Old Klondike Cemetery
Klondike, Delta County, Texas
Marker Inscription
John Hunt (1814 - 1853) and Nancy Allard (1813 - 1911) came to Texas from Missouri in 1849. Married in 1850, they gave land for a grave site when a neighbor child, Eliza Armstrong, died in 1852. John Hunt was the second person buried at the site. Joel J. Hunt (1851 - 1933), son of John and Nancy, and his wife, Joan Morgan Looney Hunt (1857 - 1924), formally deeded the land for the cemetery in 1878. The terms of the deed stated that it would be a public burial ground, with no charge for plots. The Klondike Cemetery Association, established in 1960, provides perpetual care for the graveyard.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When a neighbor's child died in 1852, John and Nancy Hunt—Missouri emigrants who had reached Texas in 1849—gave land for her grave, and a community burial ground grew from that act of kindness. Their son Joel formally deeded the land in 1878 with a promise that it remain a public cemetery charging nothing for plots, an unusually generous covenant for the era. A cemetery association founded in 1960 continues its perpetual care.
Why it matters
The cemetery preserves the story of a pioneer family whose grief for a neighbor became a lasting gift of free public burial to generations of North Texans.
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Related people
- · John Hunt
- · Nancy Allard Hunt
- · Eliza Armstrong
- · Joel J. Hunt
- · Joan Morgan Looney Hunt
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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