There are 25 currently known veterans at
Western Heights Cemetery, including at least 15 from the Civil War, with five
of those being Union soldiers.
Veterans
graves, with or without permanent marker, are indicated by a flag holder with a
medallion, the veterans name, and a QR code.
The medallion indicates the war served in. Scanning the QR code will give you the
biography and a photo of the veteran. (7/25/25 the flag holders are temporarily
out for reprinting of the QR codes. They
will be back soon. You can still do the walking tour in their absence.)
For
veterans with missing permanent markers the "near" indication below
shows the placement of the flag holder near a family member's grave, if known.
—-- 1-
Chester Matthews Wright Section
A6, grave 19.1 Born
1884 in Glen Rose, Somervell County, Texas Died
1935 in Dallas (aged 51)
U.S.
Army veteran of World War I. Assigned to the 115th Field Signal Battalion,
Medical Detachment. After Chet’s service in the Army, he returned to Dallas and
worked as a shipping clerk in a candy factory. He and his wife had five
children.
Wright's
wife Dora Reeves McCown is also buried in the cemetery, according to her death
certificate, but her location is unmarked. Their two adult children are buried
in other Dallas cemeteries.
—-- 2-
Edward King Garrison Section
A6, grave 12.2 Born
1891 in Waco, Texas Died
February 2, 1937 in Houston (aged 46)
Known
as Doc to his friends, Garrison was a maker of wicker furniture. During WWI, he
was stationed at Camp Travis, Texas – one of 16 U.S. Army National Guard camps
created for the Great War – and was a wagoner in the 85th Infantry, Supply
Company.
Garrison
died in Houston on February 2, 1937, at the age of 46 after tragically falling
out of a moving car. His wife Lillie Leona Gage Garrison and their five adult
children are buried in other Dallas cemeteries.
—-- 3-
Robert James Lowry Section
C4, grave 16.2 Born
1836 in Franklin County, Mississippi Died
1921 in Dallas (aged 85)
Lowry
was a Confederate soldier in the Civil War serving in Company C of the Arkansas
3rd Infantry Regiment, Hood's Texas Brigade.
This
long-serving Arkansas regiment fought in some of the most famous Civil War
engagements including the Battles of Harpers Ferry, Antietam, Fredericksburg,
Gettysburg, Chickamauga, and the Appomattox Campaign. The war extracted a
massive toll on the regiment, which started with 1,353 men, and ended the
conflict with 144. Of the 154 men in Company C, Lowry was one of only 13
survivors left when it was surrendered at Appomattox Court House.
Lowry
died in 1921 at the age of 85, and is the fourth oldest veteran in the
cemetery. He is buried next to his
second wife Mary Smith Lowry. His first wife and their nine children are buried
elsewhere.
—-- 4-
Louis Lee Looney Section
C3, grave 5.1 Born
1919 in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma Died
1943 in Parris Island, South Carolina (aged 24)
Born
in 1919 The third of six children, Looney joined the National Guard in 1940. He
died in 1943 in the U.S. Navy Hospital at Parris Island, South Carolina, when
he was 24 years old. The cause of death on his death certificate is listed as
"to be determined." He was survived by his parents and all five
siblings.
—-- 5-
Rev. James Benjamin Bennett Marker
missing Buried
near Mary Jane Bennett Blackburn, Section A4 grave 21.3 Born
1831 in Mississippi Died
1914 in Forth Worth(aged 83)
Born
in Mississippi in 1931, Bennett was a Methodist Circuit Rider – also known at
the time as horse preachers – and Confederate soldier in the Civil War. He served in Company B of the Texas 20th
Infantry Regiment, which was assigned to guard the Sabine River and to protect
the city of Galveston. The regiment saw little action until the Battle of
Galveston in January of 1863, in which the men served with distinction. The
regiment was surrendered on May 26, 1865, at New Orleans.
Bennett
died in 1914 at the age of 83. His wife, Sarah Jane Huffman, is also buried in
the cemetery, as is one of their eight children, Mary Jane Bennett Blackburn,
along with her husband Russell P. Blackburn.
—-- 6-
Larkin Manes Jr. Section
C3, grave 1.1 Born
1843 in Tennessee Died
1930 in Dallas (aged 87)
Born
in 1843 in Tennessee as the sixth of nine children, Manes has the unique
distinction of being a Civil War veteran who served for both the Confederate and Union armies. He
was conscripted into the Confederate forces in the summer of 1862 and then
received a furlough at the end of the year. This is when he made his move to
join the Union.
