Lockwood Cemetery

Duane's take

The way I tell it, I'm following the words carved right on the official marker — so let's see what the land around here holds. There's a cemetery out this way with roots that go deep into Texas soil, and I mean that in more ways than one. It carries the name Lockwood, and before this drive is done, you'll understand why that name means something.

Pull in a little closer, because this story earns its weight. It starts with a family named Jennings — Gordon C. Jennings, born 1782, his wife Catherine, born 1790, and four children — who came out of Missouri in 1833 as part of Stephen F.

Austin's Little Colony. They settled the land that would eventually be set aside for this very cemetery. Now Gordon was a man who'd already built something out here on the Texas frontier, but the story took a turn that history would not forget.

Gordon C. Jennings died at the Alamo. And not just died there — he was the oldest defender to die at the Alamo.

Sit with that a moment. That land he'd settled, that family he'd brought from Missouri — all of it standing behind him when the end came. His wife Catherine lived on, all the way to 1867.

But it's their daughter — also named Catherine, born in 1825 — who gives this place another layer of legend. She's remembered for what people called the ride of Katie Jenning. As a small child, she rode horseback to warn the neighbors of the invasion of the Mexican Army.

A child. On horseback. Riding hard to sound the alarm.

That's the kind of thing that gets passed down, and passed down it was. That Catherine — Katie Jenning herself — went on to marry Sylvester Lockwood in 1843. Sylvester was born in 1813, and he lived to 1899.

Together they carried that pioneer name forward. The cemetery that bears their name holds family going back to the very beginning. The earliest burial of record belongs to their granddaughter, L.L.

Lockwood, born 1868, gone by 1869. Some stories don't need long to leave a mark. Today this site is honored and cared for by the descendants of these Texas pioneers — the people who know exactly what that ground holds, and why it matters.

A family that warned neighbors, defended a fort, and outlasted the frontier. The Lockwood Cemetery doesn't just sit in Travis County. It stands for something.

What the marker says

This cemetery was set aside out of land settled by Gordon C. Jennings (1782-1836), his wife, Catherine (1790-1867), and four children who came from Missouri in 1833 as part of Stephen F. Austin's "Little Colony." Gordon was the oldest defender to die at the Alamo. Daughter Catherine (1825-1911) is remembered for "the ride of Katie Jenning" when, as a small child, she rode horseback to warn neighbors of the invasion of the Mexican Army. She married Sylvester Lockwood (1813-1899) in 1843. Their granddaughter, L.L. Lockwood, (1868-1869), is the earliest burial of record. This site is honored and cared for by the descendants of these Texas pioneers.