DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, Jefferson, Texas — Marion County — had a way of drawing people who meant something. And Jacob and Ernestine Sterne were exactly that kind of people.
They settled in Jefferson before the Civil War, and once they put down roots, this town felt it. They managed the post office here, they threw themselves into civic life, into cultural life — the kind of involvement that shapes a place in ways you don't always see until you look back. The marker puts it plainly: Jewish families had a dramatic influence on the development of Jefferson, and the Sternes were right at the heart of that story.
Now, Jacob and Ernestine themselves never saw what was coming in 1913. But their children did something quietly remarkable that year — they gave the city a fountain. Not a plaque, not a portrait.
A fountain. Cast by the J. L.
Mott Foundry of New York, designed for people and animals alike, which tells you something about the spirit behind it. And then there's who stands atop it. The sculptor Guiseppe Moretti put her there — Hebe, the Greek goddess of youth.
In honor of two people who helped build a town. Water still moves through it. Hebe still watches over Jefferson.
And the Sterne name, well — it landed exactly where their children meant it to.
What the marker says
Settling in Jefferson prior to the Civil War, Jacob and Ernestine Sterne became prominent leaders of the community. Their early management of the post office here and their involvement in civic and cultural activities reflected the dramatic influence Jewish families had on the development of Jefferson. In 1913 the Sternes' children gave this fountain to the city in honor of their parents. Designed for use by people and animals, it was cast by the J. L.. Mott Foundry of New York. The work of Guiseppe Moretti, it features a statue of Hebe, the Greek goddess of youth. (1982)