Brownsville City Cemetery
Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Although this cemetery was not formally deeded to the City of Brownsville until 1868, dates on marked tombstones indicate the site was being used as a graveyard by the late 1850s. Buried here are some of the earliest settlers to arrive in this part of the Rio Grande Valley, including The Rev. Hiram Chamberlain (1797-1866), who founded the First Presbyterian Church in Brownsville and whose daughter Henrietta married noted South Texas rancher Richard King. Others buried here include city and county government leader Joseph Webb (1850-1933), Sheriff Santiago Brito (1851-1892), first Mayor and County Judge Israel Bigelow (1811-1869), and Mexican War surgeon Charles MacManus (1824-1906). The Brownsville City Cemetery reveals much of the city's history. Victims of wars, gunfights, yellow fever, and cholera are buried here, and their graves are evidence of early conditions in the border town. The number of above-ground crypts, ornate monuments, and ironwork fences reflects the Spanish-French influence in the area. English, French, Spanish, and German tombstone inscriptions are indicative of the city's ethnic mixture. Still in use after more than one hundred years, the Brownsville City Cemetery continues to serve as a historic reminder of the region's rich heritage.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Tombstones here date to the late 1850s, though the city did not formally acquire the ground until 1868. Among its graves lie some of the earliest settlers of the lower Rio Grande Valley — the Rev. Hiram Chamberlain, whose daughter Henrietta married rancher Richard King; a Mexican War surgeon; and early city and county leaders. Above-ground crypts, ornate ironwork, and epitaphs in English, French, Spanish, and German mirror the border town's mingled cultures.
Why it matters
The cemetery is a stone archive of a multicultural border community shaped by war, epidemic, and the crossing of nations along the Rio Grande.
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Related people
- · Hiram Chamberlain
- · Israel Bigelow
- · Santiago Brito
- · Joseph Webb
Themes & tags
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