Detailed Grave Information
Note: In some cases, there may be conflicts with birth and death dates from other sources. If so, the date as engraved on the gravestone is shown in addition to the date from other sources. There may also be additional information given about any conflicts. The abbreviation CB means the 1985 Cemetery Books and CC means the 2017 Cemetery Committee. In most cases, the 1985 Cemetery Books are more reliable unless noted otherwise. If you have a photo of the grave, please submit it to us and we will include it on this page.
BCHC ID NUMBER: 6100CEMETERY: Dees grave
PERSON BURIED: John DEES NAME AS ENGRAVED ON MARKER: unmarked grave; a gravestone does not exist
BIRTH DATE: 1839 (grave is unmarked; date is from other sources)
DEATH DATE: 1872 (grave is unmarked; date is from other sources)
CONFLICTING INFORMATION: CB gives death around 1872. FAG gives death in 1871.
NOTES: Many stories are told of cowboys killed on the cattle drives of the 1870's through Bosque County and buried on the spot. This one is a little different. Thomas O'Connor was on a cattle drive for his uncle, Dennis O'Connor of Victoria. While passing through Bosque County about 1872 near the residence of a man named King, about twenty miles east of Meridian, a quarrel occurred between him and his boss, John Dees, and the latter was killed. Dees was buried nearby. The exact location is not known but was somewhere near the Towash-Clifton Road, and the Towash-Meridian road and the house of the King, probably the King who named King Creek. As late as 1895, this grave seemed to be well-known enough to be mentioned in the Commissioner's Court Records ("the old traveled road near the grave of Dees"). Thomas O'Conner was brought before the court in Bosque County but was released because of flaws in the indictment. In 1889, he was re-arrested, tried, and sentenced for life. He was pardoned Christmas 1904. Sources: Meridian Tribune, January 6, 1905; County Commissioners Records, Book F, pp.22-23 & 52-53.
BCHC 1985 CEMETERY BOOK: Vol. I, pg. 187, line #16
FIND-A-GRAVE ENTRY: 59095467
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