Brite Cemetery Atascosa County, Texas A Historic Texas Cemetery (Photo: Norman F Porter, Pleasanton, Texas) (Initial inventory completed by Marcy Porter, 2000 - Updated as time permits)

The Brite Cemetery was established in 1859, with the burial of Thomas Ransdell Brite. At that time, the property belonged to the Brite family. It became a burying ground for the Brite family and several neighbors, including Hester R Neill (widow of John A Neill. John died in Caldwell County before the family moved to Bexar/Atascosa), and many of their descendants. During 1875 and 1876, Robert E Neill, son of John A and Hester, purchased the property from Thomas R Brite's surviving sons, William T and Charles H Brite. The cemetery property was included in the land William T Brite sold to Robert E Neill. The cemetery remained intact, and in the hands of the Neill family, until Tully Neill, John J Neill and Reggie E. and Henrietta (Neill) Tumlinson, sold the cemetery property to the County of Atascosa. The cemetery was alternately called the "Brite Cemetery" or the "Neill Cemetery" until the present name was finally settled on when The Brite Cemetery Association was organized in the 1950s. The cemetery association now maintains the cemetery. The property surrounding the cemetery on three sides remained in the hands of John J. Neill's heirs until it was sold in 1965

The cemetery is maintained regularly by members of the Brite Cemetery Association, and very rarely is it difficult to approach markers. In a lifetime of visiting this cemetery, I have never seen a snake there, although I have seen some holes that could have been made by them. Grassburrs can also be a problem. At any rate, ordinary precautions should be taken.

LOCATION

The cemetery is located on a county road known as the Verdi Road, about 4 mi. northeast of Pleasanton. It can be reached from FM 3006 where it intersects with IH 37. From the southbound lanes of IH 37, take the FM 3006 exit. At the stop sign at the foot of the exit ramp (at the feeder road), turn right. The road immediately curves to the left. The road is paved at least as far as the cemetery, which is about a mile down this road, and on the right. Verdi Road is two-way at the freeway exit, and can be accessed directly from FM 3006, either by following 3006 NE from its intersection with US Hwy 281N, or by crossing IH 37 from the northbound lanes at the FM 3006 exit.

Over a period of approximately 5 years, I walked and photographed the headstones of the Brite Cemetery, and made notes on those that were unreadable. These do not appear anywhere in my notes or my picture file, and I acknowledge that I may have overlooked them, in spite of the time and care I have given to this work. If this is the case, please forgive my omission.

There is one stone that is not completely lost, but may be soon. It is a white marble piece, that apparently stood upright at one time. It is embedded in the ground, face up, just to the left of Thomas R. Brite's gravestone. It is holds the masonic emblem and the name "Robert". This is all that still shows.

To the left of Hester R. H. Neill's grave are at least two graves for which the markers have been lost. The one closest to hers still has enough pieces left that one can read the name Sallie Neill. I believe this to be the grave of Hester's granddaughter, Sallie, daughter of Samuel Houston Neill. If this is indeed the grave of Sallie Neill, then the next one to the left probably is that of Sallie's brother, Benjamin Franklin Neill. Hester's was the first Neill family burial in the cemetery, and these two deaths are the next two documented in the family. The information known about these two children is the following: