Mary Doyle (1803-1873)
Submitted by Kay Boyd
The burial location of Mary Doyle is easy to identify. It is the large limestone blocked wall immediately east of the Oakwood Chapel.
Mary Doyle was born in Georgia about 1803. She died in Austin on February 4, 1873. Mary Brown married James Doyle in Bibb County, Georgia May 23, 1835. Evidently, she had been previously married as her daughter Lodoiska was born in Georgia around 1823.
In 1835, the family received a land grant in Bastrop County. Later they lived near Onion Creek in Travis County. James Doyle, Mary’s husband, was a stonemason who was a superintendent of construction for the first state Capitol building. Doyle slaves helped build the limestone structure, which later burned. James Doyle died July 23, 1866. After his death, his widow proved adept at managing and improving their considerable holdings. Before her health failed, she made sure her family was comfortably fixed. Then she turned to others.
Mary Doyle out-lived her husband and her only child. Her daughter Lodoiska married Nicholas McArthur and they had three known children. She died in 1853 and he in 1851. They are both buried on the old homestead. John T. McArthur, one of the Doyle grandchildren, is buried with James and Mary Doyle in Oakwood.
Mrs. Doyle was a devout Catholic. Records show that she sponsored the first baptism at Saint Mary’s Cathedral. Before she died in 1873, she bequeathed most of her land holding to the Catholic church. Mary had a great interest in educating children. The Congregation of Holy Cross, founders of St. Edward’s University, received from Mary Doyle her 398-acre farm in South Austin, known for generations as the Catholic farm. This would become one of the university’s most valuable endowments. The land includes the property that became Assumption Cemetery which to this day is managed by St. Edward’s University.
Historical Marker15328 at Assumption Cemetery reads:
“Mary Doyle in 1872 deeded 398 acres of the farm to Father Edward Sorin, Superior General of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, Notre Dame University, for "the establishment of a college, school, or other educational institution.
The farm was put to use while school plans were pending. In 1874, they found a large dwelling house and other facilities, and gradually acquired livestock and tools. For years, Doyle Farm furnished food for St. Edward's staff and students, and later it was also to fund building programs. Since 1874 a great university has developed out of the gift of Mrs. Doyle and the work of the pioneering brothers of Holy Cross.”
Mary Doyle was a ”strong-willed businesswoman with a big heart. A lot of people, a lot of Catholics owe a lot of thanks to Mary Doyle. She was a good person” her great great great granddaughter Frances Sneed Simnacher said.
St. Mary’s Colony was a freedmen’s colony established on land given by Mary Doyle after emancipation to the former enslaved families who lived on her land. Doyle deeded about 1,700 acres of land to these families. When first establish, this land that became St. Mary’s Colony was the home to about 300 people but over the years many of the residents moved away. The school the children of the community attended in the 1920s is now a community center. The St. Mary’s Colony Baptist Church Cemetery in St. Mary’s Colony is located in Bastrop County north of Highway 21. The descendants of the early families plan to erect a historical marker for the cemetery. Some of these families who lived here were the Pattons, Overtons, McArthurs and Crenshaws.
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