"I
stayed home as long as it was safe for me to stay on that furlough, and then I
went to Springfield, Missouri, with a recruiting officer and joined the Federal
Army,” Manes said. On July 20, 1863, at the age of 20, he joined the 2nd
Arkansas Cavalry Regiment, Company D, one of 11 Arkansas regiments that served
in the Union Army.
After
the war, Manes married Henrietta Josephine Chenowth in Arkansas in 1868, and
they had 4 children. He is the third oldest of the 25 known veterans buried
here, dying in Dallas in 1930 at the age of 87.
His wife died 2 years later at age 79 and is buried nearby, as is her
mother.
—-- 7-
Augustus Brown Section
B1, grave 14.1 Born
1833 in Maryland Died
1893 in Dallas (aged 59)
Brown
was a Civil War veteran and served in the Confederate Army as a member of the
2nd Texas Cavalry Regiment. Some time after the war he continued his military
service, this time with the U.S. Army’s 9th Cavalry Regiment, Company B and was
stationed at Ringgold Barracks (later Fort Ringgold) in Rio Grande City, Texas.
Brown was one of the few white soldiers assigned to the famous Buffalo Soldiers
regiment as an officer tasked with training duties.
Brown
died in 1893 at the age of 59. His wife Emma Wood Brown is buried here, but
their seven adult children are buried in other Dallas cemeteries.
—-- 8-
Charles Westley Weir Section
B2, grave 12.3 Born
1872 in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana Died
1923 in Dallas (aged 50)
A
veteran of WWI, Weir served in the U.S. Army 2nd Motor Mechanics Regiment,
Signal Corps. After his military service, he worked as a driver for Texas Ice
& Delivery Co., and then for a dairy.His wife is buried here as are two of their six children: Mary Bell Weir
Coin, and an infant daughter. Two grandchildren are also buried here; Roy Leon
Coin, Jr. and Ray Kenneth Coin.
—-- 9-
Thomas A. Leatherman Jr. Section
C2, grave 13.2 Born
1925 in Texas Died
1946 in Longview, Texas (aged 21 years)
Leatherman
joined the U.S. Navy Reserve at the age of 17 in November 1942, and served
until December 1945, achieving the rank of Aviation Machinist's Mate 3rd Class.
After his discharge, he was a metal worker in Dallas. He tragically died in a
car accident in 1946 at the age of 21.
Many members of the Leatherman family are buried here including both of
his parents and his mother's father, Albert Thewlis.
—-- 10-
Carr B. Robertson Section
C2, grave 11.1 Born
1892 Aullville, Lafayette County, Missouri Died
1928 in Dallas (aged 36)
Robertson
is a veteran of WWI and served in the U.S. Army’s 80th Field Artillery Regiment
Battery F, shipping out from New Jersey in August 1918.
He
worked as a truck driver after his return to Dallas. He died in 1928 of a
fractured skull after being struck on the head with a sugar bowl. His father
Edward Payne Robertson is also buried here.
—-- 11-
William Thomas Tuggle Section
D3, grave 6.2 Born
1843 in Missouri Died
1925 in Dallas (aged 82)
Tuggle
fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War and was a member of Walker's
Division and Young's Regiment. He was born in Missouri in 1843 and lived in
Dallas for 78 years until he died in 1925 at the age of 82. His wife Mary Ellen
Cole Tuggle is buried here and, according to her marker, was the first
surviving non-native girl born in Dallas County. They had nine children, three
of whom are also buried here: Dee Wilton Tuggle, William W. Tuggle, and Cora
Elnora Tuggle Brannon.
—-- 12-
Andrew Ezekiel Williams Marker
missing Buried
near Sadie Ruth Lytle Walker, Section E3, grave 15.2 Born
1847 in Philadelphia Died
1914 in Hutchins, Texas (aged 66)
Williams
was born in Philadelphia in 1847 to German immigrants and was one of three
brothers. He worked as a button maker
before serving the Union Army in the Civil War as a member of Company A, 2nd
Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, the largest regiment to serve in the Union Army.
In
1873 he married America Sidney Dial and they had nine children in 20 years
before divorcing in 1893. He died in
1914 at the age of 66. His daughter
Margaret E “Maggie” Williams Lytle; granddaughters Dorothy Maybelle English and
Sadie Ruth Lytle Walker; and a stillborn great-grandchild are also buried here.
—-- 13-
Enos W. Walker Marker
missing Possibly
buried near Enos M. Walker, Section E3, grave 24.1 Born
1846 Died
1912 in Dallas (aged 66)
A
veteran of the Civil War, Walker enlisted with the Union Army’s 76th New York
Infantry Regiment in 1863. He was later reassigned to Company D of the 147th
New York Volunteers, which participated in the Siege of Petersburg, Virginia, a
major battle in the campaign to take the capital of Richmond.
