Pettus Cemetery
Goliad, Goliad County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Virginia native John Freeman Pettus (b. 1808) came to Texas in the early 1820s as a member of Stephen F. Austin's first colony. During the Texas Revolution he served with Ben Milam in the Siege of Bexar and participated in the Battle of San Jacinto. Soon after moving his family to Goliad County about 1876, he chose this site near his home as the family burial ground. Pettus died in 1878 and was the first buried here. Graves include those of 3 other Austin colonists: Elizabeth Pettus, Sarah Pettus and Phoebe Scott; and a San Jacinto veteran, James Austin Clements. (1981)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
John Freeman Pettus left Virginia as a young man to join Stephen F. Austin's first colony in the 1820s, the vanguard of Anglo-American settlement in Mexican Texas. When revolution came he fought with Ben Milam at the Siege of Bexar and stood in the ranks at San Jacinto, the battle that won Texas its independence. Late in life he moved his family to Goliad County and set aside this ground as a family burying place, becoming its first occupant in 1878.
Why it matters
The graves gather several of Austin's original colonists and a San Jacinto veteran in one quiet plot, making the cemetery a small monument to the generation that turned Texas from Mexican province into republic.
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Related people
- · John Freeman Pettus
- · Stephen F. Austin
- · Ben Milam
- · James Austin Clements
Related events
- · Siege of Bexar
- · Battle of San Jacinto
Themes & tags
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