Indian Creek Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna pass it along to you. Out here in Erath County, there's a piece of ground that's been holding stories a good while longer than most folks realize. Indian Creek Cemetery.

And the story starts, as so many Texas stories do, with land changing hands and a community putting down roots. A husband and wife, R. B. and R.

L. Venable, deeded the original property, and they didn't deed it for just one purpose. They set it aside for cemetery, church, and school use, all three.

That's a community making plans. That's people thinking past themselves. Later on, W.

L. Moody added more acreage, and so did J. H.

Hyman, and the ground grew to hold what it needed to hold. The cemetery served the residents of Selden and others who lived in the surrounding area, and when you walk it today, you see what generations of care looks like. Interior fencing, curbing, vertical stones, fraternal markers, statuary.

The place has got presence. The oldest dated interment goes back to 1871, though the marker notes there may well be earlier burials resting there without a date to speak for them. Among those buried here are veterans of military conflicts going all the way back to the Civil War.

Let that sit with you a moment. Then in 1959, the Indian Creek Cemetery Corporation formed, and that organization continues to care for the burial ground to this day. The marker calls it a testament to the early pioneers who settled along Indian Creek, and I'd say that's exactly right.

Some testaments are written in words. Some are kept in ground.

What the marker says

This burial ground, which served residents of Selden and others who lived in the area, started on property deeded by husband and wife R. B. an R. L. Venable for cemetery, church and school use. Later, additional acreage was deeded by W. L. Moody and by J. H. Hyman. The oldest dated interment here is from 1871, though there may be earlier burials. The cemetery features interior fencing, curbing, vertical stones, fraternal markers and statuary. Burials include veterans of military conflicts dating to the Civil War. The Indian Creek Cemetery Corporation, which formed in 1959, continues to care for the burial ground, which remains as a testament to the early pioneers who settled along Indian Creek. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2009