DUANE
Duane's take
The way I hear it, the official marker tells this story — and it's one worth telling slow. Near the eastern bank of the Blanco River, before it meets the San Marcos River, there rises a solitary knoll from the Blackland Prairie. They call it Indian Hill, and that name carries weight going back thousands of years.
Native people knew what they had in that mound — a perfect vantage point to spot bison herds crossing the prairie, or to watch for danger drifting in from any direction. That hill had been watching over this land for a long time before any deed was ever drawn up. In 1848, Henry and Martha Cheatham came along and purchased land that included Indian Hill.
Henry Cheatham was no ordinary settler — he would become the first elected chief justice of Hays County. And by all accounts, he and Martha were known far and wide for their hospitality. The kind of folks, you get the feeling, who made everyone feel welcome.
But welcoming as life can be, it doesn't spare anyone. In 1871, the Cheathams lost their son, Henry Jr. And in their grief, they made a decision.
They carried him up to the top of Indian Hill and laid him to rest there. In doing so, they established the Cheatham Cemetery, right on that ancient knoll that had been a lookout for generations beyond counting. Time moved on, as it does.
In 1897, a Prussian-born farmer named Ernest Hohenberg and his wife Antonia purchased forty acres of the Cheathams' property. They were from a different time, a different background, a different world than the Cheathams. But grief, it turns out, doesn't much care about any of that.
The very next year, 1898, their son Martin died. And his parents buried him atop Indian Hill, right beside the Cheatham ground, creating a separate Hohenberg burial plot next to the one already there. Now those two adjoining plots together are known as the Cheatham-Hohenberg Cemetery, and that knoll holds eleven extant headstones.
Four of them belong to the Cheathams — Henry, Martha, Henry Jr., and Henry Jr.'s wife, Sallie Lena Davis. The remaining seven mark the graves of Ernst and Antonia Hohenberg, and their children Martin, Frederick, Roland, and Gertrude — and Gertrude's husband, Harland Beidler. There is one more soul on that hill with no headstone to speak for them — an unknown child, said to be buried there as the family passed through the area.
No name. No marker. Just a presence folded into the story of the place.
Now here's the thing that stays with you. The Hohenbergs didn't have to put their burial plot right there beside the Cheathams'. They chose it.
Two families from different times and different backgrounds, bound together by that ancient hill above the Blanco River. Indian Hill had been a place for watching over people for thousands of years. Seems like it still is.
What the marker says
Close to the east bank of the Blanco River before its confluence with the San Marcos River, a solitary knoll protrudes from the Blackland Prairie. Its name, Indian Hill, is indicative of its historical significance going back thousands of years. The mound provided a perfect vantage point for native people to spot bison herds and potential danger. In 1848, Henry and Martha Cheatham purchased land which included Indian Hill. When Henry Jr. died in 1871, the couple decided to bury their son atop Indian Hill, thus establishing the Cheatham Cemetery. In 1897, Ernest Hohenberg, a Prussian-born farmer, and his wife, Antonia, purchased forty acres of the Cheathams' property. The following year, the Hohenberg's son Martin died. His parents buried him atop Indian Hill as well, creating a separate Hohenberg burial ground next to the Cheathams'. The adjoining plots, known collectively as the Cheatham-Hohenberg Cemetery, contain eleven extant headstones, four belonging to Henry and Martha Cheatham, Henry Jr. and his wife, Sallie Lena Davis. The remaining seven are the graves of Ernst and Antonia Hohenberg and their children, Martin, Frederick, Roland, and Gertrude with her husband, Harland Beidler. No headstone exists for an unknown child said to be buried here as the family passed through the area. Henry Cheatham, the first elected chief justice of Hays County, and Martha were noted for their hospitality. The same appears true of Ernst and Antonia. The Hohenbergs chose to lay out their burial plot right beside the Cheathams and, by doing so, two families from different times and backgrounds share a common final resting place. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2017