Cedar Cemetery

ORIGINALLY KNOWN AS THE LEWIS CEMETERY

FAYETTE COUNTY, TEXAS

29°51'27"N 96°55'56"W

This cemetery is located 6 miles west of La Grange on FM 609 just past Buckner's Creek. It is a nicely kept cemetery on a sandy hill with some large oak trees. This site was the first to be surveyed in the Fayette Heritage Museum Archive cemetery-indexing project. Anne McIntyre, Helen Muras & Kathy Carter recorded it in August 1986. It was resurveyed and brought up to date by Margaret Huenefeld & Kathy Carter on Aug. 21 and Sept. 9, 1996. Norman C. Krischke resurveyed and extensively researched the burials in March 1997. We appreciate his willingness to share his work with the Fayette County TXGenWeb Project. Much of the note information shown as well as maps and much additional information can be found in Krischke's booklet, Cedar Cemetery. There is a copy in the cemetery files of the Archives.

The cemetery was established sometime after 1831 on land owned by William & John Edward Lewis. These two brothers were from New York, New York and traveled by boat to New Orleans and then overland to Texas in 1831 for the purpose of acquiring membership in Stephen F. Austin's Fourth Colony. They returned to New York and brought their mother, Mary Lewis & John's wife and son, Ann and James to Texas.

Forty-eight years after settling at Cedar Community, so named for the trees that once flourished there, John & Ann Lewis granted five persons title to the cemetery, 1.25 acres of land, which would be known as the Lewis Community Cemetery. These grantees were: A.H. Eck, John Vogt, David Roscher, Aug. Kehrer, & Franz Nollkamper. The Lewises then moved to Austin. At the time of this purchase (1879) there was approx. 20 to 30 people buried here. The Lewis Cemetery Association was formed and in 1888 another .625 acres of land was purchased from Louis & Marie Rainosek. The site then covered 1.875 acres, the same size as it is today.

All cemetery records were written in German until 1931. In 1932 a new cemetery association was formed and renamed the Cedar Cemetery Association. In 1957, a storm destroyed many of the trees in the cemetery. The front "lich" gate has an arched frame that encloses the name, Cedar Cemetery.

As one enters the front gate, it is noted that there are few marked graves to the left or north area of the cemetery. This is the original part of the site and there are graves here that are no longer marked. It is not known how many or who is buried in this area. On Sunday, May 1, 1994, the Cedar Cemetery Association dedicated a monument to these unknown persons. The area is enclosed with sections of curbing which adjoin the monument.

In 1997, the Association sponsored an Official Texas Historical Commission Subject Marker for the site. It reads as follows:

CEDAR CEMETERY

John and William Lewis settled in the La Grange area in the 1830's and established a family cemetery here. The earliest marked grave is that of Carl Huebner in 1857. John and Ann Lewis donated 1.25 acres of land for the cemetery in 1879. All records were kept in German until 1931, and German cultural influences are evident on many tombstones. The site became a community cemetery, and the name was changed three times. Burials include veterans of the war for Texas Independence, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. (1997)

Please contact the county coordinator if you can supply additions or corrections.

Information on the unmarked Jaenichen graves was given to Norman C. Krischke by Walter Roeder, whose mother was a Jaenichen.

Please contact the county coordinator if you can supply additions or corrections.

Related Link

Cedar, Texas

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