Clairette Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Joseph and Elizabeth Salmon packed up their children and moved to the Republic of Texas in 1839. That's the Republic, mind you, before statehood, before much of anything had been settled out this way.

They made their move to this particular stretch of Erath County in 1854, putting down roots in the kind of country that asks a lot of the people who choose it. And for a few years, by all accounts, the Salmon family was building something here. Then, in 1858, their fifteen-year-old son Albert died.

He was buried right where the family placed him, at his favorite campsite, in a grove of oak trees on the family land. Think about that for a moment. A boy who loved a particular spot well enough that his people knew, without much debate, exactly where he ought to rest.

That grove of oaks on the Salmon land became his place. Years passed. The family stayed.

And in 1876, Albert's brother, Joseph Salmon Jr., deeded the acre of land surrounding that grave site for use as a community cemetery. One boy's resting place became a place for everyone. Over the years, additional land acquisitions increased the size of the cemetery beyond that original acre.

And if you walk through Clairette Cemetery today, the diverse styles of gravestones tell you something. They reflect the pioneer heritage of the area, generation after generation, each stone a different shape, a different hand, a different story. It all started with a grove of oaks and a boy who loved a campsite.

What the marker says

Joseph and Elizabeth Salmon and their children moved to the Republic of Texas in 1839. They settled in this area in 1854. When their 15-year-old son, Albert, died in 1858, he was buried at his favorite campsite in a grove of oak trees on the family land. Albert's brother, Joseph Salmon, Jr., deeded the acre of land surrounding the grave site for use as a community cemetery in 1876. Additional land acquisitions over the years have increased the size of the cemetery. The diverse styles of gravestones found here serve as reflections of the area's pioneer heritage. (1991)