DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker at Pidcoke Cemetery has to say — and friend, this one carries the full weight of a community. Now, out here in Coryell County, there's a stretch of ground that's been holding the stories of the Pidcoke and Harman communities for a long, long time. The earliest date we can pin to this cemetery is 1885 — and the reason we know that year is one of those facts that just stops you cold.
A six-year-old girl named Mattie Jeter died in a fall from a wagon, and she was laid to rest here. That's where the record begins. Not with a deed, not with a ceremony.
With a child. The formal paperwork came a little later. In 1896, two local landowners — H.
S., known as Tip, Perryman, and W. H. Belcher — deeded portions of their land to create a proper community graveyard.
And both of those families, the Perrymans and the Belchers, are themselves interred in the ground they gave. Now, the community this cemetery serves — Pidcoke — that name traces back to an English colonist, the Reverend Richard Burton Pidcocke. His sons, Hartley and Reginald, came to this area in 1857 and began a successful ranching enterprise.
Stock raising and other agricultural pursuits kept the economy going for generations, right up until 1942, when the acquisition of land for Camp Hood resulted in the relocation of many families. Just like that, a community that had put down deep roots found itself uprooted. But the cemetery remained.
And it holds within it the full arc of what that community was. Take Tip Perryman himself — a native of Arkansas who drove cattle to Kansas, served as Coryell County tax assessor from 1876 to 1886, donated land for this very cemetery, and then died in 1897, soon after making that gift. You could write a novel just about that man.
And he's not alone in remarkable company. Veterans of the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam are all buried here. Five wars, resting in the same red Texas soil.
The Pidcoke Cemetery Association has been caring for this ground since at least 1936. They've conducted a full census of the cemetery, worked to place markers on unmarked graves — making sure nobody gets forgotten — and in 1985 they acquired additional land to keep pace with the community's needs. The graveyard remains in use to this day.
Six years old, 1885. A little girl falling from a wagon. That's where this story starts.
And it hasn't ended yet.
What the marker says
Serving the rural Pidcoke and Harman communities, this cemetery dates to at least 1885, the year six-year-old Mattie Jeter was buried here after dying in a fall from a wagon. Local landowners H. S. (Tip) Perryman and W. H. Belcher formally deeded portions of their land for a community graveyard in 1896, and members of both the Perryman and Belcher families are interred here. The Pidcoke community was named for English colonist the Rev. Richard Burton Pidcocke's sons, Hartley and Reginald, who began a successful ranching enterprise in the area in 1857. Stock raising and other agricultural pursuits sustained the economy until the acquisition of land for Camp Hood in 1942 resulted in the relocation of many families. Generations of families are buried in the Pidcoke Cemetery, including that of H. S. Perryman, a native of Arkansas, who drove cattle to Kansas and served as Coryell County tax assessor (1876-1886). Perryman died in 1897, soon after donating land for the cemetery. Others interred here include veterans of the Civil War, World War I, World War Ii, Korea and Vietnam. The Pidcoke Cemetery Association, dating to at least 1936, cares for the cemetery. The association has conducted a census of the cemetery, worked to provide markers for unmarked graves and acquired additional land in 1985. The graveyard remains in use as a reminder of Pidcoke's settlement and heritage. (2001)