Perkins Family Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Perkins Family Cemetery in Brazoria County. Now settle in, because this one starts with a journey and ends the way so many old Texas stories do, quiet ground and names nearly forgotten. Stephen William Perkins was born in 1808, and by 1840 he and his wife Anna Elizabeth, born a Walcott, had made their way to Texas.

They settled first in Montgomery County, then moved on down to Velasco. By 1842, they'd built a home near the very site where this cemetery now stands. And the way a family graveyard begins, well, it's never a happy occasion.

One of their children died, and so the Perkinses set aside a corner of their farm for the keeping of their own. The grave is not marked, but it is believed that William Collins Perkins, born in 1842 and gone by 1843, was the first person laid to rest in that ground. Then came another loss.

A daughter, three-year-old Mary Joplin Perkins, died in 1849, and was probably interred right next to her brother. Two children, side by side in the Texas soil. In 1854, Anna Perkins herself died and was buried near her children.

Four of the five Perkins children eventually came to rest in that family plot, though only one grave carries a marker today, that of son Stephen Edward, born 1840, died 1885. Also interred here are a number of slaves, their names unrecorded, their presence part of this ground's full history. Now Stephen William Perkins himself, he was no quiet farmer.

He served as a representative from Brazoria County to the Republic of Texas Congress and to the State Legislature. He represented Brazoria, Wharton, and Matagorda counties in the State Senate in 1847 and 1848. Later he served as chief justice of Brazoria County for twelve years.

During the Civil War he was captain of a Texas volunteer company. He outlived his wife by more than two decades, but when death finally came for Stephen William Perkins in 1876, it found him away from home. He was visiting his daughter, Annie Eugenia Cayce, in Coryell County, and that is where he was buried.

The man who helped govern a republic, who sat in a senate, who captained soldiers and kept the county's justice, rests in Coryell County while his wife and children have kept this ground in Brazoria. A family spread across Texas in life, and across its earth in death.

What the marker says

Stephen William Perkins (1808-1876) and his wife Anna Elizabeth (Walcott) came to Texas in 1840. They settled first in Montgomery County, and later in Velasco. In 1842 they built a home near this site. The Perkins family began a small family graveyard on their farm when one of their children died. the grave is not marked, but it is believed that William Collins Perkins (1842-1843) was the first person buried here. A daughter, three-year-old Mary Joplin Perkins, died in 1849 and was probably interred next to her brother. When Anna Perkins died in 1854, she was buried near her children. Eventually, four of the five Perkins children were interred here, although the grave of son Stephen Edward (1840-1885) is the only marked burial. Also interred here are a number of slaves. Stephen W. Perkins served as a representative from Brazoria County to the Republic of Texas Congress and the State Legislature. He represented Brazoria, Wharton, and Matagorda counties in the State Senate in 1847-1848, and later was chief justice of Brazoria County for twelve years. He was captain of a Texas volunteer company during the Civil War. He died in 1876 while visiting his daughter, Annie Eugenia Cayce, in Coryell County, and was buried there. (1990)