San Felipe de Austin Cemetery
San Felipe, Austin County, Texas
Marker Inscription
San Felipe de Austin was established in 1824 as the community and administrative headquarters of Stephen F. Austin's original Anglo American colony in Texas. The site for the township was chosen by Austin and the Baron Felipe Enrique Neri de Bastrop. The original 1824 Mexican charter for San Felipe de Austin contains a survey which set aside this site for cemetery purposes. Although the earliest documented interment is that of Elisebath J. Eidman in 1846, historical references to earlier deaths in the community suggest burials here prior to that year. The cemetery consists of a fenced Anglo section containing about 370 grave sites and an adjacent, separately fenced, African American section containing an estimated 200 grave sites, at least three of which are known to be those of former slaves. From the time of its establishment in 1824 San Felipe de Austin Cemetery was maintained by the town of San Felipe de Austin until 1966. Since that year the town has added land to the cemetery and transferred its ownership and care to two community cemetery associations comprised of descendants of persons interred here. Many of this area's early pioneers and leaders are buried here. (1993)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded in 1824 as the capital of Stephen F. Austin's original Anglo-American colony, San Felipe de Austin set aside this ground for its dead in its very first Mexican charter, chosen by Austin and the Baron de Bastrop. The cemetery grew into a fenced Anglo section of some 370 graves alongside a separate African American section of roughly 200, at least three belonging to former slaves. Many of the colony's earliest pioneers and leaders lie here, in soil that predates Texas statehood.
Why it matters
As the burying ground of Austin's founding colony, this cemetery holds the earliest chapter of Anglo settlement in Texas—and, in its segregated sections, the enduring imprint of slavery.
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Related people
- · Stephen F. Austin
- · Baron de Bastrop
Related events
- · Founding of San Felipe de Austin
Themes & tags
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