The Guenthers

In 1848, Carl Hilmar Guenther immigrated from Germany to the United States. After a short while spent in the midwest, he made his way to south Texas where he initially built a flour mill on Live Oak Creek in Fredericksburg, Texas. Within a few years, he moved his business to San Antonio and located it on the more powerful San Antonio River just south of the downtown area.

Carl Hilmar Guenther

Dorothea Pape Guenther

Pioneer Flour Mill has been a San Antonio landmark for over 100 years.

The Burns of Scotland and San Antonio

On three sides of this stone, there are inscriptions for a different family member - James Burns, his wife Margaret Burns and their daughter Cassie Burns McDonald who are buried in the plot. Sadly, Cassie's inscription is now unreadable.

JAMES BURNS

BORN

IN STONE HOUSE
LANARKSHIRE
SCOTLAND
NOV. 15, 1822

DIED

IN SAN ANTONIO
APRIL 5, 1888

An article from the San Antonio Light newspaper regarding James Burns' death gave his cause of death as snakebite. Mr. Burns had walked into his garden at night in his slippers and was bitten by a rattlesnake. Although he was attended by a doctor, he became progressively worse and died in the afternoon of April 5th.

MARGARET BURNS

BORN

IN KILWINNING
AYRSHIRE, SCOTLAND
JUNE 9, 1826

DIED
DEC. 6, 1910

The Derr "Faux Bois" Plot

San Antonio has several examples of the work of Mexican artist Dionicio Rodríguez in the style of "faux bois" (from the French for false wood); however, this gravestone and plot in San Antonio's Cemetery #1 date to 1904, many years before Rodriguez came to the United States from Mexico in the 1920's.

WILHEMINA DERR

BORN May 23, 1832
DIED March 23, 1904

Sadly, this unique plot is now overgrown and neglected with numerous volunteer shrubs and trees crowding the space.

San Antonio's Historic City Cemeteries

Yesterday I made my first visit to the wonderful San Antonio Historic Cemeteries complex. There are a total of 31 cemeteries covering the 103 acres of the complex. The area is about one mile east of the Alamo and Hemisfair Plaza in an area of San Antonio that has seen better days. The complex began with Cemetery #1, which was started in 1853 as San Antonio's first cemetery, the current Milam Park, became too full for further burials. Subsequently most of those buried in Milam Park were reinterred in Cemetery #1. Now only Ben Milam, a hero of the Texas War of Independence, remains buried in Milam Park.

Erna H. Hugo


BORN
April 7, 1880

DIED
February 13, 1897

Lina Haseloff
1852 - 1879

Living in San Antonio for much of my life, it's hard to believe that I wasn't aware this complex existed. This little blog has suffered from a lack of interesting stones and neglect since I haven't ventured off on a genealogical road trip for the last year or so. After my visit to Cemetery #1 on Sunday, I think those days are now over. There are 103 wonderful acres of tombstones and monuments to explore right here at home.