This impressive grey granite memorial stands under a tree by the Dick Dowling Monument in Houston's historic St Vincent's Cemetery at 2400 Navigation Blvd.
The monument reads as follows:
"IN MEMORY OF
THE FALLEN HEROES
OF THE BATTLES
OF SAN JACINTO
AND SABINE PASS
WHO LIE BURIED
HERE
September 8th, 1949, being the 86th Anniversary of the Battle of Sabine Pass
Erected by
the Order of the Alhambra"
St Vincent's Cemetery is known as the burial place of veterans of San Jacinto and the Battle of Sabine Pass. One of these men, Samuel Paschall, is recognized with a state historic marker at his grave. The other, Dick Dowling, has the honor of multiple statues and memorials in his honor in Houston.
See here for more information about the waymarked memorial and the men it honors: (
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"ST. VINCENT CEMETERY
ST. VINCENT CEMETERY By George E. Wolf Jr.
ST. VINCENT'S CEMETERY
St. Vincent's Cemetery is located at 2400 block of Navigation. 1853-1927, next to the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church (1913). Is the oldest Catholic cemetery in Houston. Many unmarked graves, burials from the 1867 yellow fever epidemic. The hurricanes in 1900 and 1915 destroyed many of the markers.
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BOYS HELPING RENOVATE HISTORIC CITY CEMETERY by Karen Elliott (Date unknown,1960's?) Houston Chronicle
Houston's oldest Catholic cemetery, St. Vincent's, is being renovated and plans are to open it for visitors. The historic cemetery founded in 1853, contains the graves of heroes of the Texas Revolution and pioneer Houston settlers. The gate is now locked. Four boys from Project Impact, began cleaning the cemetery and fixing headstones last week. The work is expected to take two more weeks.
"We are fortunate that these boys want to help in our cemetery," said the Rev. Anton J. Frank. The cemetery is maintained by the Houston -Galveston diocese.
"Our big problem is getting anyone to do the work," Father Frank said.
Families of those buried here had an association once but the survivors are so far away they can no longer keep it up. An arch was erected over the entrance in 1947 to mark the cemetery's name and historical significance. "St. Vincent's Cemetery, burial place of Dick Dowling, Hero of Sabine Pass; Samuel Paschal, Hero of San Jacinto and other Houston pioneers."
In 1949, a monument of Texas granite was erected inside the cemetery. "In memory of the fallen hero's of San Jacinto and Sabine Pass, who lie buried here." Santa Anna was defeated at the BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO in 1836. During the Civil War Lt. Dick Dowling turned back the northern Navy in 1863 as it tried to invade Texas through Sabine Pass near Port Arthur.
The names of other heroes of these battles who may been buried there have been obscured by time and inadequate records.
The cemetery was last used in 1927 when a Polish count was buried."
We found a brief bio of Samuel Paschall at the San Jacinto Museum website here, but it frankly doesn't shed much light on his heroism: (
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"PASCHALL, SAMUEL--Born in Tuscumbia, Franklin, Tennessee December 8, 1815 and moved at an early age with his parents to Sommerville, Tennessee. In 1835 he emigrated to Little Rock, Arkansas. On January 28, 1836 he arrived at Velasco on the schooner Pennsylvania, having been recruited for the regular army of Texas by Captain Amasa Turner in New Orleans. He was issued Bounty Certificate No. 548 for 960 acres of land December 27, 1837 for having served in the army from February 13, 1836 to June 30, 1837. He was in Captain Turner's Company at San Jacinto and on May 26, 1838 was issued Donation Certificate No. 227 for 640 acres of land for having participated in the battle. He received a Headright Certificate, dated January 18, 1838, from the Harris County Board of Land Commissioners for one-third of a league of land. This was lost and duplicate No. 402/501 was issued October 19, 1840. In the duplicate it is not stated when Mr. Paschall came to Texas. He sold the certificate July 19, 1847 to Jacob De Cordova. Mr. Paschall could not, at that time, write, but affixed his mark to the deed of transfer. (Milam County First Class Headright File No. 657 in the General Land Office.)
