Nancy Spencer Gray (1801-1863)

    Nancy Gray, early Texas settler, moved to Texas from Tennessee with her husband, William S. Spencer, by April 1824. Karankawa Indians killed William in a fight on Bay Prairie in Brazoria. On August 19, 1824, as the widow of one of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred colonists, Mrs. Spencer received title to a sitio now in Fort Bend County on the Brazos River eight miles above the site of present Richmond. In 1825 she married Thomas Barnett, and the colony census of March 1826 listed her as his wife. The Barnetts had six children. Barnett died on September 20, 1843. In 1845 Nancy married Thomas M. Gray. They had one son. Nancy Gray died on August 4, 1863, and was buried in the family cemetery.
Source 


Barnett Cemetery
Rosenberg

COORDINATES

29° 58.625, -95° 88.680

George Washington Lonis (?-1882)

    Often mistakenly referred to as G. W. Lewis, Lonis was born in Tennessee and emigrated to Texas sometime in 1830. During the early years of the revolution, he enlisted as a private in Captain Henry Augustine's company and fought at both the Siege of Bexar and the Grass Fight (1835). From March through May 1836 he served with Captain William Patton's company. At the Battle of San Jacinto, he was shot through the lung and nearly died, leading to an early disability discharge. He received his property donation certificates for his enlistment in 1838 and by 1839 Lonis and his wife Margaret (Cowan) were living in Guadalupe County, where he died in 1882.

San Geronimo Cemetery
Seguin

COORDINATES

29° 34.412, -097° 56.113

Frederic Douglas "Curly" Neal (1942-2020)

    Born in Greensboro, North Carolina, Fred Neal attended James B. Dudley High School and Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina from 1959 to 1963. At Smith, he averaged 23.1 points a game and was named All-Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) guard. Neal played for 22 seasons (from 1963 to 1985) with the Globetrotters, appearing in more than 6,000 games in 97 countries. His shaved head earned him his nickname, a reference to the Three Stooges' Curly Howard, and made him one of the most recognizable Globetrotters. 

    In the 1970s, an animated version of Neal starred with various other Globetrotters in the Hanna-Barbera animated cartoon Harlem Globetrotters as well as its spinoff, The Super Globetrotters. The animated Globetrotters also made three appearances in The New Scooby-Doo Movies. Neal himself appeared with Meadowlark Lemon, Marques Haynes, and his other fellow Globetrotters in a live-action Saturday morning TV show, The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine, in 1974-75, which also featured Rodney Allen Rippy and Avery Schreiber. Neal also appeared in The White Shadow, The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island, and The Love Boat. 

    On January 11, 2008, the Globetrotters announced that Neal's number 22 would be retired on February 15 in a special ceremony at Madison Square Garden as part of "Curly Neal Weekend." Neal was just the fifth Globetrotter in the team's 82-year history to have his number retired, joining Wilt Chamberlain (13), Meadowlark Lemon (36), Marques Haynes (20) and Goose Tatum (50). On January 31, 2008, it was announced that Neal would be inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. He was also granted the Harlem Globetrotters' prestigious "Legends" ring, which is presented to those who make major humanitarian contributions and work for the Harlem Globetrotters organization. 

    On March 26, 2020, Neal died at his home outside Houston at the age of 77. A mural commemorating Neal's achievements both as a Globetrotter and during his time at Dudley High School is painted in the basketball gym of the Hayes-Taylor Memorial YMCA at 1101 East Market Street in Greensboro, North Carolina. He had two daughters, Rocurl (Raquel) and Laverne Neal, and six grandchildren, David, Dante, Jayden, Brandon, Deja, and Hailey. Neal lived in Houston with his fiancée Linda Ware until his death.  

Mausoleum

Rosewood Funeral Home and Cemetery

Humble 

COORDINATES

29° 57.867, -095° 15.958

Isaac Van Dorn (1801?-1860)

    Isaac Van Dorn, one of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred colonists, was born in Pennsylvania about 1801. At the age of fourteen he was indentured to a farmer for seven years, whom he eventually left. He traveled first to Kentucky and by 1822 to Texas, where he sojourned first at San Felipe de Austin and the Cedar Lake area before settling on Live Oak Creek in what is now Matagorda County. In July 1826 he petitioned for land in the Austin colony, and on April 14, 1828, with partner Daniel E. Balis as one of the Old Three Hundred families, received title to a sitio of land on Caney and Live Oak creeks, now in southeastern Matagorda County. In January 1827 Van Dorn attended a meeting supporting the Mexican constitution and condemning the Fredonian Rebellion. In February 1830 one Isaac "Vandoin" (probably Van Dorn) was serving as síndico procurador at the regular meeting of the ayuntamiento of San Felipe de Austin. In June 1832 Van Dorn fought in Aylett C. Buckner's company at the battle of Velasco. He was a member of the committee of safety and correspondence at Matagorda in October 1835 and in December was recommended by Joseph W. E. Wallace to Henry Smith as a lieutenant in the artillery. On May 3, 1837, Van Dorn married Amanda Malvina Reader of Adams County, Mississippi; the couple had ten children and were members of Christ Episcopal Church in Matagorda. In July 1837 Van Dorn was elected the first sheriff of Matagorda County, and in late January 1840 he was appointed a commissioner to examine for fraudulent land title claims in the county. In the 1850 census he reported owning three slaves. He died on May 30, 1860, and is buried in the Matagorda Cemetery. Source

Section D
Matagorda Cemetery
Matagorda

COORDINATES

28° 42.011, -095° 57.330