Carlisle Cemetery
Sebastopol, Trinity County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This cemetery originally served residents of the Vaughns Mill community (later Bold Springs and then Carlisle). The settlement was named for Moses Bond, who donated property for this burial ground after coming here with family in the 1870s. The oldest marked grave here is of Civil War veteran William Cooper (d. 1867). Others interred here include area pioneers, community leaders, and two original cemetery trustees, W.E. Clark and Charity Hall. The cemetery features grave slabs, vertical stones, A false crypt and curbing. John and Alice Chessher deeded additional land in 1941 and acreage was again added in 1990. Today, the Carlisle Cemetery Association, organized in 1980, cares for this historic burial ground. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2008
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This burial ground grew up alongside a small East Texas settlement that answered to several names in turn — Vaughns Mill, then Bold Springs, then Carlisle — as families like the Bonds put down roots in the 1870s. Moses Bond donated the land, and the oldest marked grave belongs to a Civil War veteran who died in 1867, a reminder that the dead here predate the formal settlement. Slabs, upright stones, a false crypt, and curbing still mark generations of area pioneers and community leaders.
Why it matters
Rural cemeteries like this one are often the last physical trace of frontier communities that time and shifting place-names erased, preserving the names of the people who first settled the Texas backcountry.
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Related people
- · Moses Bond
- · William Cooper
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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