The Edens-Madden Massacre

The Handbook of Texas dates the attack to October 1838. It fell on John Edens's home on San Pedro Creek, where women and children had gathered while the men of the area were away fighting the Córdova Rebellion. A county historical commission survey of the burial ground lists those who died on October 18, 1838: Mrs. John Edens, Emily and Caledonia Edens, Robert and Seldon Madden, Mary Madden, about three, killed or taken, Mrs. John Murchison and Mrs. W. T. Sadler. The graves lie 200 yards from the house site in woods the survey called inaccessible.

What the plaque says

The Edens-Madden Massacre A famous tragedy of the 1830s. While able-bodied men where away fighting Indians, six or seven women, some young children, and four elderly men -- most of them relatives -- were at the home of John Edens (2.4 mi. SW of here). Indians attacked, killing several women and setting fire to the house. The men, 4-year-old Balis Madden, and a little girl escaped. Two wounded women, Mrs. James Madden and Mrs. Robert Madden, managed to survive. The Indians may have carried off some of the missing; the fire burned several bodies. Patsy, or Betsy, a Negro woman, rescued some of the survivors. (1971)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Caddo Mounds State Historic Site — 12 mi
  Three earthen mounds of an ancestral Caddo village and ceremonial center on the old El Camino Real, settled about A.D. 800 and still sacred to Caddo people, with a grass house and visitor center.
• Texas State Railroad Excursion Train — 20 mi
  A round trip of about 25 miles of track between the Palestine and Rusk depots through the Piney Woods, on a line built by prison labor and reopened as a tourist railroad in 1976.

More markers nearby

• Daniel McLean and John Sheridan — steps away
• Site of Old Town of Augusta — steps away
• John and Lucinda Nugent Sheridan — 0.3 mi
• Waneta Community and School — 2.8 mi