Hutto Lutheran Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Out on the outskirts of Hutto, in Williamson County, there's a piece of ground that carries a lot of years, a lot of names, and at least one story that'll make you stop and think. This is the Hutto Lutheran Cemetery, and its roots go back to 1892, when a handful of Swedish immigrants who had settled in the Hutto area decided they needed a church.

So they built one. With their own hands, right there on Short Street, the Swedish Lutheran Evangelical Church took shape. Now, you'd think that would be the quiet beginning of a long, steady story.

And you'd be half right about the long part. In 1894, a tornado destroyed that first sanctuary. Just like that.

Gone. The congregation didn't scatter, though. They found a second building and kept on.

Then in 1902, they moved again, this time to East Live Oak and Church Streets. The following year, they purchased this site. Not for a new church, but for a cemetery.

A place to keep their people. Here's the part that settles in slow and stays with you. The first marked graves, dating as early as 1897, are believed to be those of children.

Children whose remains were exhumed and reinterred here when the congregation made this ground official. Think about that. These families had already been carrying their grief from one place to another, making sure their smallest ones weren't left behind.

The first adult buried here was Johannes Anderson, who died in 1903. And scattered among the marked stones are several unmarked graves, also believed to be those of children. The stones that do bear markings tell you something about who these people were beyond their Sundays.

You'll find symbols of Masonic and Woodmen of the World affiliations carved into the rock. And there are graves of military veterans here too, quiet sentinels in a quiet place. Today, a church committee maintains the cemetery, conducting special events and raising funds to keep the ground in good order.

The site remains, as the marker puts it, a link to the area's early Swedish settlers, their families, and their church. One tornado, two church buildings, three locations, and a cemetery that kept receiving its people across it all. That's not just history.

That's a community refusing to let go.

What the marker says

In 1892, several Swedish immigrants who had settled in the Hutto area established the Swedish Lutheran Evangelical Church. In 1894 a tornado destroyed the first sanctuary, built by members on Short Street. After utilizing a second church building for several years, the congregation moved to East Live Oak and Church Streets in 1902. The following year, the congregation purchased this site for a church cemetery. It is believed the first marked graves, dating as early as 1897, are those of children whose remains were exhumed and reinterred at the new cemetery. The first adult buried here was Johannes Anderson (d. 1903). There are several unmarked graves believed to be those of children. There are also graves of military veterans and tombstone symbols that reflect Masonic and Woodmen of the World affiliations. Today, Hutto Lutheran Cemetery is maintained by a church committee, which conducts special events and raised funds for maintenance of the burial ground. The site remains a link to the area's early Swedish settlers, their familied and their church. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2004