de la Zerda Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, the way I hear it out on the road. Up on the high east bank of the San Antonio River, there's a piece of ground that's been holding stories a lot longer than most folks realize. This is the de la Zerda Cemetery, out in Wilson County, and if you stop long enough to listen, it'll tell you something about a community that time has mostly passed by.

The trading community of Lodi, sitting along that river, it had its day. It had its people. And then, like so many small places do, it declined in the twentieth century.

But the ground remembers. The ground always remembers. Now, the man whose name this cemetery carries, Nemencio de la Zerda, Senior, was born in San Antonio in 1808.

Rancher, businessman, former soldier under Juan Seguin. That right there is a life already worth stopping for. In 1839, he purchased this land.

Bought it. Put his name on it. And the land kept it.

The earliest burial the record confirms dates to 1877, though people who know this place will tell you, quietly, that they believe there are earlier graves out there, unmarked, their stones or their wooden markers long since returned to the earth. That's the thing about a cemetery like this. What you can see is only part of the story.

Among the notable burials here is Benito Lopez, a prominent business owner in both Lodi and Floresville. A man known in his community, remembered here. The cemetery itself has a character all its own.

Interior fencing. Grave markers in Spanish. It is, in the truest sense, a chronicle, a record of the lives of early pioneers of the Mexican American community of Lodi.

Every name carved in that stone is a thread running back through Texas history, back to a river bank, back to a soldier who served under Juan Seguin and bought a piece of land in 1839. Lodi may have declined, but this cemetery is still standing up on that east bank of the San Antonio River, still keeping its watch, still holding its people close.

What the marker says

This cemetery, located on the high east bank of the San Antonio River, served residents of the trading community of Lodi, which declined in the 20th century. Nemencio de la Zerda, Sr., born in San Antonio in 1808, was a rancher, businessman and former soldier under Juan Seguin. He purchased this land in 1839. The earliest burial in the cemetery dates to 1877, though it is believed there are earlier unmarked graves. One notable burial is that of Benito Lopez, a prominent Lodi and Floresville business owner. This burial ground features interior fencing and Spanish language grave markers. The cemetery chronicles the lives of early pioneers of the Mexican American community of Lodi. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2006