St. Paul Lutheran Church Cemetery-Phillipsburg
Kenney, Austin County, Texas
Marker Inscription
IN 1890, PHILLIPSBURG RESIDENTS FORMED THE ST. PAUL LUTHERAN CHURCH. LATER THAT YEAR, HENRY STERN DEEDED EIGHT ACRES OF LAND FOR A CHURCH AND SCHOOL AND ONE ACRE FOR A CEMETERY. THE FIRST BURIAL IS THAT OF THE INFANT SON OF MR. AND MRS. CARL ENGELING IN 1890. THE EXACT DATE AND LOCATION OF THIS BURIAL ARE UNKNOWN. THE FIRST RECORDED BURIAL IS THAT OF RUDOLPH FRIEDERICK AUGUST SCHARFF ON JUNE 27, 1891. MANY VETERANS ARE BURIED AT THIS RURAL CEMETERY AND DATE TO WORLD WAR I, WORLD WAR II, THE KOREAN WAR AND THE VIETNAM WAR. THIS HISTORIC CEMETERY SERVES AS A REMINDER OF THE STRUGGLES ENDURED BY PIONEER FAMILIES AND EARLY SETTLERS OF AUSTIN COUNTY.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Residents of Phillipsburg formed St. Paul Lutheran Church in 1890, and Henry Stern soon deeded land for a church, a school, and this cemetery. The first burials came that same year, and generations of the surrounding farm families followed. Among the graves rest veterans of World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
Why it matters
A rural church cemetery like this one preserves the full arc of a pioneer community, from its founding families to the sons it sent to America's twentieth-century wars.
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Related people
- · Henry Stern
Themes & tags
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