Meinecke Cemetery
Kenney, Austin County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Johann Friedrich and Sophie Koyn Meinecke established this burial ground in 1858, when two of their sons drowned in the Brazos River. The Meineckes came to Kenney after emigrating from Bremen, Germany in 1847. Johann Friedrich Meinecke purchased property from Evangelist John Wesley Kenney, the town’s namesake, and family members soon established themselves as noted area farmers, ranchers and educators. This family graveyard features vertical stones, curbing and German language inscriptions. Today, urban development has spread to the historic Kenney community, but this cemetery remains as a record of early settlement here and of the pioneering Meinecke family. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2009
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Johann Friedrich and Sophie Meinecke, who emigrated from Bremen, Germany, in 1847, established this family burial ground in 1858 after two of their sons drowned in the Brazos River. They had bought land near Kenney from the town's namesake, evangelist John Wesley Kenney, and became noted local farmers, ranchers, and educators. The cemetery's vertical stones, curbing, and German-language inscriptions still record the pioneering family and the wave of German settlers who shaped this stretch of Austin County.
Why it matters
Meinecke Cemetery is a tangible trace of the great 19th-century German migration to Texas, whose settlers left a deep and lasting cultural imprint on the state's countryside.
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Related people
- · Johann Friedrich Meinecke
- · Sophie Koyn Meinecke
Themes & tags
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