Tyra Graveyard-Murray Community Cemetery
Murray, Young County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Pioneer residents of this area called their community Fish Creek until 1880, when a U.S. Post Office was established and named for the local postmaster, J.J. Murray. This cemetery dates to May 6, 1884, when the infant child of Russell and Rosa Bell Hart Tyra died and was buried on land set aside by grandparents Jesse V. and Martha Jane Higgins Tyra. A few months later, the infant child of neighbors John W. and Leona Walsh died and was buried here with the Tyra baby. J.V. and Martha Tyra officially donated the acre of land surrounding the graves for a public neighborhood graveyard in 1898. In later years, descendants of the pioneer Price and Dozier families donated additional land to increase the size of the graveyard to two acres. Among the interments here are those of many early settlers of this are of Young County. A large number of deaths between 1900 and 1919 are believed to be due to the worldwide influenza epidemic of that time period. Also buried here are veterans of the Civil War, Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, and Vietnam. Maintained by the Murray Community Cemetery Association, the graveyard remains a visible reminder of the community’s heritage. (1992)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Pioneers called this settlement Fish Creek until 1880, when a post office took the name of local postmaster J.J. Murray. The community cemetery began in 1884 with the burial of two neighbors' infants on land set aside by the Tyra family, formally donated in 1898 and later enlarged by the Price and Dozier families. Its graves tell the community's story — a cluster of deaths around the 1918 influenza pandemic, and veterans of conflicts from the Civil War through Vietnam.
Why it matters
The graveyard is a layered record of an American pioneer community, marking both the global flu pandemic and generations of wartime service across a century.
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Related people
- · J.J. Murray
- · Jesse V. Tyra
- · Martha Jane Higgins Tyra
Related events
- · 1918 influenza pandemic
Themes & tags
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