He
married Mary Margaret Berry in 1871 and they had three children before she died
in 1882. Two of the children died young
and the third, Julian, moved to Dallas in 1896 with his wife Mamie Canifax (or
Cannefox). Walker married Emma Catherine
Bates in 1886 and they had a son, Roy Willington Walker. He died in Dallas in
1912 of fractured ribs at the age of 66, outliving his first wife and all three
of their children. Unfortunately we have no known marker or burial location for
Walker. His son Julian (who died in 1900), daughter-in-law Sadie Ruth (married
to Roy Willington Walker), and grandchildren Ruth and Enos M Walker are all
buried in a north-south line in the central left section of the cemetery, and
Enos W Walker may be buried nearby.
—-- 14-
William M. Bullock Marker
missing Buried
near Mary E. Lucas Winfrey, Section F3, grave 14.1 Born
1843 in Chambers County, Alabama Died
1901 in Dallas(aged 58)
Bullock
served in the Civil War as a Confederate soldier first with Clark's Regiment
until it was disbanded, and then with the First Texas Partisan Rangers. He was severely wounded in Arkansas, and
after his recovery he served in the Quartermasters Department. At the end of
the war he was an orderly to General Kirby Smith and delivered the papers of
surrender to the Federal commander. Bullock died in 1901 at the age of 58. His
wife Martha Jane is also buried here.
—-- 15-
Richard Braxton Woods Marker
missing Buried
near Ora Myrtle Woods Morris, Section F2, grave 20.2 Born
1840 Clay County, Missouri Died
1925 in Dallas (aged 84)
Woods
was a Confederate soldier, enlisting on January 10, 1862 and serving in
Missouri Calvary Co. D. He served until the War was over. He had moved to
Dallas by 1904 and was farming. He also worked briefly as a janitor for the
West Dallas Public Schools. His wife Nancie Francis Proffitt is
buried here, as is her father Pleasant W. Proffitt. Ora Myrtle Wood Morris, one
of the couple’s five children, is also buried here. At 84 years of age at the
time of his death, Woods is the fifth oldest Civil War veteran in the cemetery.
—-- 16-
Addison Franklin Pate Marker
missing Buried
near Melissa Jane Hudspeth Pate Section G3, grave 2.1 Born
1834 in Weakly County, Tennessee Died
1927 Duncan, Oklahoma(aged 92)
Pate
was a Confederate Civil War veteran who served three years with the 23rd Texas
Cavalry Regiment, Company F. The 1896 Dallas directory shows him employed as a
medicine manufacturer. At the time he applied for his Confederate Army pension
in 1899, he had been working as a farmer. He died in 1927 at the age of
92 and is the second oldest of the 25 known veterans buried here. His wife
Melissa Jane Hudspeth Pate is also buried here.
—-- 17-
John C. Murphy Marker
missing Born
1844 in Jasper, Missouri Died
1909 in Bivins, Cass County, Texas
Murphy
was a Confederate Civil War veteran who served with 1st Battalion, Texas
Sharpshooters (also known as Burnett's Battalion). He married in Illinois but
was in Dallas by 1880 and was farming. By 1900, when he was 56, he worked as a
day laborer. He and his wife had seven children.
—-- 18-
William E. Vernon Marker
missing Born
1843 in Missouri Died
January 29, 1911 in Dallas (aged 67 or 68)
Vernon
was a Confederate Civil War veteran who served with the 9th Missouri Infantry
Regiment, Company K. After his service, he returned to Missouri and worked as a
farmer, married and had one son. By 1882 he had moved to Comanche County,
Texas, and then to Dallas by 1903, where he worked as a carpenter. In 1909 and
1910 he worked as a grocer on Eagle Ford Road in West Dallas. Upon his death in
1911, his obituary identified him as “Dr. W. E. Vernon” and said that he was
known as the “Blind Specialist,” but no record has been found of any medical
training.
—-- 19-
Jacob Clifton Walker
Marker
missing Born
1837 in North Carolina Died
June 30, 1913 in Dallas (aged 75 or 76)
Walker
is the only known Spanish-American War veteran buried here. He served in the
U.S. Army’s 2nd Volunteer Texas Infantry Regiment, Company G. This unit was
raised in Dallas during the Spanish-American War and participated in stateside
military operations without seeing foreign combat. He and his wife had six
children. After the war he farmed in both Lamar and Bell Counties in Texas. By
1910 he had been widowed and lived with his youngest son in Coleman County. He
then moved to Dallas to live with his son William, at whose home he died.
