Star Hill Cemetery

Duane's take

The official marker's the source here, and I'm just the one bringin' it to life. This is Duane, and this is Star Hill Cemetery. Now every piece of ground out here in Austin County has a story underneath it, and the story at Star Hill goes back further than most folks would guess.

It starts with a man named Bryan Daughtrey, a veteran of the War of 1812, and his wife Anna, born a Roberts. In 1822, they packed up and came to Texas as part of Stephen F. Austin's Second Colony.

That alone puts them among the earliest arriving families in this part of the world. They moved again in 1829, this time onto land right here in what we now call Austin County. And they stayed.

They built a life on this ground. Then in 1847, Anna died. Bryan buried her at this very site.

And after that, he moved on from the area. His sons, James and Edward, eventually sold the family property to a man named Frederick W. Sternenberg.

Now the Sternenberg family took root here too, and they used that same cemetery. Frederick buried his wife, Julia H., born a Brauss, here in 1861. Then Frederick himself was interred at the site in 1869, along with a grandson named Gustav.

Three generations of two families, sharing one piece of consecrated earth. In 1878, Rudolph Sternenberg sold the land to Charles Wendt. But there was a condition written right into that sale: one acre, reserved for the cemetery.

That ground wasn't going anywhere. And here's one of those small wonders that the Texas landscape turns up every now and again. The local community, and the burial ground, and a school that stayed in operation until 1928, all came to be known as Star Hill.

Star Hill is the English translation for the name Sternenberg. The family name had already been living in the landscape. Now the landscape carried it forward in a new tongue.

That community didn't fade. In 1975, a man named James Edward Huebner formed an association to maintain the burial ground, and it's still going. Descendants of pioneer area settlers, friends, neighbors.

They keep the place. Among those resting here are veterans of military conflicts reaching all the way back to the Civil War. Bryan Daughtrey came to Texas in 1822 with a wife and a future.

He left her here in 1847 in ground that would carry names and stories and new families for generations to come. That one acre, set aside and held firm, turned out to be the kind of permanent thing that outlasts every deed and sale and passing year. Star Hill is still here.

And the people who tend it make sure you know it.

What the marker says

War of 1812 veteran Bryan Daughtrey and his wife, Anna (Roberts), moved to Texas in 1822 as part of Stephen F. Austin's Second Colony. In 1829, they moved to land here in present Austin County. When Anna died in 1847, Bryant buried her at this site, and he later moved from the area. His sons James and Edward eventually sold the family property to Frederick W. Sternenberg. His family also used the cemetery. He buried his wife, Julia H. (Brauss), here in 1861, and Sternenberg and a grandson, Gustav, were interred at the site in 1869. In 1878, Rudolph Sternenberg sold the land to Charles Wendt, with one acre reserved for the cemetery. The local community and its burial ground, as well as a school in operation until 1928, came to be known as Star Hill, the English translation for the Sternenberg name. Star Hill community residents continue to use the early burial ground, which is maintained by an association that was formed by James Edward Huebner in 1975. It includes descendants of pioneer area settlers, as well as friends and neighbors. Among those interred here are veterans of military conflicts dating to the Civil War. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2004