David H. Garner Sr. -- Old Town Cemetery, Indianola TX USA
N 28° 32.688 W 096° 31.370
14R E 742366 N 3160059
The tombstone of David H. Garner, Sr., a soldier who fought in the Texas Revolution, at Indianola's Old Town Cemetery, in Indianola, Texas
Waymark Code: WM1627G
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 04/18/2022
Views: 1
This tall white marble tombstone for David H Garner , Sr., his son David H Garner, Jr., and daughter Anna Gardner Williams still stands tall in Old Town Cemetery in Indianola, Texas. This tombstone is the tallest in the cemetery and one of fewer than a half-dozen original 19th century tombstone still standing here.
David H Garner, Sr. moved to Texas in 1825. In 1835, during the run-up to the Texas Revolution, he organized a company of local volunteers from Jefferson County, Texas (near Beaumont) and marched them to San Antonio. His company was mustered into the Texian Army, and served under General Ben Milam, who was commanding the Texians at the Siege of Bexar.
In December 1835, the siege of Bexar ended when the Texians captured Mexican General Martín Perfecto de Cos, and occupied San Antonio. When general costs surrendered he negotiated terms that allowed him to take his men and go back to Mexico. When costs withdrew that left the Texans in control of Texas and many in the Texian Army thought the conflict with Mexico was over. For more on the Siege of Bexar, see: (
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Garner, and many of the other citizen soldiers who participated in the Siege of Bexar, were discharged from the Texian Army at the end of December, and returned home. Although the Texas Revolution reignited in the spring of 1836, David Garner Sr. had returned to his home near modern-day Bridge City in Jefferson County.
In 1838 Garner received three large land grants from the Republic of Texas for his service during the Texas Revolution. In 1840, Garner was elected Sheriff of Jefferson County, and later served one term in the Republic of Texas Congress as a Congressman from Jefferson County. After being elected to two more terms as Sheriff in Jefferson County, in 1855 Garner moved his family to Indianola, where he continued a very profitable cattle business. During the Civil War he provided beef to the Confederate Army.
David Garner, Sr. died in 1864 in Indianola, and was buried at Old Town Cemetery.
In the run-up to the statewide celebration of the Centennial of the founding of the Republic of Texas in 1936, David Garner's grave was marked by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas with a bronze medallion declaring him a Defender of the Republic of Texas.
For more on David Garner, Sr., see this article in the Handbook of Texas Online: (
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