Davenport Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Davenport Cemetery, out in Bexar County. Pull up a chair, because this one stretches across a whole century of Texas. William Davenport came into the world in 1820, way up in Saltville Township, Virginia.

His family drifted to Kentucky after that, and then, the way so many families did in those years, they kept moving west and south until they landed in what is now Kaufman County, Texas, in 1843. That's where a young William met a woman named Mary Ware. Her father, William Ware, was a veteran of the Texas Revolution, so Mary came from a family that already had roots sunk deep in this soil.

The two of them married, and not long after, in 1851, they purchased land here, part of the Vicente Micheli Survey, south of Cibolo Creek. They built a home. They were starting something.

But the very next year, Mary died. William buried her near the home they had just built together, and in doing so he established what would become a community burial ground. That is how Davenport Cemetery begins.

Not with a deed or a declaration, but with grief, and a husband burying his wife beside their new home. William didn't stop building. In 1853 he married Nancy D.

Young, whose father John had served as a veteran of the War of 1812. John Young would eventually be buried in that same cemetery, the one that now carried the Davenport name. Now, William Davenport was not the kind of man who sat still.

The marker calls him a leader in the community of Selma, and the record backs that up. In 1859, William, along with Robert Evans and John C. Miller, established the first school in Selma.

The three of them furnished the funds, the supplies, and the labor to put up a one-room schoolhouse, and William's own children were among the very first pupils to walk through that door. Then in 1872, William helped build something more ambitious: a two-story limestone building in Selma that served all at once as a schoolhouse, a church, and a Masonic hall. William was a Mason, and that building carried three purposes under one roof.

He was also captain of a local militia that organized to protect settlers from Indian attacks. And on top of all of that, he was an enterprising rancher with land reaching across Bexar, Comal, Bandera, and Kerr counties. Four counties.

The man's holdings were not small. The world kept changing around him. In the 1880s, the International and Great Northern Railway established Davenport Station near the ranch.

That station would later become known as Bracken. A Davenport School operated nearby in Comal County as well. And his land, at its reach, extended to the present site of Randolph Air Force Base.

An auxiliary runway there was later named Davenport Field, located near the very cemetery where all of this began. Captain William Davenport died in 1901 and is buried here, alongside other respected pioneers. But the cemetery's story wasn't quite finished.

Nancy, his second wife, lived on. She died in 1934, and she was the last to be buried in Davenport Cemetery. From Mary Ware's burial in 1852 to Nancy Davenport in 1934, that ground held this family and this community through the better part of a century.

Not a bad thing to leave behind.

What the marker says

William Davenport was born in 1820 in Saltville Township, Virginia. His family later lived in Kentucky before settling in present-day Kaufman County, Texas in 1843. There William met and married Mary Ware, daughter of Texas Revolutionary veteran William Ware. William and Mary built a home south of Cibolo Creek soon after purchasing land here in 1851, part of the Vicente Micheli Survey. When Mary died the following year, William buried her near their home, establishing a community burial ground. In 1853, William married Nancy D. Young, whose father John was a veteran of the War of 1812 and was also later buried in Davenport Cemetery. William Davenport was a leader in the community of Selma. William, Robert Evans and John C. Miller established the first Selma school in 1859, furnishing funds, supplies and labor to build a one-room schoolhouse where William's children were among the first pupils. William, a Mason, also helped build a two-story limestone combination schoolhouse, church and Masonic hall in Selma in 1872. William was captain of a local militia that organized to protect settlers from Indian attacks. He was also an enterprising rancher with land in Bexar, Comal, Bandera and Kerr counties. The International and Great Northern Railway established Davenport Station (later Bracken) near the ranch in the 1880s, and a Davenport School operated nearby in Comal County. William's land extended to the present Randolph Air Force Base, and an auxiliary runway named Davenport Field was later located near the cemetery. Captain William Davenport died in 1901 and is buried here along with other respected pioneers. Nancy died in 1934 and was the last to be buried in Davenport Cemetery. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2004