Lamar County, C. S. A.
Paris, Lamar County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Of uneasy border of Indian Territory in the Civil War. A military transport center, on the Old Central National Road surveyed in 1844 by the Republic of Texas, to run from San Antonio, crossing Red River north of Paris. A rich farming area. Lamar County gave much food to the Confederacy, despite unrest over rumors of Federal invasion from the north. In 1861, Lamar County sent to the Texas Secession Convention the one delegation to vote unanimously against secession. Citizens in the statewide election also opposed secession by vote of 663 to 553. Once war came, however, the county raised at least 9 combat companies. Organized 9th Texas Infantry, led in succession by Colonels S. B. Maxey, W. H. Young and W. A. Stanley. The 9th fought at bloody Shiloh in 1862 and later was in famous Hood's Texas Brigade, one of the most illustrious armies in the Civil War. Maxey became one of the 3 major generals and Young one of the 32 brigadier generals given by the state of Texas to the Confederate cause. Among most noted of Texas contractors of beef to feed Confederate armies was a Lamar countian, John Chisum, who during wartime became a cattle king, with great herds in open country to the west.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Lamar County sat on the uneasy northern edge of Texas during the Civil War, a farming and transport hub near the Red River and Indian Territory. Notably, its delegation cast the only unanimous vote against secession at the state convention, and county voters likewise opposed it—yet once war came, the county raised at least nine combat companies, including the 9th Texas Infantry that bled at Shiloh and later served in Hood's Texas Brigade. Local men rose to Confederate general's rank, and cattleman John Chisum supplied beef to the armies.
Why it matters
The county's story captures a divided Confederate South, where communities that voted against leaving the Union still sent their sons to fight for it once the choice was made.
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Related people
- · S. B. Maxey
- · W. H. Young
- · John Chisum
Related events
- · Battle of Shiloh
- · American Civil War
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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.
Lightfoot-Coleman House
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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.
Home of Sam Bell Maxey
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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.
Evergreen Cemetery
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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.