Edith Ford Memorial Cemetery
Canadian, Hemphill County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Thomas T. McGee, the first Sheriff of the town of Canadian, was buried in 1894 on a hill on the east side of town. There were already grave markers there dating back to 1883. McGee’s widow, Mary, purchased the land and it became known as the McGee cemetery. More land was bought in 1933 by the Youngs who established a fund to maintain the cemetery. They renamed it Edith Ford Memorial Cemetery in honor of Robert Young’s aunt who raised him. In 1989, the cemetery was given to Hemphiill County. Thirteen of eighteen judges of Hemphill County are buried here as well as prominent citizens of Canadian who assisted in the establishment and development of Hemphill County. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2010
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When Thomas T. McGee, the first sheriff of Canadian, was laid to rest on a hill east of town in 1894, graves already dotted the ground dating back to 1883—the informal beginnings of a frontier burying place. His widow Mary bought the land, and it passed through the years as the McGee Cemetery before the Young family renamed it Edith Ford Memorial Cemetery in 1933. Home to thirteen of the county's first eighteen judges, it reads as a founders' roll for Hemphill County.
Why it matters
The graves of a town's first lawmen and judges anchor the story of how order and civic institutions took hold on the Texas Panhandle frontier.
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Related people
- · Thomas T. McGee
- · Edith Ford
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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