1. Galen Hodges (1812-1884) was born in RI and while living in New Orleans, learned of Texas’ struggle for independence. He sailed to Matagorda and walked to join the Texas army near Texana. President Sam Houston appointed him collector of customs in Matagorda. He built and operated a hotel, “the fashionable Colorado House,” and married Amelia Luddington McKinstry (1808-1881) in 1845. Hodges was county treasurer (1866-1867) and postmaster at Matagorda (1877-1884).   
      
   2. Matagorda Cemetery Texas historical marker        

   3. Benjamin W. Wightman (1755-Aug. 1, 1830) and Esther Randall Wightman (1758-Jun. 20, 1830) were the parents of Elias R. Wightman, who was a surveyor for Stephen F. Austin and colonist of Matagorda. They were the first burials in Matagorda Cemetery and their coffins were made from lumber brought from New Orleans on the schooner, the Little Zoe. Benjamin is the only American Revolutionary War soldier buried in Matagorda County.

    4. William P. Baxter (1809-1895) was born in Manchester, England and married Esther Wightman Yeamans Baxter (1813-1901) in 1832. William fought in the Texas Revolution. Esther was the daughter of Asa Yeamans and Jerusha Wightman.    

   5. Albert Wadsworth (1813-1862) was in Texas about 1838. He married sisters Catherine (1825-1839) and Mary Mackey (1917-1862). He was a merchant and later a district judge. During the Civil War he obtained supplies for soldiers from blockade runners between Matagorda and Mexico. Yellow fever was brought to Matagorda through the blockading and Albert, Mary and her mother, Ruth Mackey died from yellow fever in 1862.

   6. Ruth Washam Mackey (1795-1862) and her husband, William, moved from TN to TX with their 8 children to join Austin’s colony in 1831. Ruth’s husband and 3 of their children died within 10 months of their arrival. Her family fled to AL during the Runaway Scrape and settled in Matagorda upon their return. Her daughters, Catherine and Mary, were both wives of Albert Wadsworth. Ruth was one of many of the pioneer women of the Republic of Texas and Matagorda County.

   7. Joseph Yeamans, Sr. (1810-1895) was a son of Asa and Jerusha Wightman Yeamans and married Margaret Schmidt (1814-1897) in 1833. He served in the Battle of Velasco and, along with 6 other men, helped hold the Fort of Velasco port open during the Battle of San Jacinto. He was the first County Surveyor of Matagorda County during the Republic of Texas.

   8. Albert Clinton Horton (1793-1865) was born in GA and married Eliza Holliday in 1829 in AL. He was on the committee that drafted the constitution of the Republic of Texas. Read more on the Texas historical marker at his gravesite.       

   9. Isaac Van Dorn (c1795-1860) joined Stephen F. Austin’s first colony and arrived in TX in 1822. He fought at the Battle of Velasco in 1832 with A. C. Buckner’s company. He married Amanda Malvina Reader (1819-1872) in 1837.   He was elected the first sheriff of Matagorda County in 1841.         

   10a. Samuel Rhoads Fisher (1794-1839) was a “distinguished officer of the republic,” and Fisher County, TX was named in his honor. He married Ann Pleasants Fisher (1790-1862) in 1919 in PA. Read more on the Texas historical marker at his gravesite.                  

   10b. James Wilmer Dallum (1818-1847) first arrived in Matagorda in 1839 and married Ann Pleasants Fisher (1823-1906) in 1845. He founded the weekly Matagorda newspaper, The Colorado Herald, in July, 1846. Dallam County, TX was named for James Dallam. He died of yellow fever in New Orleans and was buried here.

   11a. Seth Ingram (1790-1857) was one of the first officers of the town of Matagorda and served as treasurer. In 1830, Ingram killed John G. Holtham in a duel. Holtham had demanded a duel with Seth’s brother, Ira, and Seth accepted the challenge. He married Susannah Rice in 1837 and later Mary Sarah Davis in 1846.         

   11b. Ira Ingram (1788-1837) was one of Austin’s “Old 300.” He participated in the capture of Goliad and was mayor-
elect of Matagorda when he died. His wife, Mary Hoit, died in New Orleans. Read more on the TX centennial marker at his gravesite.         

   11c. Richard Royster Royall (1793-1840) married Ann Underwood (1800-1836) and Elizabeth Ann Allen Love (1829-
1883). Royall was a friend of Stephen F. Austin and a delegate to the Convention of 1833. In 1836 David G. Burnet authorized him to organize a company of 100 men to round-up ownerless cattle to feed the TX army. Royall was a spy for Sam Houston during the time of the Battle of San Jacinto. He reported on the movements of Santa Anna’s army.  

  12a. George Morse Collinsworth (1810-1866) was born in MS and came to TX in 1831. He was the commander of the Texas army from
Matagorda and helped capture the town of Goliad in 1835. President
Sam Houston appointed him Collector of Customs. He married Susan R. Kendrick (1823-after1869) in 1837.  

   12b. Dr. Albert Moses Levy (1800-1848) married, Claudinia Oliiva Gervais, daughter of Sinclair Davis Gervais.  He was chief surgeon in the Siege of Bexar (Dec. 1835) and served on the Brutus in the Texas Navy. Read more on the Texas historical marker at his gravesite.        

   12c. Sinclair David Gervais (1779-1838) was the father of Eliza Amelia who married Joseph W. J. Niles, publisher of Matagorda’s first
newspaper, the Matagorda Bulletin in 1837. Read more on the Texas historical marker at his gravesite.                          

   12d.  Asa Yeamans Sr. (1772-1841) married Jerusha Wightman Yeamans (1772-1841), the sister of Elias Wightman. Their families were passengers on the Little Zoe and they arrived in Matagorda on January 27, 1829. All 5 of their sons fought for Texas Independence. Erastus and Elias Robert, were massacred at Goliad on Good Friday, March 27, 1836. Their son Daniel survived the battle, but suffered from the horrors of the battle for the rest of his life.                                        

   13. Horace Yeamans, Sr. (1811-1904) moved to Matagorda with his extended family in 1829. He participated in the Battle of Velasco with A. C. Buckner’s Company. He was also at the Siege of Bexar in 1835 and signed the First Declaration of Independence at LaBahia in Goliad. Horace was clerk of the Trespalacios Baptist Church where he and his wife, Eliza Baxter Yeamans (c1827-1859) were members. His home on FM 521 near Palacios has a historical marker and is known as the Yeamans-Stallard home.  He received the homesite for service in the army of the Republic of Texas.