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Pyle Prairie Cemetery
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Kemp, Kaufman Co. Cemeteries of TX
Submitted by Jill Pyle
I’ve lived in Texas for almost 40 years, but am not descended from any of the Pyles buried in this cemetery. We are, however all descended from the same Pyle: John Pyle b 1723 in Chester Co., PA and wife, Sarah Baldwin b 1726 in Hartford, MD. For years, I had been told there were a number of Pyles in East Texas and that there was a cemetery there. It took me three trips and a number of years to find it and I felt kind of silly when I finally did. There is a sign on FM 148 directing you right to it. It’s a lovely little country cemetery on top of a hill at the end of a long winding country road, with a fantastic view of the area. It is on the East side of Cedar Creek Lake.
While there, I walked the entire cemetery and photographed every gravestone that I could find with the name of Pyle and did my best to transcribe what was on the stone. They are old and deteriorated making them difficult to read; I’m sure I misread several of them. I’m sure other names there are also Pyles, but since I did not have genealogy information on them, I wasn’t able to tell them from the others. It is a community cemetery with many people in the community buried there and appears is still being used as I saw what seemed to be a grave being opened. The last Pyle to be buried there that I could find was in 1990.
The following information helped me locate the cemetery and I’ve noted the contributor and the website where it is located. There are photos and transcriptions on that site as well. It seems they found a few Pyles I missed. Additionally, I noticed while there and on this site there are number of Martins. Since that is a part of my family tree as well, I’m curious whether the names were transcribed as community members, or if they are also related to the Pyles in some way.
I have left the names in the order I found them as I walked through the cemetery starting at the gate, moving through the right hand side, across the back and then up the left hand side and back to the gate. The cemetery is not laid out chronologically as you might expect. Newer graves are placed next to very old ones, which indicates some kind of allocating for future generations.
While the cemetery is not “convenient” to my home, I would be willing to go back and photograph additional gravestones by request. Jill.pyle@sbcglobal.net
(this information copied from website: http://www.cemeteries-of-tx.com/Etx/Kaufman/cemetery/Pyles.htm Submitted by Jo Ann Pipkin Londot
Directions: Take Hwy 175 east toward Kaufman. Stay on this highway all the way past Kaufman to Kemp and turn right on Hwy 274. Continue to Hwy 148, turn right. The Kings Creek Country Club is located at that corner. Stay on 148 for 4 miles and turn right on FM 4059. Cemetery at the end of the road.
John Pyle a veteran of the Republic of Texas Army arrived in this area with his family in the 1850s. According to Family Tradition this cemetery was begun in 1854, with the death of Pyle’s son-in-law J. P. McFarland. The community, which grew up in this area, was known as Pyle’s Prairie and the family graveyard eventually became a community cemetery as friends and neighbors were interred here. Family names on the tombstones reflect the pioneer heritage of the area. Descendants of those pioneer families maintain the cemetery. (this is the information on the Historical Marker)
A.T. Wife of J. J. Pyle 1840_1901
Delia Pyle Daughter of Wils and SF 187-1891
Elizabeth Pyle Wife of John Pyle 1880
Eliza J W Wife of J.M. Pyle 1831-1905
James Temple Pyle Son of WJ and MJ Pyle 1898-1900
Jesse Son of JM and EJ Pyle 1882-1900
John Pyle 1796-1869 (Private, Texas Volunteers – Indian Wars)
Marsalis Son of J.M. and E.J. Pyle 1883-1883
N. J. Pyle Wife of J. J. Pyle 1872-1905
Wils Pyle 1860-1908 Entire Stone
Wm Oscar Pyle 1891-1966 and Amelia Pyle 1902-1990 (husband and wife buried together)
MankeDaughterOfJMandEJPyle1895-1895
Infant Daughter of ____ Pyle 1878-1878 (my guess is that this child is also of JM and EJ, the two Infant Daughter stones were located next to each other)
Infant Daughter of J.M. and E.J. Pyle 1881
