Old City Cemetery (Old Livingston Cemetery)
Livingston, Polk County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This historic graveyard began in 1840 with the burial of four-year-old Josephus Choate, son of Moses Livingston Choate (1794-1867) and Ursula Choate (1807-c. 1880). Early pioneers from Kentucky, the Choates moved to Texas and received a league of land while this area was still a part of Mexico. On his land, Choate established a town he called Springfield. After Polk County was created in 1846, Moses Choate donated 100 acres of his land near Springfield for the county seat and changed the name of the town to Livingston. A one and one-half block section of land, which included the Choate family cemetery, was set aside for religious and educational purposes. A Masonic lodge (with a schoolroom) and a church were built on that property in the 1850s; after those institutions relocated later in the century, the cemetery expanded over this entire block. By 1906, burials in the Old City Cemetery had almost ceased, and the last interment took place in 1940. At least 25 Republic of Texas citizens, two Mexican War veterans and 30 Civil War veterans are buried here. A few memorial markers stand to honor persons interred elsewhere. There are 167 visible tombstones and at least 65 unmarked burials, with more than 70 grave sites destroyed over the years. As a reminder of the early heritage of Texas and Polk County, the Old City Cemetery is an important cultural resource for the community. (2001)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This graveyard opened in 1840 with the burial of a four-year-old child of Moses Livingston Choate, a Kentucky pioneer who had received a Mexican land grant and founded the town he first called Springfield. After Polk County formed in 1846, Choate donated land for the county seat and renamed the town Livingston, setting aside a block that grew from a family plot into the community cemetery. Among its graves lie Republic of Texas citizens, Mexican War veterans, and dozens of Civil War soldiers.
Why it matters
A frontier cemetery like this reads as a layered record of a town's founders and the successive American conflicts its people lived and died through.
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Related people
- · Moses Livingston Choate
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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