DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about St. Martin Cemetery, out in McLennan County. Now, if you're the kind of person who believes in signs, you might want to pay close attention to what I'm about to tell you.
A wagon train — German Catholic settlers, every last one of them, rolling out of Teutopolis, Illinois — came rumbling into this stretch of Texas on November the eleventh, eighteen seventy-four. And here's the thing. November the eleventh is the feast day of St.
Martin of Tours. Of all the days they could have arrived, of all the miles of road between Illinois and Central Texas, they pulled in on that day. That very year, they built themselves a log cabin church and dedicated it to St.
Martin. The John Deiterman family donated five acres for the church and two more for a cemetery. Other German, Czech, and Moravian families came along not long after, and a farming community took root.
Now, you'd think that would be a clean enough beginning. Church up, cemetery laid out, community planted. But this is Texas, and the land has a way of complicating things.
In 1887 — thirteen years on — county surveyors came out to do what surveyors do, and they found something nobody wanted to find. The cemetery wasn't sitting where anyone thought it was sitting. It was actually on Anton Halbrook's property.
Now, that's the kind of discovery that could go sideways real fast. But Halbrook sold ten acres across the road, and the graves were moved to the new site. Every last one of them, picked up and carried over.
Well — almost every last one. Several unmarked graves still exist at the original location. The cemetery's first marked grave belongs to Clement Uptmore, born in 1831, died in 1876.
The generations that followed have kept this ground. The Deiterman, Jupe, Pfeiler, Seith, and Willenborg families are all represented there, their names cut into granite and marble and cast into metal crosses. A large crucifix marks the graves of two parish priests.
And every November, an association gathers to hold a memorial service celebrating All Souls' Day — same month the whole story began, which somehow feels right. This burial ground, the marker tells us, stands as a significant reminder of the German and Czech history of Tours. And on a quiet November morning, with the crosses catching the light, it's not hard to believe every word of that.
What the marker says
A wagon train of German Catholic settlers from Teutopolis, Illinois arrived in this area on November 11, 1874, the feast day of St. Martin of Tours. That year, they built and dedicated a log cabin church to St. Martin. The John Deiterman family donated five acres for the church and two for a cemetery. Other German, Czech and Moravian families soon joined the farming community. In 1887, county surveyors discovered an error in the cemetery's location. It was actually sited on Anton Halbrook's property. He sold 10 acres across the road, and the graves were moved to the new site. Although several unmarked graves exist, the cemetery's first marked grave is that of Clement Uptmore (1831-1876). Represented at the cemetery are generations of the Deiterman, Jupe, Pfeiler, Seith and Willenborg families. Among the numerous decorative gravestones are metal crosses and granite and marble markers. A large crucifix marks the graves of two parish priests. An association maintains the burial ground, a significant reminder of the German and Czech history of Tours. Members hold a memorial service each November celebrating All Souls' Day. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2004