Moran Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Moran Cemetery, out there in Shackelford County. Now settle in, because this one starts with a town that hadn't even decided what to call itself yet. Back in 1883, a little place called Hulltown got itself founded.

It would later go by the name Moran, but in those early years, if you needed to bury your dead, you had two options: Dennis Cemetery or Johnson Cemetery. That was it. The town was growin, though, and by 1896 the citizens decided it was time to do something about that.

They held an election, the way proper communities do, and they chose three local business leaders to take charge. Matthew D. Bray, Aaron J.

Thomas, and John W. Despain were named trustees, charged with laying out and supervising a public burial ground for the people of Moran. On March 19, 1896, those three men sat down and bought two and a third acres of land two miles east of town.

The sellers were Mr. and Mrs. M. C.

Townsend, and the price was twenty-nine dollars and sixteen cents. Not a fortune, but the start of something that would outlast every one of them. Now here is a detail that'll stop you cold.

The oldest marked grave in that cemetery belongs to a woman named Lucy Brazell Snider, who died on February 22, 1896. You do the math in your head and you'll notice that date comes before the trustees even bought the land on March 19th. The ground was already needed before the ink was dry on the deed.

Over the decades that followed, the cemetery kept growing, and more land had to be acquired to keep up. In 1951 they bought additional acreage from L. L.

Harris. In 1953, more from Jim Tom Brooks. And in 1981, more still from Brenda Martin.

The place that started as two and a third acres had expanded across three separate generations of need. Among the more than eighteen hundred individuals buried there, you'll find several Moran pioneers: G. E.

Waters, C. B. Snyder, Jim Cottle, R.

A. Elliott, and M. D.

Bray himself, one of the original trustees, now resting in the very ground he helped purchase. Numerous military veterans are buried there as well. There's one feature of that cemetery that carries a story all its own.

The north boundary, right along the highway, is lined with a native stone fence. It was built in 1933, and it wasn't built in good times. That fence went up with funds from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, channeled through the Texas Relief Commission, specifically for the relief of the unemployed during the Great Depression.

Every stone in that fence is a piece of history, set by hands that needed the work. Now, it wasn't until 1926 that a formal group of interested citizens got together to organize the Moran Cemetery Association, whose purpose was maintaining that growing cemetery for the future. And these folks weren't just groundskeepers.

Beginning in the 1930s, the association took on a rather different kind of work. They prepared and served meals to members and guests of the Moran Luncheon Club, which was Moran's longtime Chamber of Commerce organization. The money those meals brought in let the association hire a full-time caretaker and build up a financial base to work from.

And that spirit hasn't faded. The cemetery association still maintains the grounds today, through patron donations and sales of new burial plots. More than eighteen hundred souls from Moran and the surrounding country rest there, pioneers and veterans and ordinary people alike, in what the marker simply calls a beautiful place where former citizens can rest in peace.

And somehow, after all the elections and land deals and Depression-era stone walls and luncheon club suppers, that's exactly what it is.

What the marker says

After Hulltown (later Moran) was founded in 1883, nearby Dennis and Johnson Cemeteries were the only burial grounds. In 1896, Moran citizens elected local business leaders Matthew D. Bray, Aaron J. Thomas and John W. Despain as trustees for the purpose of laying out and supervising a public burial ground. On March 19, 1896, the trustees bought 2 1/3 acres two miles east of Moran from Mr. and Mrs. M. C. Townsend for $29.16. Additional acreage was later acquired in 1951 (from L. L. Harris), 1953 (from Jim Tom Brooks), and 1981 (from Brenda Martin). The oldest marked grave belongs to Lucy Brazell Snider, who died on February 22, 1896. Several Moran pioneers, including G. E. Waters, C. B. Snyder, Jim Cottle, R. A. Elliott, M. D. Bray and many others, as well as numerous military veterans, are among more than 1,800 individuals buried here. The north cemetery boundary, adjacent to the highway, consists of a native stone fence built in 1933 with the aid of funds from the reconstruction finance corporation through the Texas Relief Commission, for the relief of the unemployed during the Great Depression. It was not until 1926 that a group of interested citizens met to organize the Moran Cemetery Association for the purpose of maintaining the growing cemetery for the future. Beginning in the 1930s, the association prepared and served meals to members and guests of the Moran Luncheon Club, Moran’s longtime Chamber of Commerce organization. Proceeds from these meals enabled the association to hire a full-time caretaker and have a financial base to build upon. The cemetery association still maintains the cemetery with patron donations and sales of new burial plots. Today Moran Cemetery continues to be a beautiful place where former citizens can rest in peace.