Bowman Cemetery
Lakeside City, Archer County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Land for this cemetery was donated in 1885 by W. A. Bacon to the Evangelical Missionary Society of North America. The first burial, that of Christina Schmith (b. 1857), took place the same year. The unique sandstone mausoleum on the south side of the cemetery was built about the turn of the century by A. F. Decker (d. 1927) for his parents. Many of the burials are those of German immigrants, reflecting the influence of the German culture in this area. A cemetery association was organized in 1940 to care for the graveyard. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
W. A. Bacon donated this ground to a German missionary society in 1885, and the first grave—that of Christina Schmith—was dug the same year. Many who rest here were German immigrants, and a striking sandstone mausoleum built around 1900 by A. F. Decker for his parents still marks the cemetery's south side. Descendants formed an association in 1940 to keep the graveyard tended.
Why it matters
Bowman Cemetery preserves the mark of German immigrant culture on North Texas, its very stones reflecting the traditions the newcomers carried west.
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Related people
- · W. A. Bacon
- · A. F. Decker
- · Christina Schmith
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Site of Early Bowman Church
Holliday, TX
Northern settlers organized this congregation as the "Wichita Class" in the community of Stringtown, holding services in both German and English by 1888. Renamed "Bowman" in 1893 for Bishop Thomas Bowman, it raised a church in 1897 and moved the building south to this site in 1901. For two decades it hosted annual conferences before merging with a Wichita Falls church in 1932.
J. H. Meurer Home
Scotland, TX
German-born John H. Meurer settled in Archer County around 1900 as a land agent, selling more than 60,000 acres and helping found the German Catholic towns of Windthorst and Scotland. In 1911 he built this eleven-room, one-and-a-half-story home with its wraparound porch. After remaining in his family until 1941, the house was purchased by St. Boniface Catholic Church to serve as a residence for parish priests.
St. Mary's Catholic Church Windthorst
Windthorst, TX
In 1891 German-American Catholics acquired 75,000 acres of Archer County land and founded Windthorst as a farm colony, planting a cross and laying out the town around a central site for church, school, and rectory. Father Joseph Reisdorf celebrated the first Mass on New Year's Day 1892 before just ten parishioners. Three successive churches followed, the present one completed in 1925, and St. Mary's has remained the heart of this tightly knit community ever since.
Ghost Town of Clara
Burkburnett, TX
German immigrant Herman Specht amassed some 21,000 acres in northern Wichita County and in 1886 platted the town of Clara, naming it for his wife and its streets for Texas heroes. He recruited German colonists, raised wheat, and kept an experimental nursery, but drought, the 1900 Galveston storm, an inadequate water supply, and the coming of good roads and cars steadily drained the town until only the church, rectory, and cemetery remained.