NAME

Davenport, Elizabeth Wharton
(w/o William B. Davenport)
(d/o Henry & Sallie Wharton)

Leaving a fond Husband
And infant son
4 Mos & 20 Days old

Davenport, Maria M. Stith
(w/o William B. Davenport)
(d/o John & Sarah Stith)

Leaving a fond Husband
& seven children

Davenport, William B.

William Blackwell Davenport Cemetery

The William Blackwell Davenport Cemetery is the last remaining evidence of the Davenport Plantation that was created in the mid-1850s near the banks of the Lavaca River in Jackson County, Texas.

The cemetery is located approximately five miles from the settlement of El Toro in Jackson County, It is on private property and there are three known graves in the cemetery. As of 2007, the cemetery was enclosed with a wooden fence and maintained by the generosity of the land owners.

William Blackwell Davenport, who is buried in the cemetery, was born in Heathsville, Virginia on October 29, 1809. In his youth, he was the ward of a Virginia plantation owner and was raised at Springfield Plantation near Heathsville, Virginia. From family legend we learn that young William's father had been killed in military action.

When he was old enough, William Davenport established his own plantation nearby, reported across the road from Springfield Plantation. His new home was called Font Hill Plantation. On August 13, 1835, at age 24, William Davenport married Maria Stith at Heathsville, Virginia. They began their family at Font Hill Plantation.

William Blackwell's wife, Maria Meade Stith, is also buried in the cemetery. She was born in 1818 at Gunston Hall, King George County, Virginia to John and Sallie Stith. She was the granddaughter of George Mason (1725-1792) a noted patriot and founding father of the United States. Mr. Mason was the author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights and a close friend of his neighbor and future U. S. President George Washington. George Mason was a delegate at the Federal Convention of 1787 and worked in creating the United States Constitution. He ultimately refused to sign the Constitution because it contained no bill of rights.

William Blackwell Davenport and his wife lived at Font Hill Plantation in Virginia until the early 1850s. From oral family history we learn that a dispute arose within the family over Mr. Davenport's use of slaves. Over time emotions escalated to the point that Mr. Davenport decided to sell his Virginia holdings and move his family and slaves to far away Texas. In order to make the move, the Davenports had to sell three parcels of property in Virginia.

The Davenport family and slaves arrived in Port Lavaca, Texas in 1854. They came by two boats. The first boat carried the Davenport family and slaves. The other was loaded with belongings and building materials for the new plantation. The Davenports owned about 100 slaves upon their arrival in Texas.

Upon landing, Mr. Davenport made arrangements to meet with a land agent to start a search for a new home site. This search resulted in the purchase of the Davenport Plantation in Jackson County upon which the Davenport Cemetery is located. Records in the Jackson County Courthouse show that Mr. Davenport purchased 3,000 acres from John Brackenridge on February 15, 1854. The purchase price of $8,000 was to be paid in five payments over four years.

Maria Meade Stith and William Blackwell Davenport had the following children all of whom were born prior to the family's arrival in Texas:

1. John Stith Davenport, born June 5, 1836 in Northumberland House, Heathsville, Virginia.

2. Florence Randolph Davenport, May 11, 1839 in Northumberland, County, Virginia. Died in San Antonio, Texas in 1909.

3. Mary Seymour Davenport, born September 19, 1840 and died in 1875.

4. William Blackwell Davenport, born January 13, 1845 in Font Hill, Northumberland County, Virginia.

5. Maria Meade Davenport born July 31, 1847. She died on 18 Feb 1928.

6. Everard Meade Davenport born February 17, 1849 in Font Hill, Virginia. Died on September 25, 1922, and is buried in the cemetery at Edna, Texas.

7. Homoisele Stith Davenport born May 15, 1852 in "Font Hill," Northumberland County, Virginia. Died on May 25, 1928 in Houston, Texas. She was also known as Homiosele Stith Randall.

8. Sarah Mason Davenport born November 2, 1853. Died _____. Sarah Mason Davenport and Hamilton Achison West were married on May 15, 1878.

Little is known about the detailed workings of the plantation or what prosperity the Davenport Family might have enjoyed in Texas. One transaction recorded in the Jackson County deed records shows that cattle and slaves were mortgaged to A. B. Dodd on July 18, 1857 for $5,800 at 10% interest. The mortgage was to be repaid in two payments, one payment in 12 months, and one in two years. For what purpose the funds were applied is not known.

We are told life in Texas was good for the Davenports until 1862 when Mrs. Davenport became sick. In those days, coastal areas were considered healthier than inland living, so the family took Mrs. Davenport to Port Lavaca for recovery. Maria Davenport never recovered and passed away at age 44 on June 12, 1862 while at the home of a friend.

In early Texas, embalming was not a readily available service, therefore funerals were generally conducted quickly. Mr. Davenport, her husband, took his wife home by wagon shortly after her death. Legend tells us it was about 10:00 p. m. when the wagon pulled into the plantation and Mr. Davenport announced the sad news. The slaves dug a grave for her near the home at a spot designated by her husband. Maria was buried at about midnight with family and slaves performing the burial ceremony by lantern light. Her tombstone tells us she left a loving husband and seven children.

Sometime after Maria Davenport's death in 1862, Mr. Davenport remarried Elizabeth Wharton, who was born April 4, 1832 in Culpepper County, Virginia. From family legend we are told that Mr. Davenport had known Elizabeth Wharton while in Virginia and wrote for her to come to Texas to be with him which she did. To Mr. Davenport's second marriage was born one son, Wharton Davenport in 1865. Elizabeth Davenport died February 12, 1866 only four months after giving birth. She was buried near Maria Davenport.

After the Civil War, life in the former Confederate States was very difficult. The Davenports, like thousands of other southern families, felt the turmoil and challenges of learning a new, more difficult way of life. Mr. Davenport, heartbroken patriarch, found himself unable to maintain and operate a huge plantation without slave labor. By early 1868, as debts mounted, the family was unable to continue and had to declare bankruptcy. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas awarded over 3100 acres of the Davenport Plantation to other farmers retaining only 200 acres for the Davenport Family as a homestead tract.

The family remained at the site for approximately twenty years longer before migrating to the nearby town of Edna, Texas that had been established when the railroad was built. William Blackwell Davenport died in Edna, Texas on July 27, 1889 and was buried by his large family at the old home site, or "over home" as it was called. As he had planned, he was laid to rest between his two beloved wives. Mr. Davenport was the third and last known burial at the cemetery.