FIRST Person Buried in Kit Cemetery - Irving, TX
N 32° 48.567 W 096° 55.681
14S E 693989 N 3632064
A 1998 Irving Heritage Society Landmark sign at the Kit Cemetery provides some history of this cemetery, noting that the first person buried in the cemetery was a child, back in 1896, and whose grave is now lost.
Waymark Code: WM16F20
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 07/17/2022
Views: 0
As the grave is lost, coordinates are taken at the location of the sign, which notes the first:
In 1896, D.C. Britain donated an acre and a half of land for a cemetery when an unknown family traveling west needed to bury a child. This was the first person buried in Kit Cemetery. The location of this grave is unknown.
Many pioneers are buried here including Isaac H. "Ike" Story who had a general store and post office in what became the Kit Community. The graves of W.M. King and his wife, the first superintendent and one of the first teachers hired for the Irving schools, and R.S. Cox, an Irving constable for many years, are located here. Veterans from every war beginning with the Civil War are interred here as well as French, Japanese and German settlers. Fraternal organizations represented are Woodmen of the World, Masons, Odd Fellows, Eastern Star and Rebeccas. On October 29, 1947, the Old Kit Cemetery Association was formed by descendants of people buried here. It was incorporated and chartered by the State of Texas in 1949 to oversee the care of the cemetery. Burials are now restricted to descendants of early settlers.
Over a decade later, the Texas Historical Commission authorized a Texas Historical Marker, "Old Kit Cemetery" (see gallery), and an excerpt elaborates about the burial:
This community burial ground began in 1896, when a family passing through stopped to care for their sick child. When the child died, they asked landowner David Chadwell Britain if they could bury their child in the grove of trees where they had camped. Britain donated land for a community cemetery. The child's gravesite and the name of the family are now unknown. Britain also deeded one acre adjoining the cemetery to New Providence Baptist Church, stipulating that the land was to be used continuously for church purposes. Several congregations have occupied the site.
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