Mary Jadwiga Seerden

Donated the Land for St. Francis Church and cemetery in Wadsworth, Texas. Historical marker at the site. The marker reads:

St. Francis Catholic Church, 1895. First Euro-American Roman Catholic Church in county. Land a gift of Mrs. Frank Seerden and Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Butter. In Polish Village . Rebuilt following 1896 hurricane destruction.

A correction was added to the marker in 1985:

Later research showed original land donors were Mrs. Frank Seerden and her nephew, Zeflick "Z" Butter.

From the rootsweb.com website: Mary Jadwig Petrucha came to America as a nursemaid, arriving at the port of Galveston January 21, 1852. Later, she came to Wild Cow Island near Matagorda, where her brother, Heinrich Petrucha, and Frank Seerden had a brick yard. She married Frank Seerden July 13, 1857. (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txmatago/cemetery_stfrances_wads.htm)

Her husband, Frank Seerden, was born on August 10, 1820 at Antwerp Belgium and died April 27, 1888. A family story that was copied by a Matagorda Newspaper in 1980, tells that he was the only son of a Duke of Belgium. After his Father died, he received a letter from the King over there requesting that he return to Belgium, but freedom and America meant too much to him to return to his native land, so his inheritance was reverted back to the Crown. 2017 research points out that there is no noble family Seerden in Belgium nor the Netherlands. Source 1(Dutch) Source 2. Frank Seerden was born Francis Seerden in the city of Weert, where the Seerden family still resides until today. He was a sheep herder near Antwerp for 9 years, before emigrating to Texas.

In the fall of 1887, a team hitched to a wagon, ran away with Mr. Seerden and overturned. In the accident his leg was broken. Back in those days they knew nothing about splints, or plaster of paris, so they made a wide leather band and secured it tight around his broken leg. He endured the pain for several months, on up into the spring, when he passed away. That winter, cattle died all over the prairie from the ice and snow . Mrs. Seerden skinned cattle and sold the hides, to help with the expenses. She did not have a boat, so she used a door to cross Boggy Creek, to get to the cattle on the other side. Mary Jadwiga, too, was a very religious person, before they built the Catholic Church, known as St. Francis, she let the neighborhood hold services at her home. Before she died, she gave the Church enough land to build the church and graveyard. She also helped to finance the construction of the first Catholic Church in Matagorda County, Texas. Mr. and Mrs. Seerden are buried at Matagorda, Texas. Mr. Seerden died April 27, 1888 and Mrs. Seerden died September 24, 1903 at 5:20 PM.

They were blessed with eight children: 1. Joseph Seerden, born 1858 2. Gohanna Helena Seerden, born February 28, 1860 3. Catherine Rose Seerden, born October 25, 1863 4. Frank Baldez Seerden, born October I7, 1866 5. John Joseph Seerden, born January 17, 1870 6. Henry Martin Seerden, born November 22, 1871 7. Mary Elizabeth Seerden, born July 27, 1875 8. William Valentine Seerden, born April 11, 1878

References;>| https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/mary-jadwiga-petrucha_g5...