Mount Zion Cemetery
Bertram, Burnet County, Texas
Marker Inscription
John Jennings (1802-1867), his wife Sarah C. (Sally) (1806-1879), and their family came to this area in 1851. The settlement which grew up around their farm became known as Jennings Creek community. After Burnet County was created in 1852, John Jennings was instrumental in organizing the new county government. He was a county commissioner for four years. The oldest documented burial in this graveyard, which was originally known as the Jennings Family Cemetery, is that of Mary Ann Jennings (1835-1856). Other early burials include those of John and Sally Jennings, members of their family, and neighbors. The Jennings Family Cemetery became known as Mount Zion Cemetery when the Mount Zion Cumberland Presbyterian Church was built about one-half mile south of this site in the 1890s. The land on which the cemetery is situated remained in the Jennings family until 1944. Among the more than five hundred grave markers here are tombstones of veterans of the Civil War and the Spanish American War. A cemetery association incorporated in 1972 cares for the historic graveyard.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Jennings family came to this part of central Texas in 1851, and the settlement that grew around their farm took the name Jennings Creek. John Jennings helped organize the government of newly created Burnet County and served as a county commissioner, while the family burial ground that began with a daughter's grave in 1856 gradually welcomed neighbors as well. When a Presbyterian church rose nearby in the 1890s, the graveyard took the name Mount Zion, and today its more than five hundred markers include veterans of the Civil War and the Spanish-American War.
Why it matters
A pioneer family cemetery like this records the founding generation of a Texas county, preserving the names and service of the settlers who built local government from open land.
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Related people
- · John Jennings
- · Sarah C. Jennings
- · Mary Ann Jennings
Themes & tags
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