William is also buried here.
—-- 20-
Martin Barnett Claunch Section
G4, grave 5.1 Born
1842 in Alabama Died
1907 inDallas(aged 64)
Claunch
was a Civil War veteran who fought for the Union in the 1st Louisiana Infantry Regiment, Company F. He had moved to Texas by 1870, but did not
arrive in Dallas until about 1904. He was a member of the Ancient Order of
United Workmen (AOUW) His wife Rachel L Ivy Claunch, who outlived him by 20
years, is buried here next to him.
—-- 21-
Henry Elam Mills Section
G5, grave 4.1 Born
1872 in Texas Died
1933 in Dallas(aged 50)
Mills
lived in Dallas his entire life, his mother being a member of the pioneer
Coombes family. He served as an Army Field Clerk, which is the predecessor rank
to warrant officer. A bachelor, he worked as a postal clerk for eight years
prior to his 1933 death. His parents Robert Joseph Mills and Elfleda Ellis
Coombes Mills are buried here, along with brothers Robert Allen Mills and Henry
Elam Mills; sisters Florence Ruby Mills and Lillian Ivy Mills; and grandfather
William Holmes Mills, who was also a veteran.
—-- 22-
William Holmes Mills Section
G6, grave 1.1 Born
1809 in Kentucky Died
1903 in Dallas (aged 94)
The
owner of the earliest birth date on any existing marker in the cemetery, Mills
was a Union Civil War veteran who served with the 27th Kentucky Infantry
Regiment, Company C. His son Ferdinand also enlisted in Kentucky, but as a
Confederate soldier. His son Robert had moved to Dallas by 1874 and that may be
what spurred the widowed William to move here. Aged 94 at the time of his
death in 1903, he is the oldest of the 25 known veterans buried here. His son
Robert Joseph Mills is also buried here, as are three of Robert's six children:
Robert Allen Mills, Florence Ruby Mills, Henry Elam Mills, and Lillian Ivy
Mills.
—-- 23-
Zachariah Coombes Section
F6, grave 18.1 Born
March 30, 1833, in Nelson County, Kentucky Died
November 25, 1895, in Dallas (aged 62)
Coombes
and his family came to Dallas in 1843 as early members of the Peters Colony. In
1856 he married Rebecca Finch Bedford and the couple had nine children.
In
1862 he joined the Confederate Army as a member of the 31st Texas Cavalry
Regiment and was promoted to captain of Company G the same year. After the war
Coombes was elected county judge of Dallas County in the 1866 election, but was
removed along with other Dallas County officials the following year as
“impediments to Reconstruction.”
In
1870 Coombes began a successful law practice and developed a long-running
political career. He was an alderman of Dallas in 1871, a delegate to the state
Democratic convention in May 1884, and a member of the state House of
Representatives in 1885. Filling in for the Grand Master of the Masons in
Texas, Zachariah laid the 12,000 pound cornerstone of the Texas State Capitol
in Austin on March 2nd, 1885, the 49th anniversary of Texas independence. He became Grand Master the following year.
He
died in 1895 at age 62. His son William Nelson Coombes, also a judge, is buried
here as are Zachariah's first wife Rebecca Finch Bedford Coombes and his first
son, stillborn in 1857. His second wife Louise Harriett Coleman Coombes is
buried in Austin.
—-- 24-
Henry Carl Struck, Sr. Section
D6, grave 19.1 Born
1890 in Texas Died
1955 in Dallas (aged 65)
Struck
was born in Dallas and lived there for most of his life. A veteran of WWI, he
attended Texas A&M College. He began working as a real estate developer and
realtor. He was a member of American Legion Post 275. Also buried here are his
parents Heinrich F. Struck and Anna Maria Salomon Struck; his wife Hazel Heist
Struck and three of their children; and Hazel’s parents.
—-- 25-
Raymond Alderson Griffith
Section
C6, grave 4.2 Born
1928 in Pennsylvania Died
1960in Dallas (aged 31)
Griffith
was a Private First Class in the Marine Corps just after WWII from February
1946 to November 1947, enlisting one month before his 18th birthday.
In
1950, while he was working as a postman in Dallas, he married Gloria Mae
“Doddie” Sanford-Bassett. They had one son, Stephen, in 1951. Griffith died in
1960 at the age of 31. His mother Donna
Floreine Walton Griffith is buried here as are her parents and her brother,
Robert Nelson Walton.
