Llano City Cemetery

Duane's take

The way I tell it, this comes straight from the official marker for Llano City Cemetery, so let me set the record straight the way the record sets it. Now, Llano County was a brand new thing when area residents founded the city of Llano as its county seat, back in 1856. A fresh start in the Hill Country, a place people were staking their futures on.

But every town, no matter how full of hope it starts out, eventually needs a place for its goodbyes. By August of 1862, this ground was already serving as a burial site. The first to rest here under a marked stone was one-year-old Tina Miller.

A few weeks later, seventeen-year-old Emily Young Wright was interred beside her. Two gravestones. Two lives, one barely begun and one just on the edge of something.

Those are the earliest marked burials this cemetery holds. For a while, the land existed in that informal way that frontier places often do. Then came February of 1882, and the paperwork caught up with the history.

Two transactions, that month, brought the cemetery into official record. J.R. Green and John C.

Oatman each conveyed property to five individuals acting as cemetery trustees. Five people given the responsibility of tending this ground on behalf of everyone who called Llano home. Time has a way of thinning things out, though.

By 1906, of those original trustees, only one was still standing. F.J. Smith, the lone survivor of that arrangement, conveyed the title to the Llano Cemetery Association.

And then the Association didn't hold it long. In March of 1907, the property passed to the City of Llano itself. Since that time, the city has maintained and enlarged the burial ground, and it continues to serve the community right up to today.

Now, a cemetery is more than a list of names on stone, and this marker makes sure you know that. Among the notable burials here, you'll find civic leaders, elected officials, military veterans, and business owners. And then there is Frank Teich.

A stonecutter and sculptor, known as the father of Texas' granite industry. The man who carved meaning out of stone is himself marked in stone, right here in Llano. Several generations of a community, all gathered in one place.

The marker calls it a link to Llano's history, and I think that's exactly right. Some links are forged in courthouses and some in churches, but the ones that last, the ones that hold the whole chain together, are often the quiet ones. Right here off the road, in Llano County.

What the marker says

Area residents founded the city of Llano as the county seat for newly-formed Llano County in 1856. By August 1862, with internment of one-year-old Tina Miller, this site served as a burial ground. Seventeen-year-old Emily Young Wright was interred here a few weeks later, and their two gravestones are the earliest marked burials. The first deed references to the cemetery appear in two transactions from February 1882, when J.R. Green and John C. Oatman conveyed property to five individuals acting as cemetery trustees. As the only surviving trustee by 1906, F.J. Smith conveyed title to the Llano Cemetery Association, which transferred the property to the City of Llano in March 1907. Since that time, the city has maintained and enlarged the burial ground, which continues to serve the community. As the final resting place of several generations, the cemetery is a link to Llano's history. Notable burials include civic leaders, elected officials, military veterans and business owners, as well as Frank Teich, a stonecutter and sculptor known as the father of Texas' granite industry. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2003