Texas' first settlement descendants appeal to Fort Bend County leaders to preserve stone gravesite
RICHMOND, Texas (KTRK) -- A descendant of some of Texas' first settlers is asking Fort Bend County leaders for help.
While looking into the past, Marshall Kuykendall found old photos after discovering a document he paid for more than 60 years ago.
"That 50 cents in 1960 got me started on the search for my family," Kuykendall recalled.
Kuykendall learned he was part of the Old 300, a group of the first settlers to move to southeast Texas 200 years ago.
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While Kuykendall found photos, he couldn't find graves. That changed after someone tipped him to a Fort Bend County wooded area on Williams Way near FM 762.
"We crawled down there in that thicket to find the grave that's on the ground," Kuykendall said. "There was nothing on both sides but a big thicket."
After years of searching, Kuykendall found a stone with his ancestors who were part of the Old 300. He said wood typically marked the gravesites, which later burned.
That's why the slab is so special. Now, Kuykendall wants it preserved.
"All we want to do now is put a fence around it," Kuykendall explained. "A well-done fence, iron gate, and lock it so that they won't steal the stone when you're looking at when you see the picture."
Kuykendall said the urgency to get something done now is because of the development in the area, where a four-lane road was recently built and an apartment complex was constructed.
He worries that a piece of Texas history will be lost for good if something isn't done. Hallowed ground, Kuykendall believes, doesn't just belong to his family.
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"I know darn good and well, there are more graves in there," Kuykendall said.
According to Kuykendall, his family is talking with county commissioners. The marker sits on a county right-of-way.
ABC13 contacted Commissioner Grady Prestage's spokesperson. It's unclear if they plan to let a fence be built.
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