Kildare Cemetery
Cass County, Cass County, Texas
Marker Inscription
As the Kildare area was being settled, the need for a cemetery was met by the donation of land from the Moor family, local plantation owners. The earliest dated burial is that of Risdon Moor (1803-1868), but older burials likely exist. John T. Moore donated another acre in 1937 and an association formed in 1982 has continued to expand and improve the site. Since 1980, the Kildare Memorial Day Ceremony annually honors its veterans. The community has a long history of actively caring for this site that remains as a chronicle of the pioneers and families that made this plantation and timber area of Cass County their home. Historic Texas Cemetery- 1999
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
As the Kildare area was settled, the Moor family — local plantation owners — donated the land that became this cemetery, with its earliest dated burial that of Risdon Moor in 1868. A later gift of ground in 1937 and an association formed in 1982 expanded and maintained the site. Since 1980 a Kildare Memorial Day ceremony has honored the veterans buried in this plantation-and-timber corner of Cass County.
Why it matters
The burial ground records the plantation and timber economy of postbellum East Texas and the families who made it their home.
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Related people
- · Risdon Moor
- · John T. Moore
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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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.