Phineas De Cordova    

P. DE CORDOVA, AUSTIN. Phineas De Cordova, whose life in Texas embraced a period of nearly sixty years and in a modest way was identified with the history and development of the State, died at the home of his son, Mr. Sam De Cordova, at Austin, May 8, 1903.

The funeral occurred at 4:30 p. m. the following day from the family residence, 706 Guadalupe street; interment in the Jewish cemetery. The religious services were conducted by Rabbi Rosenstein, of Temple Beth Israel, of which the deceased was a communicant.

The remains were followed to their last resting place by the congregation of Temple Beth Israel, the local lodge I. 0. 0. F. of which he was a member, and a large concourse of leading citizens.

The honorary pallbearers were Hon. A. W. Terrell, Hon. Walter Tips, Col. A. P. Wooldridge, Hon. Wm. Walsh, and Messrs. B. Melasky and Henry Hirshfeld.

The active pallbearers were selected from the Odd Fellows and congregation of Temple Beth Israel. Those from the Odd Fellows were Messrs. H. M. Metz, Phil. Stein and John Kyle, and from the Temple Messrs. Louis Davis, George Ash and A. B. Haber.

Mr. De Cordova was born in Philadelphia, Pa., March 28, 1819; came to Texas in 1847, and spent a year in Galveston with his brother, Jacob De Cordova, who located in the then republic about ten years prior to that date; resided for a short time in Houston, and then established himself at Austin, thereafter his home until the time of his death. He was editor of a newspaper published at Austin in early days and won recognition, in that capacity, as a clear and sound thinker and elegant and forcible writer. In later years he contributed various articles to the leading newspapers of the State.

He was associated with his son, Mr. Sam De Cordova, in the real estate business until failing health compelled him to retire from active pursuits a few years since.

His son and six grand children (two children of his son, and four children of his daughter, the late Mrs. B. H. Ward) survive him.
He was a man liberally educated, widely read, with a mind stored with recollections of the heroes and statesmen of early days with whom he was associated and important events that he witnessed or in which he participated, with a heart devoted to Texas—chivalrous, patriotic and noble. He has left a memory that all who knew him dwell upon with pleasure and that will reflect honor upon his descendants to their latest generation.

Year Book for Texas: party conventions, election returns, inauguration of Governor Lanham and Lieutenant-Governor Neal, legislative work, public officials and current reports of departments and state institutions, important events, obituaries of distinguished dead, industrial development, statistics, biographical sketches, and historical manuscripts never before published. Raines, Cadwell Walton, Austin, Tex.: Gammel-Statesman Pub. Co., 1903, pages 45-46. View image of this page on line.  Search Hundreds of 1880s-1920s Texas History Books for biographies and historical information on your ancestors.  View the book page images on line and print them out for your genealogy file!  Try the family history collection for free for 14 days!