Ellis County Farm Cemetery
Waxahachie, Ellis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Ellis County Farm Cemetery This fenced area marks the boundaries of what has sometimes been called the Pauper Cemetery, one of possibly three burial grounds on old county farm land that served as the final resting place for some of Ellis County's poor farm residents. County officials purchased 450 acres between 1893 and 1895 to create the farm for the support and employment of the needy. The earliest death recorded at the facility was that of Albert Estes in 1890, the last was Dave Madison in 1946. Iron pipes driven into the ground once identified the graves of some of the other 73 individuals whose names are recorded in county records. Historic Texas Cemetery-2002
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Sometimes called the Pauper Cemetery, this fenced plot was one of perhaps three burial grounds on old Ellis County farm land set aside for the poor. Officials bought some 450 acres between 1893 and 1895 to create a county farm for the support and employment of the needy. The earliest recorded death there was Albert Estes in 1890 and the last Dave Madison in 1946; iron pipes once marked the graves of the 73 individuals named in county records.
Why it matters
County poor farms and their cemeteries are sober reminders of how nineteenth-century America cared for its indigent before modern social welfare, and of the many ordinary lives that left only a line in a ledger.
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