HistoricSiteMarkers
Reconstruction & Gilded Age

Immanuel Lutheran Church Cemetery

Killeen, Bell County, Texas

Marker Inscription

The first burial in this graveyard, that of Wilhelm Wolf, took place in 1891, two years after the German Evangelical Lutheran Emmanuel Congregation was formally organized. The Rev. H.F. Daude (1850-1924), who served as first pastor, deeded land here in 1893 for the church, school, and cemetery. Members of the congregation, now known as Immanuel Lutheran, continue to use the graveyard, although the church relocated to another site in the early 1940s. The German language appears on many of the tombstones reflecting a part of the area's German heritage. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

This graveyard began with the burial of Wilhelm Wolf in 1891, two years after German settlers formally organized their Evangelical Lutheran congregation. The first pastor, Rev. H.F. Daude, deeded the land in 1893 for a church, school, and cemetery. Though the congregation relocated its church in the early 1940s, it still uses the cemetery, where German inscriptions on many tombstones bear witness to the area's immigrant roots.

Why it matters

The German-inscribed graves preserve the heritage of the immigrant families who helped settle Central Texas and wove their language and faith into its landscape.

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Related people

  • · Wilhelm Wolf
  • · H.F. Daude

Themes & tags

ImmigrationMemorial

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