EARLIEST Marked Burial in Van Winkle Cemetery - Climax, TX
N 33° 11.888 W 096° 27.054
14S E 737624 N 3676148
A 2008 Texas Historical Marker in Van Winkle Cemetery notes that the earliest marked burial here is that of an infant girl, M.L. Warnburg, who lived only for a few months in 1867.
Waymark Code: WM13BDT
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 10/31/2020
Views: 0
Findagrave is unable to provide her full name, and that her mother followed her to the grave in just a few months suggests either disease, or that mother and baby both experienced a difficult delivery. M.L.'s small headstone could benefit from a good cleaning to remove dirt and lichen, and it's actually in fairly good condition. A small rosebud is at the top, and the inscription reads:
M.L.
Dau of
J. & L.C.
Warnburg
Born
May 3, 1867
Died
Sept. 3, 1867
Saved from earthly
taint and sin.
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The historical marker provides some background:
This burial ground has served the residents of Climax since the mid-1800s. The Climax community dates to 1851, when Williams Warden, a farmer from Missouri, settled here with his family. The rural community grew and by the 1890s, it had two cotton gins, a grain elevator, a school, a church, a blacksmith shop and a general store. Most residents of the community were farmers who established small, family-owned farms that produced mostly wheat and corn. Climax reached its peak population around 1910, when about 100 residents lived here. Afterwards, the settlement declined, though it continued to serve as a retail point for local farmers into the late 1960s.
This cemetery is named for David Van Winkle, who surveyed property lines in the area around Climax; the Texas Government compensated him with land, a small portion of which became the Van Winkle Cemetery. The earliest marked grave here is of M.L. Warnburg (d. 1867), an infant. However, there are multiple unmarked graves in the cemetery, and oral tradition states that the earliest interment was of a slave. Other individuals interred here include Abraham Recer (d. 1870), who built and operated a toll bridge that crossed Sister Grove Creek, and W.K. Long (d. 1932), a local business owner. Van Winkle Cemetery also contains graves of military veterans. Features include vertical stones, obelisks and curbing. In 1974, the Van Winkle Cemetery Foundation organized to care for the burial ground. Additional property was added in 1976 and 2007. Today, Van Winkle Cemetery continues to serve the residents of the Climax community.
FIRST - Classification Variable: Person or Group
Date of FIRST: 09/03/1867
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