DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker at Devine Evergreen Cemetery tells it, and I'll do my best to honor every word. Now, the first thing you ought to know about this cemetery is that the fire already won round one. Sometime in the past, flames took the earliest written records — gone, just like that — and so the full story of who rests here first will never be completely told.
But what survived the fire, what folks held onto in memory and deed, is enough to send a chill down your spine on a warm Medina County afternoon. The oldest known graves belong to two men: Elisha Whitley and Henry McCray. Both killed by hostile Indians in 1872.
That's where this ground begins — not with a peaceful passing, not with old age in a rocking chair, but with violence on the Texas frontier. And they weren't alone in that fate. Another early grave belongs to Isaac Galbreath — died 1874, killed by Indians at the age of seventeen.
Seventeen years old. You let that sit a moment. His father, Thomas Galbreath, born 1823, died 1902, is buried here too.
Thomas was a Texas Ranger and a veteran of the Mexican War — that's the war of 1846 to 1848 — a man who had faced danger his whole life, and he outlived his boy. Both of them now rest in this same Medina County soil. The town of Devine itself didn't come into being until 1881, when the International and Great Northern Railroad completed a line running from San Antonio all the way down to Laredo.
The town was named for Judge Thomas J. Devine, who served as Attorney for the Railroad Company. And J.M.
Bright — born 1830 — the man who owned the land that got platted for the townsite, is also buried right here in this cemetery. The founder's ground, you might say, holds the founder. Ten years after the town took shape, in 1891, a man named P.C.
Hattox conveyed the original six and a half acres at this site — conveyed them for designation as Evergreen Cemetery. That same year, a cemetery association formed up, set to sell lots and organize volunteer clean-up days. They kept the place going through sheer community will.
Later on, additional property was acquired to allow for future expansion, because a cemetery, by its nature, always needs more room. Then came the 1960s, and the association found itself looking at a cemetery in declining condition. So they reorganized — set things up to collect voluntary donations, keep the maintenance funded, keep the grounds from being swallowed back by time and neglect.
A fire took the records. The frontier took the young. But Devine Evergreen Cemetery is still standing, still tended, still holding its ground — which, when you think about everything it's been through, is about as Texas a story as there is.
What the marker says
Although a fire destroyed the earliest written records of this burial ground, it is known that the first graves are those of Elisha Whitley and Henry McCray who were killed by hostile Indians in 1872. Another early grave is that of Isaac Galbreath (d. 1874), killed by Indians at the age of seventeen. His father, Thomas Galbreath (1823-1902), a Texas Ranger and veteran of the Mexican War (1846-48), is also interred here. The town of Devine was established in 1881 when a line of the International and Great Northern Railroad was competed from San Antonio to Laredo. It was named for Judge Thomas J. Devine who served as the Attorney for the Railroad Company. J.M. Bright (b. 1830), owner of land platted for the townsite, is buried here. In 1891 P.C. Hattox conveyed the original 6.5 acres of land at this site for designation as Evergreen Cemetery. A cemetery association, formed the same year, was set up to sell lots and direct volunteer clean-up days. Additional property was later acquired to provide for future expansion. Reorganized in the 1960s because of the declining condition of the cemetery, the association provided for the collection of voluntary donations to be used for maintenance of the grounds. 1980