Ireland Cemetery
Hamilton, Hamilton County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Ireland Cemetery This site was once the family burial plot for the Daniel Webster (D.W.) Edwards family. The first marked grave is for his one-year-old son, Sterling P. Edwards, dating to October 1873. Several stones indicate other unmarked graves. Edwards settled in Texas after his Civil War regiment, the 11th Missouri Infantry, disbanded while in Texas in 1865. The next year, he married the widowed Elizabeth Moore Roberts. In 1871, he purchased land in this area, and his parents, Micajah and Matilda (Poor), later moved here from Missouri. Other family members who came include Allison Micajah Edwards, William P. and his wife, Eliza Jane (Faubion) Edwards, and several Faubion family members. In this community, D.W. and Elizabeth reared her two children and children of their own, including Daniel Lee Edwards, who, in 1920, donated the graveyard to the Ireland Cemetery Association. Early families interred here represent the cultures, occupations and customs of the community. Family names include Austin, Coston, Davis, Dooley, Faubion, Hampton, Huckabee, Hull, Kight, Laing, Lovelace, Neyland, Oldham, Pearson, Pietzsch, Taylor, Tyler, Walker, Williams, Walsleben and Wilson. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2002
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This ground began as the family plot of Daniel Webster (D.W.) Edwards, whose Civil War regiment, the 11th Missouri Infantry, disbanded in Texas in 1865. The first marked grave, from 1873, is that of his infant son. Edwards bought land here in 1871 and drew parents, in-laws, and Faubion kin from Missouri; in 1920 his son deeded the burial ground to the Ireland Cemetery Association, whose family names read like a roster of the pioneer community.
Why it matters
It records how a single Civil War veteran's move west seeded an entire Texas farming community, whose intertwined families are remembered in the stones they left behind.
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Related people
- ¡ Daniel Webster Edwards
- ¡ Elizabeth Moore Roberts Edwards
- ¡ Daniel Lee Edwards
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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