Moran Cemetery
Moran, Shackelford County, Texas
Marker Inscription
After Hulltown (later Moran) was founded in 1883, nearby Dennis and Johnson Cemeteries were the only burial grounds. In 1896, Moran citizens elected local business leaders Matthew D. Bray, Aaron J. Thomas and John W. Despain as trustees for the purpose of laying out and supervising a public burial ground. On March 19, 1896, the trustees bought 2 1/3 acres two miles east of Moran from Mr. and Mrs. M. C. Townsend for $29.16. Additional acreage was later acquired in 1951 (from L. L. Harris), 1953 (from Jim Tom Brooks), and 1981 (from Brenda Martin). The oldest marked grave belongs to Lucy Brazell Snider, who died on February 22, 1896. Several Moran pioneers, including G. E. Waters, C. B. Snyder, Jim Cottle, R. A. Elliott, M. D. Bray and many others, as well as numerous military veterans, are among more than 1,800 individuals buried here. The north cemetery boundary, adjacent to the highway, consists of a native stone fence built in 1933 with the aid of funds from the reconstruction finance corporation through the Texas Relief Commission, for the relief of the unemployed during the Great Depression. It was not until 1926 that a group of interested citizens met to organize the Moran Cemetery Association for the purpose of maintaining the growing cemetery for the future. Beginning in the 1930s, the association prepared and served meals to members and guests of the Moran Luncheon Club, Moran’s longtime Chamber of Commerce organization. Proceeds from these meals enabled the association to hire a full-time caretaker and have a financial base to build upon. The cemetery association still maintains the cemetery with patron donations and sales of new burial plots. Today Moran Cemetery continues to be a beautiful place where former citizens can rest in peace.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
After Hulltown—later Moran—was founded in 1883, the community elected trustees who in 1896 bought two-and-a-third acres for a public burial ground, the oldest marked grave being that of Lucy Brazell Snider. Over the following decades the cemetery grew to hold more than 1,800 people, including town pioneers and many military veterans, and a native-stone boundary fence was built in 1933 with Depression relief funds. A cemetery association formed in 1926 still maintains the grounds.
Why it matters
Moran Cemetery is a layered record of a frontier Texas town's people, and its New Deal-era stone fence marks how Depression relief programs reached even small rural communities.
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Related people
- · Lucy Brazell Snider
Related events
- · Great Depression
Themes & tags
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