Martin Cemetery
Lipan vicinity, Hood County, Texas
Marker Inscription
A reminder of pioneer life in Hood County, the Martin Cemetery may have had its origins as early as 1859 when Nathan Holt was buried on the property after being killed during an Indian attack. The graveyard is named for the family of William Harvey Martin, who came to Texas from Illinois in 1855 and obtained the land on which the cemetery rests in 1876. The oldest tombstone--dated June 17, 1868--is that of Spencer Marion Self, infant son of David and Frances Self, while a reproduced stone marks an even earlier burial, that of Elizabeth Fortner Holt, from about 1860. Grave markers of granite, concrete and hand-carved stone reflect the lives of those buried here and stand as testament to the area pioneers. (2001)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Martin Cemetery may date to 1859, when Nathan Holt was buried here after being killed in an Indian raid on the Texas frontier. It bears the name of William Harvey Martin, who came from Illinois in 1855 and acquired the land in 1876, and its stones—granite, concrete, and hand-carved—mark burials reaching back to about 1860. The graveyard stands as a quiet record of the hazards and endurance of early Hood County settlers.
Why it matters
Frontier burial grounds like this one measure the real cost of settling contested country, where violence, isolation, and infant mortality shaped every pioneer family.
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Related people
- · William Harvey Martin
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Antioch Community
Tolar, TX
Now a quiet rural locale, Antioch began as a ranching and farming community in western Hood County in the 1870s, near where the county's last Indian fight—the Battle of Lookout Point—occurred in 1869. Settlers established a church, school, and cemetery, and the graves here include Confederate veterans George Washington Brown and Austin Musick. As church and school closed through the mid-20th century, the cemetery remained as the community's historic heart.
Stroud Creek Cemetery
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The Stroud Creek community grew up in western Hood County during the late 1870s and early 1880s, drawn by land grants, a nearby stagecoach line, and the end of Native American raids that had long deterred settlement. Burials began on Benjamin Irby's land in 1883 and the ground later served the town of Tolar, gathering community leaders, merchants, educators, farmers, and veterans beneath curbed plots, fraternal emblems, and upright stones.
John W. Bull Stone House
Tolar, TX
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The Double Log Cabin
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