Old Hawley Cemetery
Matagorda County, Matagorda County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Known 1838-1899 as Deming's Bridge Cemetery. Second post office in Matagorda county was located nearby in 1858. Two acres donated by Emelius Savage and his son Norman for the cemetery and Tres Palacios Baptist Church, founded 1852. More land given by Jonathan E. Pierce, who in 1900 named area Hawley, honoring United States senator Robert Bradley Hawley. Buried here are the brothers Jonathan E. and Abel H. ("Shang") Pierce and many other famous early cattlemen; also, more than 50 veterans of Civil War and all U.S. wars since 1865. (1967)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Established in the late 1830s as Deming's Bridge Cemetery, this coastal Texas burial ground grew alongside a frontier community anchored by an early Baptist congregation and one of Matagorda County's first post offices. Land donated by the Savage family and later Jonathan E. Pierce shaped the settlement that became Hawley around 1900. Among those buried here are the celebrated cattlemen Jonathan and Abel 'Shang' Pierce, along with dozens of war veterans.
Why it matters
The graves gather in one place the ranchers and pioneers who built the Texas cattle economy along the Gulf Coast.
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Related people
- · Jonathan E. Pierce
- · Abel 'Shang' Pierce
- · Robert Bradley Hawley
- · Emelius Savage
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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