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 Washington Cemetery Posted by:  Raven
N 29° 45.897 W 095° 23.301
15R E 269074 N 3295130
A marker denoting the history of the Washington Cemetery in Houston Texas. Unlike its previous 1980 predecessor, this one is located by the Eastern side-entrance into the cemetery, at the end of the road joining Glenwood and Washington cemeteries.
Waymark Code: WMJZ5Z
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/20/2014
Views: 11
Per the "Historic Houston" website: ( visit link) "Germans began immigrating to Texas as early as the 1840s. While many settled in the Houston area, others moved west to found towns including New Braunfels and Fredericksburg. By the 1870s the east side of downtown was inhabited by so many Germans and people of German decent that the area was often referred to as Germantown. Originally, Canal Street was named German Street. The name was changed during World War I, as Germany was our adversary in that conflict. In 1875 a group of prominent business men of German decent formed the Deutsche Gesellschaft von Houston (DGvH). It had several purposes including aiding the poor and rendering assistance to the sick. The organization also was to assist in burying the dead. To fulfill this last deed, in 1887 the DGvH purchased a piece of property west of downtown (for $80 per acre) and deeded it a cemetery. Graves were sold for $10-$50 each. Until 1918 it was called the German Society Cemetery. However, its name, like German Street, was changed to Washington Cemetery because of anti-German sentiment. The populous of this cemetery is incredibly diverse. Not only are Germanic souls interred here but walking around you can find Swedes, Italians, Danes, Russians, English, Irish, Scots, Canadians, Greeks and many others. There are 105 Confederate soldiers. Forty are in a section called the Dick Dowling Camp #197 (Section C #66, 67 and 72) and the balance are scattered around in other areas. The G. B. McClellan Post (Section B #26) contains the remains of 11 veterans from the Union army. There are 15 souls who were Citizens of the Republic of Texas, meaning they lived in Texas sometime between 1836 and 1845. The Daughters of the Republic of Texas have placed memorial medallions on these graves."
Marker Number: 18068
Marker Text:
The Deutsche Gesellschaft von Houston, founded in 1875, established the German Society Cemetery in February 1887 by purchasing this property, then located outside the city limits, from the heirs of John Lawrence and Thomas Hart. Twelve-space family lots were sold to Society members for $10 and to the public for $25. It was renamed Washington Cemetery in 1918 due to anti-German sentiment during World War I.
Though headstones of reinterred persons show birth dates as early as 1800 and death rates as early as 1855, the earliest known burial is that of three-year-old Pauline Ottilie Zeitler, on March 31, 1887. As least 15 citizens of the Republic of Texas and immigrants from no more than 20 nations lie at rest here. Eighteen lots are owned by Fraternal, labor, or veteran groups. More than 7600 persons are interred here, with more added each year. Also buried here are more than 300 veterans of nine wars, from the Black Hawk War of 1832 to Vietnam, including more than 135 Confederate and Union veterans. Sarah Emma Evelyn (Edmonds) Seelye, aka Franklin Thompson, is noted for writing a book about her service as a man in the Federal Army, 1861-63.
After the last Charter expired in 1947, the Superintendent's widow and her housekeeper tried to maintain the cemetery, but they did not have the resources needed. By the 1970s, it was badly overgrown. Concerned citizens for Washington Cemetery Care (CCWCC) was founded in 1977, cleared away the jungle-like growth, and cared for the cemetery over the next 22 years. In 1997, CCWCC became the first group in Texas legally granted the authority to "restore, operate, and maintain a historic cemetery" under a 1995 Texas law; that authority was transferred to adjacent Glenwood Cemetery in 1999.
Historic Texas Cemetery - 2012
Marker is property of the State of Texas
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