Last Soldier Of Mexican War Buried On Texas Grounds. Central Texas can lay claim to being the final resting place for the last soldier of the Mexican War, Elija Goodnight, who is buried at Concord near Waco. Goodnight, as was told in the Waco Tribune-Herald recently, was from one of the famous old pioneer Texas families. Elija hit Central Texas when the Indians were still raiding the settlers. He fought in the Mexican War and later he was a forager with the Confederate Army in the Civil War. He was a freighter and farmer. He was a big man, not fat but had a big frame. The Goodnights originally came to this country from Germany and settled in Pennsylvania. They came to Texas when Elija and his brother, Charlie, were only boys and Texas was still a Republic. Here they settled near Old Nashville, at the junction of the Brazos and Little Rivers, in Milam County. Elija joined the Army when he was only 17 and fought in the Mexican War. For a while after the war, Elija was a freighter driving an ox team between Calvert and Houston. He often stayed on the prairie outside of Houston because the town was filled with Yellow fever and he was afraid of the disease. In the Civil War Elija served the South by rounding up cattle and taking them to the Confederates so they could feed the soldiers. Elija once owned the land where the General Tire plant is now located. Part of the James Connally Air Force Base is on land that was in the Goodnight farm. Elija has many descendants in Central Texas. Among them is Ed Westbrook, a grandson, of 100 West 15th St, Cameron. When he died on Dec. 1, 1920, he was 89 years old. He was buried in Concord Cemetery on the Old Corsicana Road. A marble marker at his grave lists him as "the Last Mexican War Veteran, 1848." Cameron Herald
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From his Texas certificate of death
Name: Eliga Goodnight
Death Date: 01 Dec 1920
Death Place: Waco, McLennan, Texas
Gender: Male
Race: White
Death Age: 89 years 1 month 15 days
Birth Date: 16 Oct 1831
Birthplace: Illinois
Marital Status: Married
Father's Name: Goodnight
Occupation: Farmer
Place of Residence: 7 miles on Corsicana Road
Cemetery: Concord Cem.
Burial Date: 02 Dec 1920