John Lang Sinclair (1879-1947)

    John Sinclair was born near Center Point, Texas, on November 26, 1879. Shortly thereafter, his family moved to a dairy farm in eastern Bexar County. While a student at the University of Texas, Sinclair was a member of the band and the Glee Club; served as editor of the campus literary magazine and the literary section of the yearbook; and played football. One day in class, he was inspired by UT President William L. Prather, who ended his speeches to the student body with the statement, "The eyes of Texas are upon you," sometimes adding, "You cannot get away." The phrase became a running campus joke. Prather borrowed the phrase from his own college president, General Robert E. Lee, who often told students at Washington University, "Remember, gentlemen, the eyes of the South are upon you." Sinclair wrote a song titled The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You which was set to the tune of I’ve Been Working on the Railroad. The song was first sung by the Glee Club quartet at a minstrel show held on May 12, 1903, to benefit the University’s track team. After graduating from UT in 1904, Sinclair tried farming near Artesia Wells in La Salle County. He returned to his family’s dairy farm following his father’s death in 1908. Around 1923, Sinclair moved to New York City, where he became a partner in a tax and investment advisory service and, in 1945, married Stella C. Anderson of San Antonio. Sinclair died in New York on January 4, 1947, and buried with his wife in San Antonio.


Alamo Masonic Cemetery
San Antonio

COORDINATES

29° 25.184, -098° 28.158

Abner Kuykendall (1777-1834)

    Abner Kuykendall, Austin Colony pioneer, son of Adam and Margaret (Hardin) Kuykendall, was probably born in Rutherford County, North Carolina in 1777. The family was in Logan County, Kentucky, by 1792 and moved on to the Arkansas territory about 1808. Abner married Sarah (Sally) Gates. The number of their children has been reported variously as nine and twelve. With his brothers, Abner left Arkansas Territory for Texas in October 1821, probably in company with his father-in-law, William Gates. At Nacogdoches they were joined by another brother, Robert H. Kuykendall, Sr., and the three brothers were among the first of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred colonists. Abner commanded the militia of Austin's colony. Robert and a brother, Joseph, settled near the later site of Columbus on the Colorado River, but Abner and Thomas Boatwright moved ten miles west of the Brazos and on January 1, 1822, established a settlement on New Year Creek. Sarah Gates died about 1823. Abner never remarried. In November 1823 Abner Kuykendall moved back to the Brazos and settled about eight miles above San Felipe. He received title to 1½ leagues and two labors of land now in Fort Bend, Washington, and Austin counties on July 4, 1824.

    The census of March 1826 classified him as a stock raiser and farmer, a widower aged over fifty. A grown son, Barzillai Kuykendall, was another of the Old Three Hundred. In July 1824 and May 1826 Kuykendall went on campaigns against the Karankawa, Waco, and Tawakoni Indians. In 1827 he was sent by Austin as a member of a delegation to try to persuade leaders of the Fredonian Rebellion to give up their plans. During the rebellion he was detailed by Austin to patrol the Old San Antonio Road to watch for possible Indian invasions. In 1829 he led a scouting expedition from the Brazos to the mouth of the San Saba River. In 1830 he went to Tenoxtitlán to confer with Mexican authorities about Waco depredations and in the same year served on a committee at San Felipe to superintend the building of a jail. He was a public official at San Felipe in February 1832 and at the time of the Anahuac Disturbances led a party of from forty to sixty men to assist the Anahuac citizens. Kuykendall was stabbed at San Felipe in June 1834 by Joseph Clayton and died in late July. Clayton was convicted and hanged in what was probably the first legal execution in Texas. Abner Kuykendall's grave has never been found. Source

Note: Unmarked. During the Texas Revolution, the town of San Felipe was largely destroyed by Mexican troops chasing after the Texan army. Nothing was spared, not even the town graveyard. The majority of those buried here prior to 1836 are no longer marked, so although Abner Kuykendall is known to be buried here, the exact location has been lost. The photo below shows the oldest section of the cemetery where it is possible he still rests.


San Felipe de Austin Cemetery
San Felipe

COORDINATES

N/A

David Phillip Vetter (1971-1984)

    David Phillip Vetter, known as the “Bubble Boy,” son of Carol Ann (Rizzo) Vetter and David Joseph Vetter, Jr., was born in Houston, Texas, on September 21, 1971. Vetter was born with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), an inherited disease that results in a weakened immune system. Immediately after his birth, he was placed in a sterile containment system designed to keep out germs that could risk his life.

    Carol Ann and David Vetter, Jr., had two children before David: a healthy girl named Katherine in 1968 and a son named David Joseph Vetter III in 1970. Their first son was born with SCID and died in infancy. After his death, the Vetters received genetic counseling at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston by pediatric immunologists Mary Ann South and John R. Montgomery. Knowing the risks, the Vetters conceived another boy. The child had a one in two chance of being born with SCID, for which, except for an exact match bone marrow transplant, there was no cure at the time. Raphael Wilson, an experimental biologist, suggested placing the baby in a germ-free environment until a bone marrow transplant could be performed to develop the child’s immune system. South and Montgomery agreed and preparations were made at Texas Children’s Hospital. Seconds after his birth, David Phillip Vetter was placed in a sterile isolator. Doctors quickly confirmed that he had SCID.

