The Historic Tidmore Cemetery

The Tidmore cemetery is appropriately located in the quiet southern portion of Van Zandt County. It has served as a final resting place for many of the early settlers of the area for well over 150 years. Once a year, in the month of May, the Tidmore family convene on the cemetery for care and maintenance. Volunteers enjoy meeting relatives and exchanging stories. The Tidmore Cemetery is located in Texas, in Van Zandt County, on FM 2339, south of Canton and north of Athens. Take Interstate 20 to Canton, exit State Highway 19, south. Turn east on FM 1861. Turn east on FM 2339.

Tidmore family photograph, circa 1897.

History

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. (2002) (William K. Tidmore, Researcher)

Information

To view additonal cemetery pictures please click on "images".

To view a map to the cemetery please click on "map".

Links

To view a list of names and families buried in the Tidmore cemetery please click on this "link".

For genealogical research please visit FamilySearch.Org.

Updated 11/3/2003