Pfluger Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Pfluger Cemetery, out there in Travis County. Settle in, because this one starts an ocean away and ends with a family that just keeps on going. Henry Pfluger was born in Germany in 1803.

Now, whatever life looked like for him over there, by 1850 he had made up his mind, packed up his large family, and brought the whole outfit to Texas. That takes a certain kind of nerve. He put down roots, built his home, and carved out a piece of this land for himself and his people.

When Henry died in 1867, they buried him right there on that same tract, close to where he had lived. The land that had been his home became, in a way, his final resting place too. Then came 1880.

Henry's wife, Christina, born in 1820, was still living, and she made a decision that speaks to what this family was made of. She set aside one full acre of that land as a family cemetery. A deliberate act.

A permanent one. Christina herself, who would pass in 1897, is buried there alongside her husband. The couple's eldest son, also named Henry, born in 1837 and gone in 1904, took up the work of maintaining that cemetery, and his descendants have kept it up ever since.

Eighteen graves rest on that one acre. The last burial was in 1917. And the nearby town of Pflugerville, sitting about five miles to the west, was named for this pioneer family.

Five miles away, the name is right there on the map. Now here is the part that lands hardest. Pfluger descendants today number over two thousand people.

Two thousand. And since 1934, they have been gathering every summer for their annual reunion. Year after year, generation after generation, coming back to honor a man who crossed an ocean in 1850 and planted something that just would not stop growing.

What the marker says

Henry Pfluger, born in Germany in 1803, brought his large family to Texas in 1850. When he died in 1867, he was buried on this tract of land near his home. In 1880 his wife, Christina (1820-97), who is also buried here, set aside the one-acre site as a family cemetery. Their eldest son, Henry (1837-1904), and his descendants have maintained the cemetery, which holds 18 graves. The last burial here was in 1917. The nearby town of Pflugerville (5 mi. W) was named for this pioneer family. Pfluger descendants, today numbering over 2,000, still gather for their annual summer reunions, started in 1934. (1975)