Colony Cemetery
Beeville, Bee County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Several Norwegian farmers and their families immigrated to this area beginning in 1894. Their settlement became known as Norwegian Colony or, simply, the Colony. In April 1897, Colony residents met to establish a cemetery and a cemetery association. Because three earlier graves were on a corner of Hans Thompson's property, he offered to donate an acre for the burial ground. His offer was accepted, and O.R. Peterson created a plan for the site, dividing it into four blocks of equal size. The fourth block was established as an open area for single graves available to anyone. Lewis Travland, Hans Thompson and Barney Olson became the association's first officers. Although the association wanted the burial ground reserved for those of Scandinavian descent, many others were initially allowed in the fourth block. This practice was discontinued when it became clear there was limited space. The first three burials are those of Hans Thompson's son, Carl (d. January 1896), Barney Olson's son, Barney (d. August 1896), and Telda Travland (d. April 1897). The two earliest birth dates noted in the cemetery are those of Nels Thompson (b. 1810) and Gertrude Hanson (b. 1826). Veterans of the Civil War, Spanish-American War and both World Wars are also buried here. The names of settler families and their descendants can be found throughout the burial ground, including Thompson, Travland, Selgelid, Kingsted, Nelson, Olson, Beck, Berkeland, Mickelsen, Torgerson, Lovell and Sivley. Today, Colony Cemetery, designated a Historic Texas Cemetery in 2002, is a link to the original Scandinavian families and their contributions to the community's rich history. (2004)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Beginning in 1894, Norwegian farm families settled the South Texas prairie in a community they called simply 'the Colony.' In 1897 the settlers organized a cemetery association and accepted Hans Thompson's gift of an acre around three existing graves, laying out four equal blocks with one reserved for anyone in need. Though the founders hoped to keep the ground for those of Scandinavian descent, the earliest burials — a child, a son, a young woman — soon filled the rows, and generations of Thompsons, Travlands, and Olsons followed.
Why it matters
Colony Cemetery preserves the memory of Norwegian immigrants who joined the great Scandinavian migration to America and put down roots on the Texas coastal plain.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
In the late nineteenth century, large numbers of Norwegians left their homeland for America, pushed by limited farmland and hard economic times and drawn by the promise of land. Most went to the Upper Midwest, to Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas. A smaller number came all the way to Texas, where some Norwegian communities had taken root decades earlier.
The families who began arriving near Beeville in 1894 came to South Texas when the region was changing. Big cattle ranges were being divided, and farming was spreading across land once used mainly for grazing. Immigrant families with farming experience looked for exactly that kind of opportunity: affordable land where they could build homes and work the soil.
Their settlement was simply called 'Norwegian Colony,' or just 'the Colony.' The name says a great deal. Like many immigrant groups, these families settled near one another and kept their language, faith and customs while they adapted to an unfamiliar climate and landscape.
For any new community, founding a cemetery was a sign of intent. It meant these families expected to stay, to raise children here and to be buried here. In South Texas in the 1890s, the Colony was making that commitment.
People & events
The cemetery began in sorrow. Before there was any formal burial ground, three graves had already been dug on a corner of Hans Thompson's land. The first was his own son Carl, who died in January 1896. Barney Olson's son, also named Barney, followed that August. In April 1897 Telda Travland was buried there. In just over a year, three families of the young settlement had lost loved ones.
That same April, the Colony's residents met to create a formal cemetery and an association to care for it. Because the graves already lay on his property, Hans Thompson offered an acre for the purpose, and the community accepted. O.R. Peterson drew the plan, dividing the ground into four equal blocks. The fourth was left open for single graves, available to anyone.
Lewis Travland, Hans Thompson and Barney Olson became the association's first officers. Each of them had already buried a family member there. The founders wanted the ground reserved for people of Scandinavian descent. In practice, many others were first allowed burial in the open fourth block, until limited space made the community end that practice.
The stones tell the community's story across generations. The oldest recorded births are Nels Thompson in 1810 and Gertrude Hanson in 1826. Both were born long before the move to Texas, so they likely came as elders who would never see Norway again. Later graves include veterans of the Civil War, the Spanish-American War and both World Wars. Family names like Selgelid, Kingsted, Berkeland, Torgerson and many others appear throughout the grounds.
Its place in the American story
Colony Cemetery is a record of the great Scandinavian migration, one of the major waves of European immigration to the United States. Most histories of Norwegian America focus on the northern prairies. This small burial ground on the South Texas plain shows how far those immigrants spread and how they carried their community life with them.
The cemetery also shows a common pattern in immigrant history. Newcomers banded together, organized their own institutions and tried to keep a distinct identity. Over time that identity mixed with the wider world around them. The founders hoped to reserve the ground for Scandinavians, but its open block and changing practices reflect a community that was never completely closed off.
The veterans buried here connect this small settlement to the nation's wars, from the Civil War through World War II. In two or three generations, families who arrived speaking Norwegian sent their sons to serve the United States. That is a quiet but powerful sign of how immigrants became Americans.
In 2002 the cemetery was designated a Historic Texas Cemetery. Places like this often hold the only surviving record of rural immigrant communities, whose churches, schools and farmhouses may be gone.
If you visit
Walk the cemetery slowly, and if you can, look for the oldest section, where the first burials of the 1890s were made. Those early graves belong to children and young people, and they are a sobering reminder of what settling new land cost these families.
Read the names on the stones. The Norwegian surnames, generation after generation, tell the Colony's story better than any summary could. Notice how names, dates and inscriptions may change over time, as the families settled into American life.
This is a quiet, rural place and an active burial ground. Visit respectfully, stay on paths where they exist and don't disturb graves or decorations. Families may still come to visit their ancestors here.
The cemetery fits well into a drive through the South Texas Coastal Bend and brush country. Beeville makes a natural base, and the site pairs well with other markers about the region's ranching and farming communities and the many immigrant groups who settled Texas.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Hans Thompson
- · O.R. Peterson
- · Lewis Travland
- · Barney Olson
Themes & tags
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