King Family Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. This is the story of the King Family Cemetery, out in Guadalupe County — also known as the King Ranger Cemetery — and it reaches back to some of the earliest days Seguin ever had. Three brothers.

One family. And a small piece of ground that became the keeper of their memory. Now settle in, because this one starts before Texas was even a state.

It starts when Texas was still a republic — and the King family was already here. John Rhodes King and Henry Basil King were the first of the brothers to make the move. They came out of Tennessee, and they landed in Gonzales in October of 1837.

October. That's the beginning of a Texas autumn, and those two men were starting something. From Gonzales, they pushed on into what would become Guadalupe County, and they were among the people who helped found Seguin itself.

You don't get much more ground-floor than that. Then February 1841 rolls around, and the family grows. Their mother, Rachel Petty King Boyd, arrives — traveling with her second husband, John Boyd, and the youngest of the three brothers, William George King.

Now the family's all together on Texas soil. William G. King would go on to marry a woman named Euphemia Texas Davis Ashby.

And it's what came next that gives this cemetery its beginning. They had a daughter — little Mary Jane. She was just six months old when she died, in 1852.

And she was the first to be buried here. That's how a family cemetery starts — not with a grand plan, but with grief, and a patch of ground, and a marker for someone too young to have a story of her own. Mary Jane's parents followed her eventually.

Her paternal grandmother, too. The land filled, quietly, the way family land does. And it's worth noting what kind of family this was.

William G. King was a Texas Ranger. He was a Mexican War veteran.

And he was not alone in that company — the cemetery holds several individuals who served as Rangers. This wasn't just a family burial ground. It was, in a way, a Ranger cemetery, which is exactly the other name it carries.

John, Henry, and William King each served this community with distinction, the marker says, and the ground where they and their kin rest has been holding that story since before Texas had a star on any flag. Some cemeteries tell you where people ended up. This one tells you where a city began.

What the marker says

Also known as King Ranger Cemetery, this burial ground is a link to the history of one of Seguin's earliest families. Three brothers, John Rhodes, Henry Basil and William George King were among the city's residents during the days of the Republic of Texas. Each served the community with distinction. John and Henry were the first of the King family to move to Texas from Tennessee. They arrived in Gonzales in October 1837 and then settled in what became Guadalupe County and helped found Seguin. In February 1841, their mother, Rachel Petty King Boyd, arrived with her second husband, John Boyd, and their brother, William George King. William G. King married Euphemia Texas Davis Ashby, and their six-month-old daughter, Mary Jane, who died in 1852, was the first to be buried here. Her parents and paternal grandmother are among the family members interred at what became the family cemetery. Texas Ranger and Mexican War veteran William G. King is one of several individuals buried here who served as Rangers. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2004