Sargent Cemetery
Sargent, Matagorda County, Texas
Marker Inscription
George Thomas Sargent (1791-1875) and his family came to Texas from England in 1834. In 1838 they moved to Matagorda county, where Sargent became a major landowner. This family cemetery contains six graves. The first to be interred here was a Sargent grandson, Jacob Smith, Jr. (1843-1859). The second burial was that of a great-grandson, Frank J. Freeman, in August 1872. George T. Sargent and his daughter - in - law, Sarah Ann, drowned in the storm of 1875. Granddaughter Cornelia Smith Freeman (d. 1883) and her husband, Henry H. Freeman (d. 1908), were the last to be buried here. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
George Thomas Sargent brought his family from England to Texas in 1834, and by 1838 they had settled in Matagorda County, where he became a major landowner. The small family cemetery holds six graves spanning three generations, beginning with a grandson in 1859. George and his daughter-in-law Sarah Ann both drowned in the devastating storm of 1875 — a reminder of the Gulf Coast's fury — and the last burials came in the years that followed.
Why it matters
The Sargent graves record an English immigrant family's stake in early Anglo Texas and the ever-present danger of Gulf hurricanes to its coastal settlers.
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Related people
- · George Thomas Sargent
Related events
- · Storm of 1875
Themes & tags
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