Estéfana Goseascochea Cemetery
Posted by: PeterNoG
N 25° 57.723 W 097° 34.702
14R E 642328 N 2872254
This Texas Historical Marker is on the Military Highway (US Hwy 281) just west of New Carmen Road in Brownsville, Texas.
Waymark Code: WMKB0Z
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 03/12/2014
Views: 3
Marker Title: Estéfana Goseascochea Cemetery Address: City: Brownsville County: Cameron Subject Codes: graveyards; Mexican immigrants/immigration Year Marker Erected: 2008 Designations: na Marker Location: Marker Size: 27" x 42"
Marker Number: 15454
Marker Text: María Estéfana Goseascochea de Cavazos y de Cortina established this burial ground on her property by the mid-1800s. Doña Estéfana, as she was known, was a large landowner and matriarch of noted pioneer families in south Texas. Born in Ciudad Camargo, Nuevo Santander, Mexico in 1792 to an affluent family, she married José María Fransisco Cavazos in 1815. The couple had three children before José died. In 1823, Estéfana remarried; with attorney and alcalde Trinidad Cortinas she would have three more children. Cortinas died during the Mexican-American War (1846-48).
In 1848, Doña Estéfana moved her family from Camargo, Mexico to her allotted portion of the Espíritu Santo grant, located here. She established a ranching community that she named Rancho el Carmen (El Carmen Ranch), building a house and chapel. While here, Doña Estéfana lost a portion of her land to robber barons, despite a court ruling in her favor. One of Estéfana’s sons, Juan N. Cortina, was a noted general and notorious figure who championed her cause in south Texas.
Doña Estéfana died on Nov. 10, 1867, and was buried at the cemetery on Rancho el Carmen. Due to damage from weather and vandalism, and obstruction from the building of a levee, the burial ground has diminished. However, it remains a monument to the residents of this area and to Doña Estéfana, who was praised after her death by the Brownsville Daily Ranchero, which stated, “many are living who owe their lives to the noble exertions of Doña Estéfana. Her sympathies were ever aroused in behalf of those whose lives were endangered, her philanthropy knew no bounds.”
Historic Texas cemetery – 2007
Marker is Property of the State of Texas
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