Evergreen Cemetery
Paris, Lamar County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Evergreen Cemetery is the final resting place for many notable citizens of Paris and Lamar County. Due to the steady growth of the area, the old cemetery of Paris, located near the center of town, quickly became too small. In 1866, the Evergreen Cemetery Association was chartered by well-known community leaders to purchase land for cemetery purposes. After the initial purchase of sixteen acres from George Wright, additional tracts were acquired in 1893, 1907, 1956 and 1957. The first burial is attributed to Lucy Pope Maxey (1794-1866), the mother of Samuel Bell Maxey, a West Point graduate, Confederate General and United States Senator. His wife, Marilda C. Maxey (1833-1908) is also buried in Evergreen Cemetery. Most of the cemetery’s eleven incorporators are buried here, including Samuel Bell Maxey (1825-1895), Dr. Alfred Simpson Johnson (1814-1881), Albert J. Redding (1821-1900) and William Bramlette (1851-1908). Another incorporator buried here is Willet C. Babcock (1828-1881). His “Jesus in Cowboy Boots” monument attracts visitors from across the nation. Examples of the unique stonecutting art within the cemetery include a bevy of angelic figures and religious imagery, flowers, vines, cotton bales, broken trees, anchors and chains, sheep, a life-size buffalo and a replica of the front page of the Paris Morning News. This historic cemetery reflects the growth and rich history of Paris and Lamar County.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When the old graveyard near Paris's center grew crowded, community leaders chartered the Evergreen Cemetery Association in 1866 and bought sixteen acres from George Wright, expanding it over the following century. Among its earliest burials was Lucy Pope Maxey, mother of West Point graduate, Confederate general, and U.S. senator Samuel Bell Maxey, who rests here with many of the town's founders. Its celebrated stonework — including Willet Babcock's famous "Jesus in Cowboy Boots" monument — draws visitors from across the country.
Why it matters
A community's cemetery is its autobiography in stone, and Evergreen gathers the soldiers, senators, and stonecutters who made Paris and Lamar County.
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Related people
- · Samuel Bell Maxey
- · Lucy Pope Maxey
- · Willet C. Babcock
- · George Wright
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Travis Clack Henderson
Paris, TX
Born in Alabama in 1836, Travis Clack Henderson moved to Paris, Texas, in 1856 to farm and joined the local militia in 1860. During the Civil War he served as a captain and staff officer with the 32nd Dismounted Texas Cavalry, was taken prisoner in 1864, and was released in 1865. Back in Lamar County he married, raised seven children, and went on to represent the area for twelve years in the Texas House and two in the State Senate.
Home of Sam Bell Maxey
Paris, TX
Sam Bell Maxey was a Kentucky-born West Point graduate brevetted for gallantry in the Mexican-American War before settling in Paris, Texas, as a district attorney. He rose to major general in the Confederate army, commanding in the Tennessee and Mississippi campaigns and then the Indian Territory from 1863 to 1865, where he organized three brigades of Native American troops for the Red River Campaign. After the war he served two terms in the United States Senate from 1875 to 1887.
Lightfoot-Coleman House
Paris, TX
Alabama-born Henry William Lightfoot, a Confederate veteran of Forrest's Cavalry, came to Paris, Texas, in 1872 as law partner to Sam Bell Maxey and married Maxey's adopted daughter Dora two years later. The young couple built this house across from the Maxey home, its double gallery trimmed in Eastlake-style millwork and its lumber hauled from Jefferson. Lightfoot went on to serve as a state senator and chief justice of the 5th Court of Civil Appeals before his death in 1901; the Coleman family later restored the home in the 1950s.
Judge Wm. Henry Lightfoot House
Paris, TX
Judge William Henry Lightfoot built this Paris, Texas home in 1876, hauling the lumber from Jefferson and using square nails and pegged pine floors in the fashion of the day. A Confederate veteran who rode with Forrest's Cavalry, Lightfoot later practiced law in partnership with General and U.S. Senator Sam B. Maxey. The house was restored in the 20th century and recorded as a Texas Historic Landmark in 1965.