RED BLUFF CEMETERY

Red Bluff Cemetery Project
 

This cemetery is located on private property on the north side of State Highway 35 on the east side of the Colorado River. There are several known graves and probably many more since the Red Bluff Church building stood adjacent to the cemetery. Any markers that are there are covered with at least 18 inches of soil. DIRECTIONS
 

*Susan Virginia T. Lee Mangum b Aug 1850 in Maury County, Tennessee and died sometime after 1882 in Matagorda County. She was the daughter of Edwin Lee and Rebecca Cavender Lee. Susan was the first wife of Arthur William Mangum and they married c 1870. She was buried in the northwest corner of the cemetery under a large cottonwood tree.

Other Mangums buried in Red Bluff in close proximity to Susan include:

*Samuel Jackson Mangum, Sr. born Jan 1, 1836 in Talbot county, Georgia, died 1891 in Matagorda County. He was the son of Robert S. and Rutha Jane (Arnold) Mangum.

*Arthur William "Willie" Mangum b. about 1870 in Matagorda county. (Willie was killed by a horse at 18 years of age.) He was the son of Samuel Jackson, Sr. and Martha Jane White Mangum.

Additional burials include:

Allie Bond born February 10, 1878 - Died August 28, 1882

J. T. Wofford  died October 22, 1903
Private, Company E, 31st Texas Cavalry (from list of E. S. Rugeley Camp, UCV, No. 1428)
Mr. Wofford was said to be the person who moved the Red Bluff Church building into Bay City.

*Information from Mike Cox
 

Rudolph Rufus Hayes

born January 15, 1847, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana
died December 20, 1880, Matagorda County, Texas

son of
Jacob Hayes
born May 5, 1794 in Opelousas, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana
died December 29, 1834, Jefferson County, Texas

Spouse
Alzena _____ Hayes

(Information from Ancestry)

1880 Census, Matagorda County
R. Hayes, 60, stock raiser b in LA, LA, LA
Elzena, 53, b in LA, LA, LA
Mary J., 30, b in LA, LA, LA
Elijah, 15 b in TX, LA, LA
James, 12 b in TX, LA, LA
Elzena N., 8 b in TX, LA, LA
There is a M. R. Hayes, 24, b in TX, LA, La living nearby who is also a stock raiser, probably Rudolph's son.

Families on the same page include A. W. Mangum, D. P. Moore, J. P. Lee  and William Lee

The marker of Rudolph Hayes was unearthed in 1983 and again about 2000. These are pictures from 2000 courtesy of Mary Belle Ingram.

KNOWN GRAVES LOCATED IN THE LEE-MANGUM-BOND CEMETERY AT
RED BLUFF ON THE COLORADO RIVER IN MATAGORDA COUNTY, TEXAS

Copyright 1997 by Rev. William F. Lanigan, Jr.

The Lee-Mangum-Bond Cemetery is located approximately fifty yards north of the westbound span of the Colorado River Bridge on Texas Highway 35 in Matagorda County, Texas. It was established by early members of the Methodist Church at Red Bluff who were predominantly of the Lee, Mangum, and Bond families¹. This cemetery was continually deluged with river silt due to the many floods of the Colorado River caused by the "river raft", a blockage of debris that collected in the river and impeded navigation of the river about half a mile downstream from the cemetery. After the Texas legislature passed an act in 1923 to allocate funds for clearing the river raft; General George Goethals, who engineered the Panama Canal, was employed in an advisory capacity and the raft was cleared by using dynamite leaving the cemetery high and dry. One of the persons responsible for carrying out Goethals' recommendations was John Thomas Bond whose family relations are buried in this cemetery².

     ¹This information was stated by C. E. "Buzz" Lee in an interview on the geography of the Lee, Mangum, and Bond families which was taped and conducted by Nantie Pier Lee sometime in the mid-1970's. Mr. Lee states that he saw the tombstones there in the late-1920's or early-1930's when he was gathering cattle in the river bottom. Lee further states that the tombstones were of marble and granite. All of this information was confirmed by Mr. Lee's widow-- Nantie Pier Lee, daughter-- Laura Lee Lanigan, son-in-law-- William Lanigan, and grandson-- William Lanigan, Jr. in the summer of 1983 or 1984. At that time the aforementioned graves were found.

     ²Information concerning the river raft is mentioned in Bay City and Matagorda County: A History by Junann J. Stieghorst, 1965. John Thomas Bond is also mentioned in this book, but the information concerning his family relations comes from family records in the possession of descendants and relatives.

     ³Allie Bond is listed in the 1880 Census of Matagorda County as the daughter of John A. Bond {a.k.a. "John A. Barnes"} and Isabella (Elliot) Bond. She was the younger sister of the aforementioned John Thomas Bond.

     ⁴Rudolph Hayes is listed in the 1880 Census of Matagorda County, Texas.
 

Copyright 2004 - Present by Carol Sue Gibbs
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