St. John's United Church of Christ Cemetery
Burton, Washington County, Texas
Marker Inscription
IN JUNE 1894, A CHRISTIAN CONGREGATION CALLED EVANGELICAL ST. JOHN’S CHURCH OF BURTON ORGANIZED. IN OCTOBER 1899, A LONG-FELT NEED FOR A CEMETERY FOR THE CHURCH WAS MET WHEN TWO ACRES OF LAND, A MILE EAST OF BURTON, WERE PURCHASED FROM MR. AND MRS. MICHAEL WOLFF FOR $57. THE FIRST RECORDED BURIAL IS OF MARTIN ROGAS (MARCH 30, 1900). THE FIRST MARKED GRAVE BELONGS TO HULDA ARNDT, BURIED SEPTEMBER 12, 1899. EXPECTING THE NEED FOR MORE CEMETERY LAND, THE CHURCH PURCHASED AN ADDITIONAL 1.448 ACRES ADJACENT TO THE ORIGINAL CEMETERY FROM F. R. AND ANNIE MAUD AVIS ON JANUARY 25, 1976. THE CEMETERY HAS CERTAIN DISTINCT AREAS WORTH MENTIONING. THERE IS A SEPARATE CHILDREN’S SECTION WHICH WAS ESTABLISHED EARLY ON, AND ACCORDING TO THE RECORDS, SOME 53 CHILDREN WERE BURIED THERE FROM 1899 TO 1909. IN THE CENTER OF THE CEMETERY THERE IS A FINAL RESTING PLACE FOR MINISTERS THAT INCLUDES THE GRAVE OF REV. HERMANN SCHULZ (d. JANUARY 13, 1941), WHO WAS THE MINISTER OF ST. JOHN’S FROM 1898 TO 1921. IN ANOTHER SECTION ARE SEVEN GRAVES, ALL IN A ROW AND MARKED BY IDENTICAL MONUMENTS. THESE BELONG TO FIVE CONFIRMANDS AND TWO YOUNG MEN FROM THE CHURCH WHO DIED IN ACTION OR OF DISEASE IN FRANCE DURING WORLD WAR I. OTHER VETERAN BURIALS BELONG NOT ONLY TO THOSE WHO SERVED IN THE WORLD WARS BUT ALSO THE KOREAN AND VIETNAM WARS. SINCE ITS CREATION, THIS CEMETERY ON A HILL HAS BEEN THE LAST RESTING PLACE OF THOSE WHO IN LIFE WERE PART OF THE CHURCH.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Evangelical St. John's congregation, formed by German settlers near Burton in 1894, established this hilltop cemetery in 1899, its early records naming German families like Wolff, Arndt, and Rogas. A children's section holds some 53 young graves from the cemetery's first decade, and a central plot honors the church's ministers. Seven matching monuments in a row mark young men who died in France during World War I, joined by veterans of the world wars, Korea, and Vietnam.
Why it matters
The cemetery preserves the faith, family losses, and wartime sacrifice of a German immigrant community across a century of American history.
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Related people
- · Rev. Hermann Schulz
Related events
- · World War I
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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