Star Hill Cemetery
Industry, Austin County, Texas
Marker Inscription
War of 1812 veteran Bryan Daughtrey and his wife, Anna (Roberts), moved to Texas in 1822 as part of Stephen F. Austin's Second Colony. In 1829, they moved to land here in present Austin County. When Anna died in 1847, Bryant buried her at this site, and he later moved from the area. His sons James and Edward eventually sold the family property to Frederick W. Sternenberg. His family also used the cemetery. He buried his wife, Julia H. (Brauss), here in 1861, and Sternenberg and a grandson, Gustav, were interred at the site in 1869. In 1878, Rudolph Sternenberg sold the land to Charles Wendt, with one acre reserved for the cemetery. The local community and its burial ground, as well as a school in operation until 1928, came to be known as Star Hill, the English translation for the Sternenberg name. Star Hill community residents continue to use the early burial ground, which is maintained by an association that was formed by James Edward Huebner in 1975. It includes descendants of pioneer area settlers, as well as friends and neighbors. Among those interred here are veterans of military conflicts dating to the Civil War. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2004
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Bryan Daughtrey, a veteran of the War of 1812, came to Texas in 1822 as part of Stephen F. Austin's Second Colony and settled here in present Austin County. When his wife Anna died in 1847 he buried her on this spot, beginning a cemetery later used by the German Sternenberg family who bought the land. The community, its burial ground, and a school that ran until 1928 all took the name Star Hill—the English translation of Sternenberg—and descendants of those pioneer families still tend the graves.
Why it matters
Star Hill reflects the layered settlement of central Texas, where Anglo colonists of Austin's grants and later German immigrants built a shared community out of the frontier.
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Related people
- · Bryan Daughtrey
- · Frederick W. Sternenberg
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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