Agua Nueva Cemetery
Hebbronville, Jim Hogg County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Located in southeastern Jim Hogg County, the Agua Nueva Cemetery was established in the mid-19th century by the Ramírez family. Until the 1880s, members of the Ramírez family lived in Ciudad Mier, Tamaulipas, but for generations had worked the land in and around Agua Nueva. As threats from Native Americans diminished, the men and vaqueros stayed longer and families began to stay permanently. Jesús Ramírez García (1851-1922), heir to the Agua Nueva de Arriba land grant, and his wife, Ricardita Ramírez de Ramírez (1849-1920), heir to the Agua Nueva de Abajo land grant, lived permanently on this land beginning in the 1880s. The cemetery is located on the northern boundary of the Agua Nueva de Abajo land grant on the central side of the lagunas cuatas or twin lakes that form in heavy rain. Ancestral records indicate that the first people buried in the cemetery were cowboys and young children. Their graves were marked with mesquite crosses. The oldest marked grave is that of Mrs. Celedonia Leyva Narváez (d. 1900) whose above-ground bóveda or vault is made of local stone. The other existing bóvedas are those of Ricardita’s father, José María Ramírez (1818-1902) and Jesús’ mother, Conception Garcia de Ramírez (1820-1904). Many generations of descendants of families in the area are buried at Agua Nueva Cemetery, including six generations of the Gregorio Perez Martinez family. Surprisingly, Jesús and Ricardita are not buried here but in Rio Grande City. The Agua Nueva Cemetery is a reminder of the generations of Spanish and Mexican land owners who worked and settled this land and provides a glimpse into the culture of the Texas border. Historic Texas Cemetery – 2012
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On land granted by the Spanish crown along the twin lakes of southeastern Jim Hogg County, the Ramírez family worked the range for generations from their base in Ciudad Mier, Tamaulipas. As raiding threats eased in the late 1800s, the vaqueros and their families began staying permanently, and heirs of the Agua Nueva de Arriba and de Abajo land grants settled here. The cemetery's earliest graves — cowboys and children marked with mesquite crosses, and stone bóvedas dated to 1900–1904 — hold six generations of border families.
Why it matters
It is a tangible record of the Spanish and Mexican land-grant families whose ranching culture shaped the Texas–Mexico borderland long before and after the international line was drawn.
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Related people
- · Jesús Ramírez García
- · Ricardita Ramírez de Ramírez
Themes & tags
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