Kaiser Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. This is the story of Kaiser Cemetery, out in Colorado County, Texas. Napoleon B.

Breeding purchased this land from the Republic of Texas in May 1837, right around the time Colorado County was organizing itself into something resembling order. He wouldn't be the last name tied to this ground, but he was the first. German immigrants began settling Frelsburg and the surrounding area, a stretch that folks would later call the Brushy community.

And among those immigrants came the Kaiser family. John Frederick Kaiser, born in 1790, and his wife Lucy, born in 1792, packed up their children and made the crossing from Bremen, Germany, arriving in Texas in 1848. That is a long way to come, and Texas does not always make a gentle first impression.

John and Lucy's sons, George, Johann, and Ludwig, all put down roots in the area. They purchased their land from Napoleon Breeding himself, the same man who'd bought it from the Republic. Land changes hands, but it tends to remember who worked it.

Ludwig Frederick Kaiser and his wife Anna Gertrude, born a Maier, were charter members of Trinity Lutheran Church in Frelsburg. Their son Carl was baptized there in 1855. Other German families filled out the community around them: descendants of Bernard and Anna Aschenbeck, the Meinen line running through her, and the Lilie, Ladewig, and Meyer families.

In January of 1859, Ludwig and Anna Kaiser deeded one and a half acres of land to the community, set aside for a school and a cemetery. A school and a cemetery. That tells you something about what a community needs to survive and what it needs to remember.

Then January of 1860 arrived, and Ludwig Kaiser died. He was the first person buried in that very ground he had signed away for the community's use. His wife Anna followed in 1867, and she is buried beside him.

Both their headstones are inscribed in their native German language, a quiet declaration that even in Texas soil, they remained who they were. Many members of related German families rest here too. And there is something else worth knowing about this cemetery.

When Cummins Creek ran high and the roads into Frelsburg went impassable, this is where families brought their dead. The ground stayed reachable when other ground did not, and so the cemetery gathered people from beyond its immediate neighborhood. Among the dozens of burials here, at least eleven are military veterans, men who served from the Civil War through the Korean Conflict.

One of them is Johann Frederick Wilhelm Kaiser, born in 1827, died in 1867, Ludwig's younger brother, a Confederate army soldier during the Civil War. He is here too, in the same ground his brother was first to consecrate. Descendants of many of these early families still live in the area today.

The marker calls this cemetery a tribute to early area settlers, their descendants, and the rural heritage of Texas. That seems about right. A piece of land, bought from a republic that no longer existed by the time the Kaiser family arrived, deeded over for a school and a place for the dead, and still standing as testament to the people who came a long way to put their roots somewhere permanent.

They found it.

What the marker says

Napoleon B. Breeding purchased this land from the Republic of Texas in May 1837, soon after Colorado County organized. German immigrants were among the early settlers of Frelsburg and this area which was later called Brushy community. John Frederick Kaiser (1790-1870), his wife, Lucy (1792-1860), and their children came to Texas in 1848 from Bremen, Germany. John and Lucy's sons George, Johann and Ludwig all owned land in the area, which they purchased from Napoleon breeding. Ludwig Frederick Kaiser and his wife, Anna Gertrude (Maier) were charter members of the Trinity Lutheran Church in Freslburg, and their son Carl was baptized in the church in 1855. Other local German families included descendants of Bernard and Anna (Meinen) Aschenbeck, and the Lilie, Ladewig, and Meyer families. Descendants of many early families still live here. In January 1859, Ludwig and Anna Kaiser deeded 1.5 acres of land to the community to be used for a school and cemetery. Ludwig Kaiser died in jan. 1860 and was the first person buried in this cemetery. His wife, Anna, died in 1867 and is buried beside him; their headstones are both inscribed in their native German language. Many members of related German families are buried here, along with individuals who could not be interred in Frelsburg when a high-running cummins creek made roads impassable. Among the dozens of burials here are at least 11 military veterans who served from the civil war through the Korean conflict, including Ludwig's younger brother, Johann Frederick Wilhelm Kaiser (1827-1867), a Confederate army soldier during the civil war. Today the cemetery is a tribute to early area settlers and their descendants and the rural heritage of Texas.