DUANE
Duane's take
Here's what the official marker has to say, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Out in Kendall County, there's a patch of ground that's been keeping quiet company with the past for well over a century — and that's the Brownsboro Cemetery. Now, Brownsboro itself is a former community, which is a polite way of saying it lived, it worked, it buried its dead, and then it mostly moved on.
But the cemetery remained. That's often how it goes. The people leave; the stones stay.
Before the farmers came to Brownsboro, before the railroad workers showed up with their calloused hands and their restless ways, the community was originally settled by shinglemakers. Think about that for a moment — a whole town built on the labor of men splitting wood into roofing. In 1870, Thomas and Sarah Manning donated land for both a burial ground and a church.
That's two of the most important things a community can have — a place to worship and a place to rest. Levi and Sarah Howell later added to that with additional donated property, making sure there was room enough for the neighbors who would follow. The first known burial was that of Henry Bierschwale, in 1877.
His name is the one history handed us as the beginning. Among those who followed him are five veterans of the Civil War — five men who had already survived something enormous, who had come to this quiet Hill Country community and made it home. As Brownsboro's population declined and floods damaged the area, the cemetery fell into disuse.
The land took its hits, and the people thinned out, and eventually the ground went quiet in more ways than one. But here's the part worth holding onto — today, the Comfort Heritage Foundation cares for that burial ground. It stands now as a memorial to the residents of the former Brownsboro community.
The shinglemakers, the farmers, the railroad workers, the Mannings, the Howells, the veterans, Henry Bierschwale — all of them, remembered. That cemetery outlasted the town that built it. Some things just refuse to be forgotten.
What the marker says
This cemetery served the community of Brownsboro, which was originally settled by shinglemakers. Later, farmers and then railroad workers resided here. Thomas and Sarah Manning donated land for a burial ground and church in 1870; Levi and Sarah Howell later donated additional property. The first known burial was of Henry Bierschwale in 1877. Other notable burials include five veterans of the Civil War. As Brownsboro's population declined and floods damaged the area, the cemetery fell into disuse. Today, the Comfort Heritage Foundation cares for the burial ground, which remains as a memorial to the residents of the former Brownsboro community. Historic Texas Cemetery – 2007