6/1/1830 Gonzales Co, TX According to land records, the familyarrive d that date. A descendant' memoirs said they came with 5 otherfamilie s from Missouri on 6/16/1830.
11/2/1831 Recorded in the Spanish Archives of the Austin, TX, landoff ice are records where David petitioned for title to both a laborand le agueof land 24/25 sitios (4250 acres) and 1/25 sitios (177acres).
Local history said:
"The Burket labor was described as on the northeast margin of theGuada lupe River immediate to the Commons of the Town of Gonzales. Asa stoc k raiser, he petitioned for the league on the waters of PeachCreek and L avaca about 25 miles from Gonzales town. The league is 75percent in L avaca County and the line between Gonzales and LavacaCounties runs acr oss the northwest sector. Big Hill, Burkett's Moundand a Burkett Ceme tery are all on the Burkett league....
It is believed that David and Mary Ann....first settled on the laborof l and on the Guadalupe River on the southern boundary of the townof Gonz ales when they arrived. Neighbors were cousin "Red" AdamZumwalt, Fran cis Berry, and C H Braches on each side.
1833 David, along with Adam Zumwalt, served as witness to the weddingo t Adam's daughter to Eli Mitchell.
3/1836 Following the fall of the Alamo, General Sam Houston put Davida nd Adam Zumwalt in charge of evacuating families, including theirown, i n front of the Mexican Army, heading east toward the SabineRiver in wh at is now known as the Runaway Scrape. The entire townwas then torche d, leaving only Adam's kitchen and the smokehouse ofanother resident s tanding.
1837/1838/1839 Gonzales Co, TX David's name appeared on tax liststhe re those years.
1838 The family returned to Gonzales and soon after settled south ofG onzales on the Guadalupe River on the DeWitt-Gonzales county line.A l and transfer to youngest daughter, Sarah Green in 1855 suggeststhey ob tained that land from Jesse McCoy who died in the Alamo.
The Burket Family web site says:
A letter from Mary Ann Roseanna Green Rae to a daughter in 1927relates t he scene on the Gonzales-DeWitt County homeplace related toher by her g randmother Mary Ann Zumwalt Burket:
"They settled on the old homeplace on spring branch. They built firsta l og hut. The first dinner ever eaten on that old homestead, GeneralHenr y McCullough called and ate with them. He was on a big whitehorse. Gra ndpa killed a wild turkey in the bottom close to the river.Grandmother c ooked it on the campfire. Grandmother said ‘We have notable yet, sir.’ S o they turned a washtub upside down and sat theoven in the middle of t he tub and went to work. The general said thatwas the best dinner he h ad ever eaten."
1839 David received 533 acres of land for service to the Republic ofT x which was described as on the Guadalupe River about 21 miles NW ofth e city of New Braunfels.
6/1840 David bought 555 acres of adjacent land from Graves Fulshearfo r $1000 and is probably the homeplace described in Nathan Boone'smemoi rs.
A granddaughter related a story told her by Mary Ann:
"They settled on the old homeplace on spring branch. They built firsta l og hut. the first dinner ever eaten on the old homestead, Generalhenr y McCullough called and ate with them. He was on a big whitehorse. G randpa killed a wild turkey in the bottom close to theriver. Grandmoth er cooked it on the campfire. Grandmother said 'Wehave no table yet, s ir.' So they turned a washtub upside down and satthe oven in the middl e of the tub and went to work. The general saidthat was the best dinn er he had ever eaten."
The cause of David's death was unknown. It is thought that hesuffered a ll his life from a serious wound inflicted in an Indianfight.
He died intestate and his widow moved quickly to have the estateapprai sed and partitioned. It consisted of over 3341 acres of theoriginal l eague plus other holdings from later purchases and landcertificates.
12/11/1845 the court held special session to start proceedings tosettl e the estate and was finished by 12/21/1845. It was thoughtthat Mary A nn had help from Adam Zumwalt and friends who were countycommissioners t o get the estate settled so quickly.
The motivation for Mary Ann's desire for quick settlement is unknownbu t family tales indicate problems with son-in-law Simon Cockrell,plus i t was just before statehood and a volatile period for landtitles. Tex as was increasingly being populated by land hungrysettlers, many of wh om were squatters, and clever unscrupulousresidents who felt lands dee ded under the Mexican government were notnecessarily valid.
The league was divided into 8 shares and divided among the childrenwhi le Mary Ann reserved the 555 acre homestead, "a child's share," ofthe J ess McCoy/James Hughes headright for herself and minor children,over w hom she obtained legal guardianship. Division was made thus:
Simon Cockrell in right of his wife Edna, Lot 7-475 acres
Nathan Burket, Lot 5-430 acres
Isaiah Burkett, Lot 6-442 acres
Mahal Burket, Lot 2-350 acres
John Burket, Lot 3-385 acres
Margaret Burket Lot 8-509 acres
Bartlet Burket, Lot 4-400 acres
Ann Burket, Lot 1-350 acres
Dividing the livestock equally was not possible so it was agreed thata ppraisel be made and the livestock aside until one of the heirscould l egally take it and apportion out to the other heirs theirshares accord ing to the appraisement. The appraisal included:
17 cows and calves at $8.00 = $136
5 cows w/o calves at $5.00 = $25
2-4 year old steers at $8.00 = $16
3-3 year old steers at $6.00 = $18.00
32-1 and 2 year olds ? at $4.00 = $128
1 yoke oxen = $35
Total Cattle = $358
5 head of horses, 1 mare and colt = $30
1 brown horse = $45
1 brown mare = $45
1 Dan colt = $14
Total Horses = $134
30 head gentle hogs at $0.75 = $22.50
13 head hogs not gentle at $0.50 = $6.50
Total Hogs = $29
Grand total = $521
Mary Ann, with the consent of the major heirs (Simon Cockrell and sonN athan), took the stock and paid each heir $57.00 for their share.The c ommissioners also left her with all kitchen and householdfurniture alo ng with all tools and farming equipment free of chargesince all partie s share equally in the benefit of them.
