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Texas Graveyards: A Cultural Legacy
Where more poignantly than in a small country graveyard can a traveler fathom the flow of history and tradition? During the past twenty years, Terry G. Jordan has traveled the back roads and hidden trails of rural Texas in search of such cemeteries. With camera in hand, he has visited more than one thousand cemeteries created and maintained by the Anglo-American, black, Indian, Mexican, and German settlers of Texas. His discoveries of sculptured stones and mounds, hex signs and epitaphs, intricate landscapes and unusual decorations represent a previously unstudied and unappreciated wealth of Texas folk art and tradition. Texas Graveyards not only marks the distinct ethnic and racial traditions in burial practices but also preserves a Texas legacy endangered by changing customs, rural depopulation, vandalism, and the erosion of time.
160 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1982
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About the author
Terry G. Jordan-Bychkov
37 books1 followerTERRY GILBERT JORDAN-BYCHKOV
Past president of the Association of American Geographers, died at his home in Austin, Texas, on 16 October 2003, from pancreatic cancer. (In recognition of his 1997 marriage, he began using the name Terry G. Jordan-Bychkov as his professional nom de plume, while retaining his birth name for other purposes). Born in Dallas in 1938 as a sixth generation Texan, Terry earned his master's degree from the University of Texas at Austin (where he met Walter Prescott Webb) and a doctorate from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. His dissertation was later published as German Seed in Texas Soil: Immigrant Farmers in Nineteenth-Century Texas (1966). This was to be the first of fifteen authored or co-authored books and textbooks published during his lifetime. These include The Upland South: The Making of an American Folk Region and Landscape (2003); The American Backwoods Frontier: an Ethnic and Ecological Interpretation (with M. Kaups, 1989), one of a handful of books that offer a truly original interpretation of the American identity; and The Human Mosaic: A Thematic Introduction to Cultural Geography (nine editions 1976-2003, with Mona Domosh and Lester Rowntree), a classic textbook. At the time of his death he had completed field research in sixty-five countries, reflected in books and journal articles focused on Australia, Siberia, and the European source regions of Texas folk culture. A book expressing his view of the discipline, My Kind of Geography, is forthcoming. Terry was elected President of the Association of American Geographers (1987-88) and also received the AAG Honors Award in 1982 and Distinguished Scholar Award from the AAG American Ethnic Geography Specialty Group. For many years he chaired the geography department at the University of North Texas before joining the Department of Geography at the University of Texas at Austin in 1982 as the Walter Prescott Webb Professor of History and Ideas. He received awards for his work from the Pioneer America Society, National Cowboy Hall of Fame, Texas State Historical Association, Texas Heritage Council, American Association for State and Local History, and the Agricultural History Society. He was elected a member of the Texas Institute of Letters, and a Fellow of the Texas State Historical Association. Sessions in Terry’s honor have been organized by his students for the 2004 AAG Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. In accordance with his family’s wishes, donations in Terry’s name may be may be made to the UT Department of Geography and sent to the Department of Geography, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712.
Past president of the Association of American Geographers, died at his home in Austin, Texas, on 16 October 2003, from pancreatic cancer. (In recognition of his 1997 marriage, he began using the name Terry G. Jordan-Bychkov as his professional nom de plume, while retaining his birth name for other purposes). Born in Dallas in 1938 as a sixth generation Texan, Terry earned his master's degree from the University of Texas at Austin (where he met Walter Prescott Webb) and a doctorate from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. His dissertation was later published as German Seed in Texas Soil: Immigrant Farmers in Nineteenth-Century Texas (1966). This was to be the first of fifteen authored or co-authored books and textbooks published during his lifetime. These include The Upland South: The Making of an American Folk Region and Landscape (2003); The American Backwoods Frontier: an Ethnic and Ecological Interpretation (with M. Kaups, 1989), one of a handful of books that offer a truly original interpretation of the American identity; and The Human Mosaic: A Thematic Introduction to Cultural Geography (nine editions 1976-2003, with Mona Domosh and Lester Rowntree), a classic textbook. At the time of his death he had completed field research in sixty-five countries, reflected in books and journal articles focused on Australia, Siberia, and the European source regions of Texas folk culture. A book expressing his view of the discipline, My Kind of Geography, is forthcoming. Terry was elected President of the Association of American Geographers (1987-88) and also received the AAG Honors Award in 1982 and Distinguished Scholar Award from the AAG American Ethnic Geography Specialty Group. For many years he chaired the geography department at the University of North Texas before joining the Department of Geography at the University of Texas at Austin in 1982 as the Walter Prescott Webb Professor of History and Ideas. He received awards for his work from the Pioneer America Society, National Cowboy Hall of Fame, Texas State Historical Association, Texas Heritage Council, American Association for State and Local History, and the Agricultural History Society. He was elected a member of the Texas Institute of Letters, and a Fellow of the Texas State Historical Association. Sessions in Terry’s honor have been organized by his students for the 2004 AAG Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. In accordance with his family’s wishes, donations in Terry’s name may be may be made to the UT Department of Geography and sent to the Department of Geography, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 27, 2025
Informative and entertaining guide to the three main types of cemetery found in older Texas towns: the Southern style, Mexican, and immigrant German. Well-written, if somewhat eccentrically, and informative with many illustrations of particularly interesting grave markers from across the state. I've taken a number of graveyard strolls in Texas and I wish I'd read this book years ago because it would have improved my understanding of the burial customs of a century or more ago. Most interesting to me are the indications of pre-Christian belief conveyed in the inscriptions and the grave positions. I don't know if the author's tendency to find evidence of the prehistoric Magna Mater in some of the practices has any validity but it's a nice thought. Sadly and ironically, this book is also something of an epitaph for graveyards that have almost certainly fallen to neglect and vandalism in the decades since the book was published.
