St. John Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says, out here at St. John Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery in DeWitt County. Now, when you come across a piece of ground that's been holding onto people's stories since before the Civil War, you slow down.

You pay attention. That's what this place asks of you. Pastor Christoph Adam Sager established the St.

John Evangelical Lutheran Church and Cemetery at this very site in 1851. And right there, that date does some work. This was the first Lutheran congregation formed in DeWitt County, and one of the oldest in the entire state of Texas.

One of the oldest. Think on that the next time you drive past a stretch of Texas scrub and figure nothing much ever happened out here. Something did.

Something that lasted. The land the cemetery rests on, that original acre, was donated by Christoph and Johanna Thieme. A gift of ground, which is about as serious a gift as a family can give.

The cemetery eventually grew beyond that first acre, onto land acquired in 1880, because the settlers kept coming, and time kept doing what time does. Now here's the part that'll settle quiet on you. There are many unmarked graves in this place.

Many. People who made the crossing from Germany, who broke this ground and built something from nothing in DeWitt County, lying without a name above them. The earliest grave documented by church records belongs to Amalia Eckert, who died in 1854.

Just that. A name, a year, a record that someone thought to keep. The descendants of these German immigrants maintain this burial ground to this day, and the marker calls it exactly what it is: a chronicle of the settlers of the Meyersville area of DeWitt County.

Not just a cemetery. A chronicle. A record written in stone and silence and a donated acre of Texas earth.

You don't walk away from a place like that the same way you walked in.

What the marker says

ST. JOHN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CEMETERY PASTOR CHRISTOPH ADAM SAGER ESTABLISHED THE ST. JOHN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH AND CEMETERY AT THIS SITE IN 1851. THIS IS THE FIRST LUTHERAN CONGREGATION FORMED IN DeWITT COUNTY AND ONE OF THE OLDEST IN TEXAS. THE CEMETERY LIES ON THE ORIGINAL ACRE DONATED BY CHRISTOPH AND JOHANNA THIEME AND EXTENDS ONTO LAND ACQUIRED IN 1880. THERE ARE MANY UNMARKED GRAVES; THE EARLIEST, AS DOCUMENTED BY CHURCH RECORDS, IS THAT OF AMALIA ECKERT WHO DIED IN 1854. THE DECENDANTS OF THESE GERMAN IMMIGRANTS MAINTAIN THIS BURIAL GROUND, A CHRONICLE OF THE SETTLERS OF THE MEYERSVILLE AREA OF DeWITT COUNTY. HISTORIC TEXAS CEMETERY 2001