Frederick Deetline (1846-1910)

    Frederick Deetline was born in 1846 at Offenheim, Germany and enlisted in the U.S. Army from Baltimore during the 1870s. He was one of twenty-four soldiers of the 7th Cavalry to earn the Medal of Honor during the Battle of the Little Big Horn on June 25, 1876, often called "Custer's Last Stand". Four brave troopers exposed themselves to the enemy for four hours from a position ahead of the line while Private Deetline and fourteen of his comrades slipped out of the right wing of Captain Benteen's line to cross eighty yards of fire-swept ground to reach a deep ravine. With camp kettles, the fifteen men made repeated trips to the river while under protective fire from the four troopers in the front of the line. 

    Despite the great danger, and Indian warriors who concealed themselves in bushes along the river in order to ambush the party, only one of these men was wounded. Had not the critical supply of water been obtained, many more of the wounded would have died. He attained the rank of Quartermaster Sergeant before leaving the Army and died in Bexar County on December 13, 1910.

CITATION

Voluntarily brought water to the wounded under fire.

Section F
San Antonio National Cemetery
San Antonio

 

COORDINATES  

29° 25.281, -098° 28.031

James Albon Mattox (1943-2008)

    Jim Mattox was born in Dallas and grew up in a working-class neighborhood of East Dallas, the son of a sheet-metal worker and a waitress. After graduating from high school in 1961, he joined the Teamsters and worked on loading docks. He also peddled Bibles door-to-door in Dallas and Tulsa. Thinking that he might want to be a Baptist preacher, he enrolled at Baylor University, a Southern Baptist institution, where he ultimately decided to major in business. He received his undergraduate degree in 1965. After receiving his law degree from Southern Methodist University in 1968, he worked as a felony prosecutor for Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade. He also got himself arrested while in private practice when he rushed to a downtown Dallas park one evening to assist pot smokers being arrested by police.

    Mr. Mattox was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1973 and to Congress in 1976. In that race, he accused his Republican opponent, Nancy Judy, of being unladylike for bringing up labor contributions to his campaign that had come from outside Texas. In Congress, he was the only freshman elected to the powerful House Budget Committee and the Banking Committee and was one of the leaders of his freshman caucus. He described himself as an "urban populist" who was liberal on civil rights but conservative on fiscal and moral matters.  After serving three terms in Congress, he successfully ran for Texas attorney general in 1982.  The next year, Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle charged Mr. Mattox with commercial bribery, accusing him of threatening to destroy the bond business of the Fulbright & Jaworski law firm unless it abandoned an unrelated oil company case involving his sister. Mr. Mattox refused a plea-bargain offer and was acquitted by a jury. Four years after his loss to Richards, he ran for the U.S. Senate. He vowed to project more of a "Gentle Jim" image, but both friends and foes were skeptical.  Mattox lost the Democratic primary. Four years later, he tried to regain the attorney general's seat but lost to Republican John Cornyn. Mattox continued to practice law and was a Hillary Clinton delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention, later shifting his support to Barack Obama. On November 20, 2008, Mattox died of a heart attack at his home in Dripping Springs.

Monument Hill
Texas State Cemetery
Austin

COORDINATES

30° 15.917, -097° 43.620

 

Isaac McGary (1800-1866)

    Isaac McGary, early settler and soldier, was born in 1800 in Butler County, Ohio, the son of John McGary. He moved to Texas with Stephen F. Austin and fought at the battle of San Jacinto, after which he helped guard Antonio López de Santa Anna. McGary received a donation land grant for his participation in the battle, and his name is on the San Jacinto monument. He also served as a private under Capt. James Gillaspie in the Mexican War. His name is on the Gillaspie Memorial Marker in Huntsville. McGary served as sheriff of Montgomery County in 1843. When Walker County was formed, he was elected the first county clerk. He served in this capacity from 1846 to 1852. In 1854 he was chief justice of Walker County. McGary was a Mason in Forest Lodge No. 19. In the 1850 census he is listed as fifty years old, married to Elizabeth (Visier), a French immigrant, age thirty-four. Three children are listed. Elizabeth died in 1853 and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Huntsville. While on a trip to the coast, McGary died in Galveston and was buried there. Source

Note: Unmarked. Isaac McGary was buried in Soldiers Rest, a section of the Old Potters Field cemetery set aside specifically for veterans in 1864. His tombstone, as well as most of the grave markers in the cemetery, was washed away in the 1900 hurricane. During the reconstruction of the island, the ruined graveyard was renamed Oleander Cemetery, the ground level was raised several feet and the original section boundaries of Soldier's Rest, and all the graves therein, were lost.

Soldiers Rest (defunct)
Oleander Cemetery
Galveston

COORDINATES

N/A

Samuel Rhoads Fisher (1794-1839)

    Samuel Rhoads Fisher, Secretary of the Texas Navy during the republic era, was born in Pennsylvania on December 31, 1794. Before 1819 he married Ann Pleasants; they had four children. Fisher came to Texas in 1830 and settled at Matagorda. He represented Matagorda Municipality in the Convention of 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos and there signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. Fisher's nomination by President Sam Houston as secretary of the Texas Navy was confirmed by the Senate on October 28, 1836. Houston later accused Fisher of abuse of office, insubordination, use of his position for smuggling, and the unjust capture of the English brig Eliza Russell. A lengthy and bitter trial before the Senate ensued. On November 28, 1837, by a vote of six to five, the Senate voted to remove Fisher as Secretary of the Navy on “the grounds of harmony and expediency,” though they did not find that Houston presented enough evidence for a finding of dishonorable conduct . Fisher died on March 14, 1839, and was buried at Matagorda. Fisher County, established in 1876, was named for him. Source 

Section D
Matagorda Cemetery
Matagorda

COORDINATES

28° 42.009, -095° 57.324