Zion Arneckeville Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Zion Arneckeville Cemetery, out in DeWitt County. Now, picture this. The late 1840s, and German settlers are making their way into a stretch of South Texas that most folks today would struggle to find on a map.

Many of those immigrants put down roots near the Twelve Mile Coleto area, a place that would later be known as Meyersville. And in 1850, they raised up the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church to anchor that community.

Meanwhile, a little further along, a second settlement was takin' shape near the Five Mile Coleto area. They called it Arneckeville. Now, the people of Arneckeville were faithful folks, but faithful folks who had a problem.

The nearest church was eight miles away in Meyersville. Eight miles. That's a long walk on a Sunday morning, and a long ride home in the afternoon heat.

Enter Pastor Christoph Adam Sager, born in 1826. Sager had founded the Lutheran church in Meyersville, and in 1860 he turned his attention to the people of Arneckeville and began to minister to them as well. These were his people, and he wasn't about to leave them without a church of their own.

The community needed land to build on, and here's where the story gets quietly remarkable. They acquired that land from the pastor's own brother, Michael Sager. And in November of 1868, a small log structure was dedicated.

It became known as the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church of Arneckeville. More land was added in 1886 to complete the ten acres that today encompasses the church, the cemetery, the school, and the parsonage. The cemetery itself sits on a low hill sloping to the south, ringed by large live oak trees, holding within its bounds a variety of headstones, and, it is reported, several unmarked burials as well.

The oldest marked grave there belongs to Pastor Christoph Adam Sager himself, who died in 1869. The man who brought the church to Arneckeville became the first marked soul it kept. Eight of the ten charter members of that church are buried in this cemetery.

Among them, Heinrich Arnecke, born in 1833 and died in 1903, the namesake of Arneckeville itself. Michael Sager, born in 1843 and died in 1915, the man who gave the land. And Johann Christoph Thieme, born in 1811 and died in 1890, remembered as a key contributor to German immigration and settlement in the area.

Also laid to rest here is Dr. C.A.H. Arnecke, born in 1860 and died in 1947, a well-known physician and the son of Heinrich Arnecke.

Generation to generation, the same ground holding them all. In 1988, the cemetery incorporated as Zion Arneckeville Cemetery, Inc., with the purpose of preserving this place as a reminder of the German Lutheran heritage of the area. And so it stands.

A ten-acre piece of DeWitt County hill country, live oaks keeping watch, where the people who built something from nothing on the Texas frontier rest together under the same quiet sky they once shared in life.

What the marker says

ZION ARNECKEVILLE CEMETERY GERMAN SETTLERS BEGAN TO ARRIVE IN THIS AREA IN THE LATE 1840s. MANY IMMIGRANTS SETTLED IN THE TWELVE MILE COLETO AREA, LATER KNOWN AS MEYERSVILLE. THE ST. JOHN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1850. MEANWHILE, THE SETTLEMENT OF ARNECKEVILLE, NEAR THE FIVE MILE COLETO AREA, BEGAN TO DEVELOP. MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY TRAVELED THE EIGHT-MILE WALK OR RIDE TO MEYERSVILLE TO ATTEND CHURCH SERVICES. IN 1860, PASTOR CHRISTOPH ADAM SAGER (1826-1869), WHO FOUNDED THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN MEYERSVILLE, BEGAN TO MINISTER TO THE PEOPLE IN ARNECKEVILLE. THE GROUP ACQUIRED LAND FROM SAGER'S BROTHER, MICHAEL SAGER, TO BUILD A CHURCH. A SMALL LOG STRUCTURE WAS DEDICATED IN NOVEMBER 1868 AND BECAME KNOWN AS THE ZION EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF ARNECKEVILLE. ADDITIONAL LAND WAS ADDED IN 1886 TO COMPLETE THE TEN ACRES THAT ENCOMPASSES THE CHURCH, CEMETERY, SCHOOL AND PARSONAGE. SITUATED ON A LOW HILL SLOPING TO THE SOUTH, THE CEMETERY, CONTAINING A VARIETY OF HEADSTONES, IS SURROUNDED BY LARGE LIVE OAK TREES. THE OLDEST MARKED GRAVE IS THAT OF PASTOR CHRISTOPH ADAM SAGER BUT IT IS REPORTED THAT THERE ARE SEVERAL UNMARKED BURIALS. IN ADDITION, EIGHT OF THE TEN CHARTER MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH ARE BURIED IN THIS HISTORIC CEMETERY, INCLUDING HEINRICH ARNECKE (1833-1903), THE NAMESAKE OF ARNECKEVILLE, MICHAEL SAGER (1843-1915), AND JOHANN CHRISTOPH THIEME (1811-1890), A KEY CONTRIBUTOR TO GERMAN IMMIGRATION AND SETTLEMENT IN THE AREA. ANOTHER NOTABLE BURIAL IS DR. C.A.H. ARNECKE (1860-1947), WELL-KNOWN PHYSICIAN AND SON OF HEINRICH ARNECKE. THE CEMETERY INCORPORATED IN 1988 AS ZION ARNECKEVILLE CEMETERY, INC. TO HELP PRESERVE THIS PLACE AS A REMINDER OF GERMAN LUTHERAN HERITAGE OF THE AREA. HISTORIC TEXAS CEMETERY - 2010