Banquete Cemetery
Banquete, Nueces County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In June 1832 the colony of Irish families settled along the Nueces River by John McMullen and James McGloin was linked to Mexico by completion of the Matamoros Road. Mexican officials sponsored a Fiesta near this site as a goodwill gesture to the colonists. The village that later grew up here was called "Banquete", the Mexican name for the 4-day celebration. Banquete was settled before the civil war (1861-65) as a stock raising and horse trading center. During the war, it was an important stop on the trade route to Mexico. Oldest marked grave in Banquete Cemetery (1 mile east) is that of Joseph P. Madray (b. 1840), a local rancher who was serving in the confederate army when he died of typhoid fever, June 2, 1863. Also buried here are other confederate soldiers and prominent Banquete residents, including members of the Bennett, Elliff, Saunders, and Wright families. By tradition, the cemetery property was once the site of stockpens belonging to Sally Scull, notorious horse trader and cotton freighter of the civil war period. Pioneer rancher B.A. Bennett (b. 1824) deeded one acre for the community burial ground in 1910. In the 1950's, another acre was added to the cemetery, which contains about 200 marked graves.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1832 the McMullen–McGloin colony of Irish families on the Nueces River was linked to Mexico by the new Matamoros Road, and Mexican officials threw a four-day fiesta of welcome — a "banquete" — that gave the village its name. Settled before the Civil War as a stock-raising and horse-trading center, Banquete became a key stop on the wartime trade route to Mexico. Its cemetery holds Confederate soldiers, pioneer ranching families, and, by tradition, ground once used by the notorious horse trader Sally Scull.
Why it matters
Banquete carries the layered heritage of South Texas — Irish empresario colonization, Mexican goodwill, and the cross-border cotton trade that sustained the Confederacy.
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Related people
- · John McMullen
- · James McGloin
- · Joseph P. Madray
- · Sally Scull
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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