Mr. Paschall settled at Houston and engaged in his vocation of cabinet maker and carpenter. He was married to Bridget O'Reilly at Houston, September 21, 1839. At a convention held on the San Jacinto Battlefield April 21, 1860 General Sam Houston was endorsed for President of the United States as "the peoples candidate". Isaac L. Hill, a San Jacinto veteran, was elected president of the convention and among the vice presidents chosen were the following who had served under General Houston at San Jacinto: Samuel Paschall, Ellis Benson, Andrew Montgomery, William S. Taylor, William Dunbar and David H. Love.
Mr. Paschall died June 6, 1874 while a member of the Texas Veterans Association. He is buried in Saint Vincent's Cemetery, Houston, in a marked grave. Mrs. Paschall's date of death is unknown. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Paschall were William, Samuel and Sarah Ann. Edward Early, a grandson of Mr. Paschall resided in Herndon, Virginia."
Here is an article on Dowling, from the Handbook of Texas online: (
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"DOWLING, RICHARD WILLIAM (1838–1867). Richard William Dowling, businessman and Civil War hero, son of William and Mary Dowling, was born in Tuam, Galway County, Ireland, in 1838. After 1846 the family migrated to the United States and settled in New Orleans. In the early 1850s, after the deaths of his parents, Dick Dowling worked his way to Texas and eventually settled in Houston.
The likeable, red-headed Irishman quickly made a reputation as an enterprising businessman. In October 1857 he opened the Shades, the first of his successful saloons. He probably received financial backing for this enterprise from Benjamin Digby Odlum, whose daughter, Elizabeth Ann, Dowling married in November 1857. By 1860 he had sold his interest in the Shades and had purchased the popular Bank of Bacchus near the Harris County Courthouse. Still later he operated the Hudgpeth Bathing Saloon as well as a Galveston-based liquor-importing firm.
With the outbreak of the Civil War Dowling joined the Jefferson Davis Guards as first lieutenant. Capt. Frederick H. Odlum was commander. During the first part of 1861 Dowling and his associates raided United States Army outposts on the Texas-Mexico border. When the guards were designated Company F of the Third Texas Artillery Battalion in October 1861, Dowling's theater became the upper Texas Gulf Coast. By 1862 the battalion was upgraded to a full regiment, the First Texas Heavy Artillery, under the overall command of Col. J. J. Cook.
Dowling's early Civil War exploits were consistent but not spectacular. On January 1, 1863, he participated in Gen. John B. Magruder's recapture of the port of Galveston (see GALVESTON, BATTLE OF). Three weeks later, after the transfer of his company to Sabine Pass, which controlled access to the Sabine River, he earned his first individual praise. As artillery commander aboard the steamer Josiah A. Bell, he took part in a naval battle on January 21, 1863, with two United States vessels. In a two-hour engagement the Confederate forces achieved a victory, in part because of Dowling's accuracy with the eight-inch Columbiad gun, which he commanded. Not only was he singled out for making some of the "prettiest shots" but also for saving the Bell's magazine from flooding.
Throughout the spring and summer of 1863 Odlum, Dowling, and the guards manned defensive positions at Sabine Pass, including Fort Griffin, a nondescript post on the west side of the pass that controlled both the Texas and Louisiana channels of the river. By August 1863 Odlum was in charge of forces at nearby Sabine City, and Dowling commanded Company F, which consisted of forty-seven men armed with six cannons, at Fort Griffin. On September 8, 1863, the United States forces attacked the area in what became known as the battle of Sabine Pass. Dowling directed such intense and accurate fire from his guns that two of the United States gunboats, the Clifton and the Sachem, were disabled, and the remaining United States vessels withdrew. As a result of federal ineptitude and Dowling's leadership, Dowling and his men captured two ships and 350 prisoners and routed the invasion without a single casualty.
The battle at Sabine Pass was the pinnacle of Dowling's career. During the remainder of the war he was a recruiting officer for the Confederacy, until his discharge with the rank of major in 1865. He returned to Houston, managed the businesses he had owned before the war, and acquired new businesses, including real estate, oil and gas leases, and an interest in a steamboat. His financial successes appeared to ensure a bright future, but he became ill with yellow fever and died on September 23, 1867. He was survived by his wife, a daughter, and a son and was buried in St. Vincent's Cemetery, Houston."