Perkins Family Cemetery
West Columbia, Brazoria County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Stephen William Perkins (1808-1876) and his wife Anna Elizabeth (Walcott) came to Texas in 1840. They settled first in Montgomery County, and later in Velasco. In 1842 they built a home near this site. The Perkins family began a small family graveyard on their farm when one of their children died. the grave is not marked, but it is believed that William Collins Perkins (1842-1843) was the first person buried here. A daughter, three-year-old Mary Joplin Perkins, died in 1849 and was probably interred next to her brother. When Anna Perkins died in 1854, she was buried near her children. Eventually, four of the five Perkins children were interred here, although the grave of son Stephen Edward (1840-1885) is the only marked burial. Also interred here are a number of slaves. Stephen W. Perkins served as a representative from Brazoria County to the Republic of Texas Congress and the State Legislature. He represented Brazoria, Wharton, and Matagorda counties in the State Senate in 1847-1848, and later was chief justice of Brazoria County for twelve years. He was captain of a Texas volunteer company during the Civil War. He died in 1876 while visiting his daughter, Annie Eugenia Cayce, in Coryell County, and was buried there. (1990)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Stephen William Perkins and his wife Anna came to Texas in 1840 and settled near Velasco, where they built a home and started a small family graveyard after the death of a child around 1843. Four of their five children, their mother, and a number of enslaved people were interred here. Perkins served the Republic of Texas Congress and later the state legislature and senate, spent twelve years as Brazoria County's chief justice, and captained a Texas volunteer company during the Civil War.
Why it matters
A single family plot holding both a Republic-era statesman and the enslaved people whose labor sustained his household lays bare the intertwined story of Texas political life and slavery.
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Related people
- · Stephen William Perkins
- · Anna Elizabeth Walcott Perkins
Themes & tags
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