Brown Family Cemetery
Kosse, Limestone County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Brown Family Cemetery traces its origin to the settlement of North Carolina native Ervin Brown (1801-1875) and his wife Matilda (1807-1871) in Washington County, Texas, in 1846. Ervin and Matilda moved their family to a 1600-acre farm in Limestone County near the community of Eutaw in 1857. Ervin was a charter member of the Eutaw Masonic Lodge in 1859. Ervin and Matilda are both buried in this cemetery. Their son, Thomas Jefferson (T. J.), served as a Confederate captain in the Civil War and later as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas from 1911 to 1915. The earliest documented burial here was that of Mary Ann Brown, who died on April 26, 1865. She was the wife of Ervin's son James Petty (J. P.) Brown. A captain in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, J. P. was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1879. J. P. and Mary's son Gibson A. Brown became a prominent figure in Texas and Oklahoma. In 1896 he successfully argued for legislation to protect property owners affected by the U.S. Supreme Court decision marking the South Fork of the Red River the official boundary between the two states. Neither T. J. Brown nor Gibson Brown are buried here, however. The cemetery remains in use by Brown descendants. 1993
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
North Carolina native Ervin Brown brought his family to Texas in 1846 and, by 1857, to a 1,600-acre farm in Limestone County near Eutaw. The family plot that grew here holds Ervin and Matilda and generations of their descendants, several of whom shaped Texas public life. Their sons served as Confederate captains, and Thomas Jefferson Brown rose to become Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court.
Why it matters
A single pioneer family's graveyard can trace the arc from frontier settlement through the Civil War to the highest offices of the state, mapping how Texas leadership took root.
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Related people
- · Ervin Brown
- · Thomas Jefferson Brown
- · James Petty Brown
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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