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Settlers came to this area near the Elm and west forks of the Trinity River in the mid-1800s. Isaac Henry “Ike” Story built a grocery store in what became the community of Gorbit (also known by similar spellings). Ike Story was the postmaster for “Gorbet” from 1888 until 1894, when the name was changed to Kit; Ike remained postmaster. In 1904, the Kit post office closed and moved to Irving. Ike Story is among the pioneers buried at Old Kit Cemetery. 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. Early in the cemetery’s development, members of Kit and surrounding communities chose their own plots, stepping off plots rather than making precise measurements. Many early settlers are interred here, including Aunt Kit King, attributed by some sources to be the namesake for the Kit community. Many veterans with service dating from the Civil War to present are buried here, as well as early French, German and Belgian settlers. Old Kit Cemetery, Inc., formed in 1947 and incorporated in 1949, continues to care for the cemetery. Burials are now restricted to direct descendants of early settlers. The cemetery continues as a final resting place and a chronicle of a rural community now incorporated into Irving. |
