Harris Cemetery
Mendoza, Caldwell County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Sidon H. Harris and his family arrived in Texas in 1851, and moved to this vicinity in 1856. Harris and his wife, amanda, bought two parcels of land, and this family cemetery was begun when Sidon died in 1861. Two Harris children were buried here in 1862, followed by Amanda in 1866. Descendants later sold the land, with the understanding that the cemetery would be maintained. Destruction of the cemetery in 1984 led to the replacement of the original grave markers. The cemetery reflects the history of an early Caldwell County family. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Sidon H. Harris brought his family to Texas in 1851 and settled in this part of Caldwell County by 1856, buying land where the family cemetery began when he died in 1861. Two of his children were buried here in 1862, followed by his wife Amanda in 1866. Though descendants later sold the land, the graves were meant to be preserved; after the cemetery was destroyed in 1984 its markers were replaced.
Why it matters
This small family burial ground preserves the story of one of the pioneer families who settled central Texas in the decade before the Civil War.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Sidon H. Harris
- · Amanda Harris
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Martin Church of Goforth
Buda, TX
Founded in 1874 to serve the pioneer families of the cotton-growing Goforth community, this church welcomed worshipers of many denominations under one roof. Local landowners the Martins and Warwicks deeded the site in 1901, and for decades the building hosted the community's beloved Christmas Eve celebration. Weekly services ended in 1945 as Goforth's population dwindled, but neighbors still gather each June for an annual homecoming.
Saint John Colony
Lockhart, TX
In the early 1870s the Rev. John Henry Winn led a group of freedmen and their families from Webberville to a new home south of Lockhart, where fourteen founding families pooled their money to buy some 2,000 acres for a town and farms. First called Winn's Colony, it was renamed Saint John Colony after Winn organized Saint John Missionary Baptist Church in 1873, and grew to roughly a hundred families with stores, a school, a cotton gin, and a grist mill. The post office and school eventually closed, but the churches remain active and descendants of the founders still live there.
First Presbyterian Church of Lockhart
Lockhart, TX
First Presbyterian Church of Lockhart organized in 1849 with ten members under the Rev. N. P. Charlot, meeting in homes and the Masonic hall until elders bought this site in 1854 and raised a concrete building the next year. An 1879 cyclone leveled that church; successors followed in 1880 and the present sanctuary in 1914. One of the oldest congregations in the city, it still serves its neighbors through outreach.
Emmanuel Episcopal Church
Lockhart, TX
Organized in 1853 by the Rev. Joseph Wood Dunn, this Lockhart parish built its own church in 1855-56, and Bishop G.W. Freeman praised its fine acoustics at the 1857 dedication. Remarkably, it was made of an early concrete fashioned from caliche, gravel, and sand, an inventive local answer to scarce building materials on the antebellum frontier. Though an 1879 tornado took the belfry, the original stone floor and Gothic detailing survive, restored in 1976.