All things truly must pass.
All things truly must pass.
October 28, 2024
i would like to thank you mr jordan-bychkov for the invaluable work you've done that has supported my senior thesis, and i would also like to prove to my audience of five people on good reads that i DO read things i promise
June 6, 2011
Although this book focuses on folk art rather than statuary, although it’s only illustrated in black-and-white on non-glossy pages and its two-column layout—followed by pages of footnotes -- seems intimidating and overly academic -- this is the most fascinating cemetery book I’ve come across in a long time.
Chock-full of interesting tidbits, Texas Graveyards ties the burial practices of underclass Texans into a web of African, pre-Christian European, and Native American traditions. Texans, both black and white, have a tradition of scraping their graveyards down to the bare dirt. Jordan relates this to practices found on the West African slave coast. In addition, many Texan graveyards offer picnic tables where visitors can hold potlucks on “decoration day,” an event where the community gathers to clean the cemetery.
Jordan digests a clearly vast amount of research into a very readable and fast-moving text, liberally illustrated by his own photos. He explains hex signs on German American graves, describes ornate ironwork and curbing, analyzes grave offerings, and translates epitaphs. In one of my favorite passages, Jordan discusses the meaning of common graveyard landscaping, such as lilies or evergreens (“‘Evergreen’ is the 4th most popular cemetery name in the United States and ranks 1st for graveyards established before 1914”).
Whether you live in or travel to Texas, or a simply interested in an anthropological explanation of burial rituals in the American South and Southwest, this book is highly recommended.
This review comes from Morbid Curiosity #6.
Chock-full of interesting tidbits, Texas Graveyards ties the burial practices of underclass Texans into a web of African, pre-Christian European, and Native American traditions. Texans, both black and white, have a tradition of scraping their graveyards down to the bare dirt. Jordan relates this to practices found on the West African slave coast. In addition, many Texan graveyards offer picnic tables where visitors can hold potlucks on “decoration day,” an event where the community gathers to clean the cemetery.
Jordan digests a clearly vast amount of research into a very readable and fast-moving text, liberally illustrated by his own photos. He explains hex signs on German American graves, describes ornate ironwork and curbing, analyzes grave offerings, and translates epitaphs. In one of my favorite passages, Jordan discusses the meaning of common graveyard landscaping, such as lilies or evergreens (“‘Evergreen’ is the 4th most popular cemetery name in the United States and ranks 1st for graveyards established before 1914”).
Whether you live in or travel to Texas, or a simply interested in an anthropological explanation of burial rituals in the American South and Southwest, this book is highly recommended.
This review comes from Morbid Curiosity #6.
December 19, 2016
I have been paying attention to Texas cemeteries since the early 80s which is around the time this book was written. This isn't exactly what I was looking for but it was still interesting. The author is coming from a scholarly cultural geography perspective. He studied cemetery layout and handmade grave markers (materials, craftsmanship, decoration, epitaphs...) across various religions and ethnic groups represented in rural folk cemeteries. Highlighted are Mexican, German, and what he terms "Southern Folk" (a conglomeration of African, Amerindian, and Anglo/Protestant) burial grounds. I bet if this research had been conducted now that we have access to the Internet, it could have been a more thorough catalogue. I understand he spent 20 years surveying cemeteries but Texas is a big place. I appreciate the work done and the plea made for preservation. I wasn't convinced of some of the conclusions drawn about possible ancient sources of ritual and symbolism. It could be true but felt like a big jump in some cases.
October 22, 2014
Interesting subject. Second reading after much time has passed. I do think some of the author's conclusions are too hastily drawn. Overall I enjoyed it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews