The Second Mrs. Lamar

The Second Mrs. Lamar. . Lamar's first wife, Tabitha Jordan, died in 1830, followed by his son, John Burwell in 1831, and his daughter, Rebecca Ann, in 1843. His second wife, Henrietta (1827-1891), was the daughter of John Newland Maffitt, Sr., renowned Methodist minister, and Ann Carnic, who operated a popular boarding house in Galveston., Henrietta and her sisters were celebrated for their charm and known throughout Texas as "The Three Graces." Henrietta and ex-President Lamar were married in 1851 following a brief courtship begun during a chance meeting on a visit to a mutual acquaintance in New Orleans. She was active in Richmond society, a devout member of Calvary Episcopal Church, and long remembered for her charity to Confederate soldiers and their families during the Civil War. She was entertained at the White House by First Lady Harriet Lane (niece of the bachelor James Buchanan and dined with Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy., Following Lamar's death she continued to manage the plantation and increased cattle production, with up to 200 head bearing her letter 'H' brand. She later moved to Galveston with her daughter, and died in Santa Anna, Texas, in 1891. She is buried in Morton Cemetery in Richmond., Captions , Upper Right: Henrietta Maffitt Lamar, Courtesy of Fort Bend County Museum Association , Lower Right: Grave Marker, Richmond, Texas