Tidmore Cemetery
Martins Mill, Van Zandt County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Pioneer L. H. Hobbs arrived in this area in about 1850 and was instrumental in the establishment of the community. He owned 320 acres of land, including this site. Hobbs allowed the King family to bury their two-year-old daughter here, marking the first known use of the burial ground. The oldest documented grave is that of Robert A. Youngblood (d. 1863). Levin Collins purchased this 320 acres in 1865. The following year his son-in-law, John Tidmore, died from lingering maladies incurred during the Civil War. John Tidmore's widow, Martha Elizabeth (daughter of Levin Collins) and her four children moved in with her parents and siblings, and in 1872 she bought the eastern half of her parents' land, including the cemetery. She died later that year, and was interred here with her family; the graveyard became known by the Tidmore family name. The three surviving Tidmore children and their spouses later lived on adjoining lands near the cemetery. George W. Tidmore and his children operated a cotton gin. Various Tidmore family members became well-known members of the community, and were buried here in turn. L. H. Hobbs and his descendants continued to be prominent in the community, as well. Hobbs school and Hobbs Missionary Baptist Church, both located about two miles north of the cemetery, were examples of their influence. The land on this site eventually was deeded as a cemetery. In 1933 a Hobbs descendant sold three more acres for one dollar to the Tidmore Cemetery Association. There are twelve veterans of the army of the Confederacy interred here, and many veterans of World War I and World War II. The cemetery continues to serve descendants of pioneer families and other community members. (2000) Incise on base: William K. Tidmore, Researcher
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Pioneer L. H. Hobbs settled this part of Van Zandt County around 1850 and let a grieving family bury their two-year-old daughter on his land, quietly founding a cemetery. The graveyard took the Tidmore name after John Tidmore—who died in 1866 of afflictions carried home from the Civil War—and his family came to own the ground and were laid to rest there in turn. Around the Tidmore and Hobbs graves gathered generations of a farming community, including a dozen Confederate veterans and later soldiers of both World Wars.
Why it matters
The cemetery is a genealogy in stone of the pioneer families who settled East Texas, carrying the mark of the Civil War and every conflict since through the community's own dead.
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Related people
- · L. H. Hobbs
- · John Tidmore
- · Martha Elizabeth Tidmore
- · Levin Collins
Themes & tags
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