 1915, its lumber was reused in 1922 to build this open-air tabernacle—a well-preserved example of the group meeting shelters that hosted revivals and gatherings across rural Texas.
Hancock Cemetery
Dublin vicinity, TX
This burial ground, once called North Bolton Cemetery, holds its earliest marked grave from 1876, dating to the era when the Franks family owned the land. After passing through the Bolton and Caudle families, it took the name of Benjamin T. and Elizabeth Hancock, settlers who arrived around 1887. Many of the roughly fifty people buried here were kin to the Hancocks, families who helped found the nearby communities of Alexander and Purves.
Caudle Cemetery
Dublin vicinity, TX
Once called South Bolton Cemetery, this Erath County burial ground holds its earliest marked grave from 1879, from the years the Franks family owned the land. The Caudle family bought the property in 1883, and matriarch Rebecca Clayton Caudle was buried here in 1886. Among the poignant stories is Fannie Caudle, who died on her wedding day in 1895 and was laid to rest in her bridal dress; descendants rediscovered and restored the neglected cemetery in 1997.