Cass County
Linden, Cass County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Formed from Bowie County land. Created April 25, 1846; organized July 13, 1846. Named in honor of Gen. Lewis Cass (1782-1866), United States soldier and statesman, a strong advocate of annexation of Texas. Important river port city of Jefferson was county seat until Marion County was carved out of Cass in 1860; Linden, near center of county, then became county seat. During wave of sectional patriotism in 1861, the name "Cass" was changed to "Davis", in honor of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate states. The original name was restored in 1871. Erected by the State of Texas - 1971
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Carved from Bowie County land in 1846, Cass County took its name from Lewis Cass, a soldier-statesman who had pushed hard for annexing Texas into the Union. The county's loyalties turned sharply in 1861: swept up in secession fervor, residents renamed it "Davis" for Confederate president Jefferson Davis, only to restore the original name in 1871 after the war. Its seat shifted too, from the busy river port of Jefferson to centrally located Linden once Marion County was split off in 1860.
Why it matters
The county's back-and-forth naming is a small but vivid barometer of how sectional passion and Confederate identity reshaped even the map of Texas — and how Reconstruction quietly reset it.
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Related people
- · Lewis Cass
- · Jefferson Davis
Themes & tags
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