Veales Creek Cemetery
Breckenridge vicinity, Stephens County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The naming of this creek can be attributed to the Veal/Veale brothers from Palo Pinto county, who came to this area in the late 1850s to join in the roundup of unclaimed texas cattle. Though the Veale brothers were active in this area, they eventually settled south of Caddo. Located in an area known as Yanceyville, the Veales Creek Cemetery is comprised of land received in three separate land gifts. In 1891, George Washington Tompkins (1841-1916) and his wife, Jemima C. (Layne) Tompkins (1843-1917), gifted two acres of land to the community for a public cemetery. In 1940, and again in 1983, Judge C.J. O’Connor (1893-1979) and his family moved his property’s fence line to give the public better access to the cemetery. The Veales Creek School (also known as Cedar Creek or Sorghum Flat School), situated near the cemetery, served the community and cemetery for many years until its closure in 1947. The general landscape of the Veales Creek Cemetery is traditional with sandstone, granite, marble, and metal grave markers, and a variety of natural vegetation surrounded by a wrought iron fence. The earliest dated headstones indicate burials as early as the mid-1870s, including the grave of an unknown traveler who died sometime between 1876 and 1878. The earliest marked grave in the original cemetery is that of little Laura Copeland from 1879. Among the many pioneering families interred at this cemetery, there are veterans of the Civil War, WW I, WW II, the Korean War, and Vietnam. The Veales Creek Cemetery Association formed in 1979 by descendants of the pioneer families buried in the cemetery, and continues to care for the cemetery and serve the community.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Named for the Veale brothers who came from Palo Pinto County in the late 1850s to round up unclaimed Texas cattle, this creek and its cemetery mark an early pioneer settlement in Stephens County. Beginning with a two-acre gift in 1891 and marked graves dating to 1879, the burial ground served the community alongside the nearby Veales Creek School until 1947. Among those laid to rest here are veterans of the Civil War through Vietnam, and a descendants' association has cared for the grounds since 1979.
Why it matters
Pioneer cemeteries like this one preserve the family names, faiths, and shared sacrifices that turned open cattle country into settled American communities.
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Related people
- · George Washington Tompkins
- · Jemima C. Layne Tompkins
Themes & tags
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