Steen Cemetery
Gonzales, Gonzales County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Steen family's migration west spanned several generations and included a friendship with the Davy Crockett family in Tennessee before they finally settled in Gonzales County in 1846. John Rumley Steen (1824-1910) bought this land, later known as Steen Flat, in 1849. In 1850, he married Mahala Burkett (1830-1881), whose family came from Missouri to Texas in 1830 as part of DeWitt's Colony. When their son, James P. Steen (1851-1863), fell ill and died, they honored his request to be buried under the trees that still shade this site. This cemetery remains as a chronicle of the pioneers and families who settled and developed this area. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2000
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Steen family's long push west carried them from a Tennessee friendship with the Crockett family to the Texas frontier, where John Rumley Steen bought this land in 1849 on ground that came to be called Steen Flat. He married Mahala Burkett, whose people had reached Texas in 1830 with DeWitt's Colony, and when their young son James died in 1863 the family honored his wish to rest beneath the shading trees that still stand here.
Why it matters
This family burial ground preserves the intimate human story behind the great westward migration that peopled Texas, from empresario colonies to the homesteads that followed.
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Related people
- · John Rumley Steen
- · Mahala Burkett Steen
- · James P. Steen
Related events
- · DeWitt's Colony
Themes & tags
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