Sipe Springs Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker at Sipe Springs Cemetery has to say, so listen close. Somewhere around 1870, pioneers pushed into this part of Comanche County and found water seeping right up out of the ground. A spring.

And that spring gave a name to the place, though folks couldn't agree from the very start on how to spell it. You'd think a word you just pronounce like 'seep' would settle itself, but no, the controversy over the spelling was baked in from day one. Some things in Texas just come with a little built-in argument.

The town grew up around that water, and before long Sipe Springs was the milling and ginning center for the whole region. Then, in 1873, a man named Pratt Scarlett died. His death set something in motion that would matter for generations.

John C. Smith, born in 1828, gave five acres of land for a cemetery to mark the occasion. But here's the thing: the title to that land wasn't clear.

So they buried Pratt Scarlett, and they buried something else right alongside him. A large stone, carved with Scarlett's death date, was placed at the foot of his grave. Whether that was meant as a record, a marker, or just a quiet way of saying this ground means something now, the marker doesn't say.

It's just there, under the earth. The old part of the cemetery still holds plain sandstone markers over several of those early burial sites. Simple.

Honest. The kind of grave marker that doesn't ask for much. By 1890 the area residents had built a tabernacle right there at the burial ground, a gathering place planted among the graves.

They enlarged it in 1951, and it is still used today, including for the annual homecoming every July. Now, the question of who actually owned that cemetery land hung around unanswered for a good long while. Then came the winter of 1918, and with it, an oil boom.

Sipe Springs swelled to almost ten thousand people. The village that grew up around a seeping spring was suddenly a boomtown with an opera house and a professional baseball team. And right about that time, Nels and Sarah Crain finally acquired a clear title to the cemetery tract.

After all those years, the land had a proper owner. The Crains' heirs eventually gave the cemetery to the Sipe Springs Cemetery Association, and it has stayed in use ever since. Today the graveyard holds about eleven hundred and fifty grave sites, including veterans of the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts.

From a seeping spring, to a disputed deed, to a boomtown that rose and quieted, the cemetery at Sipe Springs kept receiving them all. It still does.

What the marker says

Pioneers settled this area about 1870, after finding water seeping from a spring. There was controversy from the beginning over the correct spelling of the name, which is pronounced "seep." The town soon grew into a milling and ginning center for this region. Upon the death of Pratt Scarlett in 1873, John C. Smith (1828-1907) gave five acres for a cemetery, but the title was not clear. A large stone carved with Scarlett's death date was buried at the foot of his grave. Several burial sites in the old part of the cemetery have plain sandstone markers. In 1890 the area residents built a tabernacle at the burial ground. Enlarged in 1951, it is still used for gatherings such as the annual homecoming in July. An oil boom came to Sipe Springs in the winter of 1918 and the village grew to almost 10,000. The town boasted an opera house and a professional baseball team. About that time Nels and Sarah Crain acquired a clear title to the cemetery tract. Their heirs gave it to the Sipe Springs Cemetery Association. The graveyard is still in use today with about 1150 grave sites including veterans from the Civil War and Spanish-American War; World War I, World War II; and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. (1978)