German-Texan Heritage Society Newsletter, Volume 9, Number 1, Spring 1987 Page: 48
89 p. : ill.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
San Jacinto Veteran's Grave
Found After Extensive Search
SMITHVILLE - Once an in-
vestigator, it would appear,
always an investigator.
At least that's how it seems in
the case of Albert Mach III of
Smithville. Before "retiring" to
tfie good life in the Heart of the
Megalopolis, Mach was founder
and president of the M&M Detec-
tive Agency and Patrol Service in
Houston.
After he moved to Smithville in
1954, he opened a gunsmith shop,
but the urge to investiage
wouldn't go away.
Last week Mach Adecided to go
public with his latest detection,
the gravestone of a veteran of the
Battle of San Jacinto. (As every
Texas third grader knows, San
Jacinto was the site of the last
great battle of the Texas Revolu-
tion. On April 21, 1836, Texas
troops under the leadership of
General Sam Houston defeated
General Santa Ana's Mexican ar-
my. Santa Ana was captured and
signed a treaty of peace.)
The marker is hidden deep in the
woods about a mile south of the
Smithville city limit. The marker,
big, gray and granite, was erected
by the State of Texas in the
centennial year of 1936. It's in-
scribed: Henry Mordorff -A San
Jacinto Veteran -Born 1817, Died
March 20, 1870." Like any good
mystery, its discovery raises more
questions than it answers.
"Why would he be buried here?"
Mach asks. "Who was he and why
would they bury him here? I think
'tbat's interesting. Even if it was
out there in the (Oak Hill)cemetery, it'd be interesting.
There's nothing that old in the
cemetery. I don't even know who
owned this land here. I've been
trying for the longest time to find
something out about him."
Mach has been searching for the
stone on and off for the past 30
years.
"I'm close to 80 years old and I
don't remember things as good as
I used to, but I remember my
grandaddy telling me about Yl-
daddy and how he fought a..-
Battle of San Jacinto," Mach
recalled. "I remember one time he
mentioned that his daddy had a
friend he fought with at San Jacin-
to who was buried somewhere in
Bastrop County, so I scouted
around and scouted around and a
few years ago me and Joe Hefner
found it."
That was 20 years ago. Then Joe
Hefiner died.
"After that, I didn't think any
more about it-that damned stone
out there, a man buried all by
himself in the middle.of nowhere.
But lately it started granwing at
me again." Mach said. "Who was
he and why would they bury him
there?"
Mach started the search all over
again, but he'd forgotton exactly
where the stone was and the
underbrush around the grave had
grown thick. It took him two years
to find the stone again.
"For awhile I thought I was
dreaming about it," he said. "I
couldn't find it, so I decided to
wait till all the leaves fell."
Donaly Brice, Reference
Specialist in the Archives Divisionof the Texas State Library, says
that the isolated location of the
marker makes it a good possibility
that the gravestone was placed
"right where he (Mordorff) was
buried."
"I believe this is erected at his
gravesite," Brice said.
In 1971, some controversy arose
concerning Mordorff. At a meeting
of the Bastrop County Historical
Survey Commission a Smithvifle
resident reported that the Revolu-
tionary hero was hanged for horse
stealing. Research proved that
Mordorff was not a horse thief, did
not die by hanging, but no doubt
died in bed, a respected and fairly
well-to-do citizen.
According to information on
Henry Mordorff compiled about
1930 by Kemp in his San Jancinto
Notebook Mordorff was born in
1917 and came to Texas from New
Orleans in January 1886 after be-
ing recruited into the army. He
was issued a Bounty Certificate .
for 1,280 acres of land for having
served in the army from February
13, 1836 to October 21, 1837. He
was a member of Captain AmaM
Turner's Company at San Jacinto
and on May 21,1836 was issued on
Donation Certificate for 640 acres
of land for having particpated in
ihe battle.
In 1851 he purchased a farm
south of Smithville and died there
March 20, 1870. He was buried
near his home and on the
headstone at his grave it states
that he was about 53 years old. He
lived alone on his farm and ap-.4
pears never to have married. He
left most of his estate to a sister,
Eliza Mordorff. This sister,
however, could not be located.
The bare facts of the historical
record don't quite satisfy the in-
quisitive and poetic soul of the
former investigator.
"When I* lived in Houston. I us-ed to go down to San Jacinto all
the time and admire that big
statue and, I don't know, it kind of
grew on me in a way," Mach says.
"I'd like to find out more about
the man. It seems kind of lonely
out there, all by himself in the
woods. Him and my great-
grandp probably knew each
other. ' - ..strop County
TimeSCHULENBURG - A Schulen-
burg family will be featured on
"The Eyes of Texas" program on
KPRC-TV, Channel 2 in Houston
on Saturday, Feb. 7. at 6:30 p.m.
Henry Baumgarten and his wife
Hattie Marie, will be interviewed
on the show, which will cover "life
on the farm;" his high school, col-
lege, and baseball career, profe-sional life and retirement; his
grandfather, * Christian
Baumgarten, often called "The
Father of Schulenburg;" the
Baumgarten-Matula Co.; the old
homestead; and the Emil
Baumgarten home, where Henry
and Hattie Marie Baumgarten
now live. - The Schulenburg
StickerCopyright 1987 German-Texan Heritage Society
*
IA
I
I
Ii
'U
S
I,Schulenburg Family
On 'Eyes OfTexas1
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
German-Texan Heritage Society. German-Texan Heritage Society Newsletter, Volume 9, Number 1, Spring 1987, periodical, Spring 1987; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1507400/m1/52/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting German-Texan Heritage Society.