HistoricSiteMarkers
Reconstruction & Gilded Age

Dugger Cemetery

Seguin, Guadalupe County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Originally named Cottonwood Cemetery, this burial ground is the final resting place for many pioneers of the Cottonwood Community. It was later renamed for H.A. Dugger (d. 1881), who with his wife Nancy (d. 1909) donated property for the cemetery and for a school which also bore his name. The earliest burials here are of Lee Dora Southern and her uncle, Asa Southern, who in 1872 were killed by robbers while traveling through. In 1935, Henry A. Seay donated additional land for cemetery use. Features include curbing, grave slabs, interior fencing, and fraternal gravestones. Today, the Dugger Cemetery association, organized in 1959, continues to maintain this burial ground. Historic Texas Cemetery – 2007

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

First called Cottonwood Cemetery, this burial ground served the pioneers of the Cottonwood community before it was renamed for H. A. Dugger, who with his wife Nancy gave land for both the cemetery and a school. Its earliest graves are those of Lee Dora Southern and her uncle Asa, killed by robbers while traveling through in 1872; Henry A. Seay added land in 1935. Curbing, grave slabs, and fraternal markers still mark the ground an association has tended since 1959.

Why it matters

The cemetery preserves the hard realities of frontier settlement—including travelers murdered on the road—alongside the families who built a lasting community around a school and church.

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Related people

  • · H.A. Dugger
  • · Nancy Dugger
  • · Asa Southern
  • · Lee Dora Southern

Themes & tags

Westward ExpansionFrontier HistoryLandmark

Nearby & related markers

Claiborne West

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John F. McGuffin

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