Lithuanians in Texas
Yorktown, DeWitt County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Among the many European immigrants arriving in Texas in the mid-19th century was a small group of Lithuanians who settled in the Yorktown vicinity of DeWitt County. Due to their eventual assimilation with the numerous German immigrants in the area, the Lithuanians and their contributions to the history of this region were overlooked for generations. Records reveal that the first Lithuanian family to settle in this area probably was that of David and Dora (Scholze) Stanchos. They arrived about 1852, making them among the earliest documented Lithuanian immigrants to America. By 1874 they were joined by about 70 more immigrants, most from the province of Gumbinnen in what was then part of East Prussia. Leaving their homeland for a variety of religious and political reasons, the Lithuanians arrived in Texas primarily through the ports of Galveston and Indianola. Establishing farms in the area, the Lithuanians became American citizens and contributed to the history and culture of this area. Men from the community fought on both sides of the American Civil War. A small graveyard south of Yorktown known as Jonischkies Cemetery contains the interments of many of these early settlers. (1994)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Amid the great mid-nineteenth-century European migration to Texas, a small group of Lithuanians settled around Yorktown in DeWitt County—so thoroughly absorbed into the larger German community that their story was long forgotten. The first family, David and Dora Stanchos, arrived about 1852, making them among the earliest documented Lithuanian immigrants to America, and roughly seventy more followed by 1874, most from the Gumbinnen region of East Prussia. They farmed, became citizens, fought on both sides of the Civil War, and left their dead in the Jonischkies Cemetery south of town.
Why it matters
It recovers a nearly invisible immigrant story, showing how small ethnic groups arrived through Gulf ports, assimilated into larger communities, and shared even in the divisions of the Civil War.
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Related people
- · David Stanchos
- · Dora Scholze Stanchos
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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