    It was unclear how long David would need to remain in the isolator. Doctors were initially confident that his isolation might last only weeks or months, and the family had hope that his older sister would be a suitable bone marrow donor, but she was not a match. Bone marrow transplants were still in the early stages, and a donor match was  not identified. In the meantime, great effort was taken to isolate David from germs. As he grew, his crib isolator, colloquially known as a “bubble,” was enlarged and a playroom was attached to it. A similar containment system was built at his family home in Montgomery County, Texas, so he could split his time between there and the hospital.

    When David Vetter was three years old, Rev. Raymond J. Lawrence, the hospital chaplain, convened an ethics consultation on his case. He cited concerns over David’s indefinite stay in the bubble and suggested that medical personnel were more motivated by the opportunity for medical technological developments than the boy’s own humanity—claims that both David’s medical team and family refuted. Raphael Wilson and John Montgomery shared positive evaluations of David’s development and were optimistic that a cure would be found soon.

    Vetter’s family and care team wanted to make his life as normal as possible. He was baptized with sterile holy water and raised Roman Catholic. From an early age, he was taught about the outside world. He received tutoring and completed school from his isolator. A phone was set up inside to facilitate learning. He formed close relationships with hospital staff. In 1977 he was allowed to leave the bubble in a protective space suit specially designed by NASA. His mobility was short-lived as he quickly outgrew the suit. Doctors also observed, however, that the “bubble” resulted in “greatly reduced spatial awareness” for the boy.

    Vetter’s case captured public attention. The press referred to him as David and the “Bubble Boy,” and news stories featured life updates, photographs, and interviews with his care team. The press respected the family’s request to withhold their surname to the public—information that was not released until ten years after their son’s death. His physicians published clinical case reports on him. Donations poured in to help the family cover medical expenses.

    Medical advances made unmatched bone marrow transplants possible in the early 1980s. On October 21, 1983, under the direction of medical team leader Dr. William Shearer, David received a bone marrow transfusion from his sister in the hopes that it would activate his immune system. In January he became critically ill following the procedure and could not be treated in the isolator. After twelve years of living in isolation, it became medically necessary for David to leave the isolator, which he did in early February. David Vetter died of complications from the bone marrow transplant on February 22, 1984, in Texas Children’s Hospital. Doctors later discovered that the Epstein-Barr virus, at the time undetected in his sister’s bone marrow donation, had introduced lymphoma into his system.

    The Allergy and Immunology Clinic at Texas Children’s Hospital subsequently established the David Center with the mission to research, diagnose, and treat immune deficiencies. David’s tissue samples were used for clinical research which, nine years after his death, led to the breakthrough discovery of the gene that caused SCID. In the twenty-first century, with proper diagnosis and treatment, children with SCID have a much higher rate of recovery and survival. Isolators are no longer used. Source

Section 12
Conroe Memorial Park
Conroe

COORDINATES

30° 17.772, -095° 25.635

Patrick Lamont "Fat Pat" Hawkins (1970-1998)

    Fat Pat, musician, rapper, and one of the original members of DJ Screw’s Screwed Up Click (S.U.C.), was born Patrick Lamont Hawkins on December 4, 1970, in Houston. He graduated from Sterling High School in Houston. Hawkins’s career took off in the mid-1990s alongside his older brother Big Hawk, Lil’ Keke, and others as pioneers of the Screwed and Chopped phenomenon in the group S.U.C. Hawkins performed at numerous Houston nightclubs, parties, and freestyle garage sessions. He signed with Wreckshop Records and began recording his debut album. On February 3, 1998, Hawkins was shot and killed in Houston after visiting his club promoter’s apartment to collect payment for a performance. His debut, Ghetto Dreams, with the featured single Tops Drop, was released by Wreckshop Records two weeks after his death. 

    His album release party became a wake of hip-hop artists as notable rappers Scarface, Willie D, Lil’ Keke, DJ Screw, and others paid their respects. The album sold more than 20,000 copies during its first week. Later that year Wreckshop Records released a second album Throwed in da Game, which featured the single Holla at Cha Later. Hawkins had highly influenced fellow Houston rappers, including Paul Wall, who named his firstborn son William Patrick Hawkins in memory of his friend. Wreckshop Records continued to release compilations and other Fat Pat tracks into the early 2000s. Tragically, other members of the Screwed Up Click suffered early deaths, including Fat Pat’s brother, Big Hawk, who was shot and killed in 2006. Source

Block 4
Paradise South Cemetery
Pearland

COORDINATES

29° 34.135, -095° 20.962