La Parra Cemeteries
former La Parra RanchThe Cowboy Cemetery
Although in official records it is known as 'La Parra Ranch Cemetery,' this site, located some three-quarters of a mile southeast of the Big House, is popularly referred to as the 'Cowboy Cemetery'. In the heyday of Kenedy Ranch operations, this field was the final resting place of most of the vaqueros and their families who lived and worked at La Parra. The Spanish-speaking cowboys themselves, however, had other ways of designating this fenced-in area:Campo Santo ('holy field' or 'holy ground'),
Panteon ('Pantheon' or 'resting place of the dead'),
Cementerio de los Kenederos ('cemetery of the Kenedys' employees').
Ordinarily, the funerals for the cowboys and the members of their families were held in the Kenedy family chapel. The coffins were then transported to this cemetery by horse-and-buggy, or in the post World War 11 era hearses were sometimes used. The Kenedys would give all the cowboys on the ranch the day off so that everyone could participate in the funeral and burial service. The Kenedy family would also attend. The economic structure at the time was such that the Kenedys directly looked after all the medical expenses of their employees from the cradle to the grave.
Many, if not most, of the graves are unmarked, especially those of infants. When they were fresh, the graves had simple wooden crosses with the names and dates of the deceased sketched on them. Those wooden crosses have long since disappeared. Homemade concrete headstones were also used. Many of these concrete markers have endured, but the painted names and dates on them are no longer visible. In more recent times, however, rock or granite headstones have become popular. Most of these were furnished by the families of the deceased.
The first graves were probably dug in the 1880's. Among the oldest headstones that are legible is that of Fabia Reojas (1810-1895). One of the most recent headstones of a person connected with the Kenedys is that of Delfina Ruano (1901-1982). Among the dozens of others, one reads family names like Cano, Castillo, De La Rosa, De Leal, Estrada, Garcia, Garza, Maldonado, Rodriguez, Salazar, Salinas, Vela. Most of the remembrances on the headstones are very simple and in Spanish. An exception is that of Isaac Hodges which reads "Born in Macon, GA. Died May 18, 1910 at La Parra Ranch." Perhaps he was just passing through, as indeed each of us is.
used with permission of the Lebh Shomea House of Prayer
| Name | Birth | Death | Notes/Inscriptions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pablo Bueno | 6 Aug 1885 | 28 Jan 1935 | |
| Narciso Castillo | 1863 | 5 Jul 1928 | |
| Ricardo Castillo | 5 Aug 1942 | 24 Oct 1971 | |
| Cesario Curiel | 1862 | 14 Oct 1937 | |
| Concepción Silvas Curiel | 1877 | 12 Aug 1950 | |
| Dominga Garza De La Rosa | 29 Jun 1909 | 24 Dec 1959 | |
| Arthur Lee East | 28 Aug 1882 | 13 May 1944 | |
| Sarita Kenedy East | 19 Sep 1889 | 11 Feb 1961 | |
| Michael Davis Fain | 13 Nov 1956 | 6 Mar 2010 | |
| Angelita Garza Garza | 4 Mar 1912 | 29 Aug 1976 | |
| Lucia Perez Garza | 12 May 1886 | 11 Jan 1970 | |
| Refugio S. Garza | 20 Nov 1880 | 22 Dec 1954 | |
| Candido Guevara | 27 Nov 1903 | 25 Jul 1960 | |
| Lucinda Guevara | 1915 | 25 Dec 1931 | |
| Rosalio Guevara Jr. | 13 Aug 1910 | 18 Feb 1970 | |
| Isaac Hodges | 1834 | 18 May 1910 | |
| Francisca Elena Seuss Kenedy | 7 Feb 1889 | 2 Mar 1984 | |
| John Gregory Kenedy Sr. | 22 Apr 1856 | 7 Nov 1931 | |
| John Gregory Kenedy Jr. | 7 Jun 1886 | 26 Nov 1948 | |
| Marie Stella Turcotte Kenedy | 18 Jul 1862 | 2 Sep 1940 | |
| Elizabeth Aloyse Landry | 5 Dec 1951 | 22 Apr 2001 | |
| Santana Leal | 26 Jul 1869 | 29 Sep 1934 | |
| Julia Levrier | 25 Dec 1906 | 8 Jul 1928 | |
| Nasaria Olivares Lopez | 1871 | 16 Jan 1928 | |
| Lee Hargis Lytton Sr. | 18 Aug 1884 | 25 Jan 1952 | |
| Lee Hargis Lytton Jr. | 4 Feb 1913 | 23 Sep 1989 | |
| Lee Hargis Lytton III | 10 Sep 1943 | 31 Mar 2018 | |
| Mary Elizabeth Chalkley Lytton | 14 Apr 1913 | 30 Nov 1985 | |
| Stella Turcotte Lytton | 12 Oct 1892 | 15 Nov 1972 | |
| Juana Majordo | 20 Mar 1850 | 25 Mar 1927 | |
| Benigno Maldonado | 1869 | 26 Aug 1933 | |
| Jose Maldonado | 1870 | 12 Mar 1931 | |
| Alfonso Martinez | 26 Jan 1934 | 26 Jan 1934 | |
| Elena Martinez | 21 Jun 1923 | 20 Jun 1938 | |
| Joaquina Salazar Martinez | 1873 | 2 Apr 1930 | |
| Rev Francis Kelly Nemeck | 19 Apr 1936 | 11 Sep 2014 | |
| Siforosa Nino | 1870 | 26 Jan 1928 | |
| Juan Perez | 1882 | 10 Dec 1932 | |
| Marcela Puente | 21 Mar 1928 | 21 Nov 1929 | |
| Manuel Riojas | 22 Feb 1883 | 2 Jan 1945 | |
| Amado Garcia Rodriguez | 31 Aug 1930 | 30 May 1954 | |
| Jesús Rodriguez | 6 Jan 1894 | 4 Oct 1977 | |
| Juanita Perez Salazar | 13 Jan 1917 | 7 Jan 1972 | |
| Pablo Loya Salazar | 7 Feb 1909 | 11 Oct 1976 | |
| Pilar Silvas Saldivar | 12 Oct 1856 | 4 Apr 1937 | |
| Felicitas Salinas | 1837 | 7 Oct 1926 | |
| Juana Cano Salinas | 1864 | 2 Mar 1937 | |
| Martina Martinez Salinas | 10 Oct 1864 | 21 Jul 1934 | |
| Amelia Bossier Turcotte | 21 Jul 1864 | 2 Oct 1943 | |
| Elizabeth Anderson Turcotte | 27 Sep 1905 | 23 Apr 1996 | |
| Louis Edgar Turcotte | 25 Nov 1894 | 18 Mar 1963 | |
| William Turcotte | 21 Aug 1860 | 16 Apr 1936 | |
| Felix Valles | 1898 | 2 Jun 1937 | |
| Infant Male Vela | 24 Apr 1931 | 3 May 1931 | |
| Alberto Villarreal | 1911 | 11 Apr 1927 | |