York Creek Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about York Creek Cemetery, out there in Comal County. German families started making their way into this part of Texas in the middle of the nineteenth century, and by 1880 they had put down enough roots to establish the community of Hunter. Two years after that, in 1882, a man named Ernst Gruene Jr. sold a one-acre parcel of land to three trustees: D.G.

Posey, Frank Tate, and Charles Crawford. That sale was the beginning of York Creek Cemetery. One acre.

A modest start, as most things are. Then, twenty-two years later, a man named William Simon Sr. sold an additional adjacent acre to the association, and just like that, the cemetery doubled in size. Somewhere in there, in 1904, the York Creek Cemetery Association was formally organized, giving the place a proper stewardship for the years ahead.

Now, here is where the story takes a quiet, generous turn. When Lizzie Crawford died in 1945, she left behind a donation. That gift allowed the trustees to add what the marker calls needed infrastructure: rock posts and a concrete wall, to stabilize the land.

One person's final act keeping a community's resting place standing firm. And then, in 1961, the sign over the entrance was donated, in memory of Albert Charles Soechting. A cemetery that began with one acre and a handshake sale, shaped over the decades by the hands and hearts of the people buried within it.

What the marker says

German families began moving into this area in the middle of the 19th century, establishing the community of Hunter in 1880. The York Creek Cemetery was established in 1882 when Ernst Gruene Jr. sold a one-acre parcel to the first trustees: D.G. Posey, Frank Tate and Charles Crawford. Twenty-two years later, William Simon Sr. sold an additional adjacent acre, thus doubling the size of the cemetery. In 1904, the York Creek Cemetery Association was formed. When Lizzie Crawford died in 1945, she left a donation which allowed trustees to add needed infrastructure, including rock posts and a concrete wall, to stabilize the land. The sign over the entrance was donated in 1961 in memory of Albert Charles Soechting. (HTC 2020)