HistoricSiteMarkers
Early Republic

Sabine Town Cemetery

Sabine Town, Sabine County, Texas

Marker Inscription

S. H. Morris sold 200 acres of his land grant in the 1830s for the establishment of the town of Sabine. Businesses included a post office, customs house, wagon factory, brick kiln and a tanning yard. The Sabine Town Cemetery contains 18 known graves; Mary Jane Scott's is the earliest recorded burial in 1842. The graveyard was in use until 1907; Harry C. Maunds is the last recorded burial. In 1970 the James Frederick Gomer Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas in Hemphill took over maintenance of the site.

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

In the 1830s S. H. Morris sold part of his land grant to establish the town of Sabine, which grew to include a post office, customs house, wagon factory, brick kiln, and tannery. Its cemetery holds 18 known graves, the earliest being Mary Jane Scott's 1842 burial, and remained in use until 1907. Since 1970 the local chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas has cared for the site.

Why it matters

The cemetery is one of the last remnants of a Republic-era Texas town, preserving the memory of settlers who lived on the frontier during and after the era of the Texas Republic.

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Related people

  • · S. H. Morris
  • · Mary Jane Scott
  • · Harry C. Maunds

Themes & tags

Westward ExpansionFrontier HistoryGhost TownsLandmark

Nearby & related markers

Isaac Low Cemetery

Hemphill, TX

A veteran of the War of 1812, Tennessee migrant Isaac Low reached this corner of Sabine County in 1828 and, during the Texas Revolution, ran a ferry across the Sabine River to help settlers flee the advancing Mexican army. He later served as a county commissioner, and his son Jesse donated the land for this cemetery, where the earliest marked grave lies. Others buried here include a Civil War captain and a man whose 1883 murder touched off a three-year local feud.

Gaines Memorial Bridge

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This bridge carries the name of two Gaines brothers whose lives spanned the Sabine River borderland between Louisiana and Texas. James Gaines ran a ferry at this crossing from 1819 to 1844 and signed the Texas Declaration of Independence, while General Pendleton Gaines commanded U.S. troops posted nearby in 1836 to watch the fighting unfold across the river in Texas. The two states' highway departments jointly honored them here in 1936.

Oliphint Chapel Cemetery

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Alfred D. Oliphint came to Sabine County as the Republic of Texas took shape, taking land grants in 1839 and 1844 and serving his neighbors as justice of the peace and county judge. In 1879 he deeded five acres to the Methodist Episcopal Church, beside a cemetery already in use by about 1870. Early settlers rest here, many in unmarked graves, in a restored ground still cared for by a memorial association.

James Taylor Gaines

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James Taylor Gaines lived a frontier epic: surveyor of newly acquired Louisiana lands, Sabine River ferryman, and veteran of both the War of 1812 and the filibustering expeditions of early Texas. He represented the Sabine region at Washington-on-the-Brazos in 1836, signed the Texas Declaration of Independence, helped draft the Republic's constitution, and served in its congresses. He later followed the Gold Rush to California, where he died in 1856.