San Antonio's Confederate Cemetery

Just inside the Crockett Street entrance to the Confederate Cemetery is the street sign for Robert E. Lee Walk. This cemetery is part of San Antonio's Historic City Cemeteries complex just east of the downtown area.

JOHN GREEN HALL Lieut Co. I 19 Texas Inf Confederate States Army Aug 27 1843            Jan 11 1907

HUGH FRANKLIN YOUNG Brig Gen Texas State Troops Confederate States Army Nov 3 1808            Sep 8 1889

ADELBERT R. DAUCHE Corp Co C 36 Texas Cav Confederate States Army July 28 1813            Jan 10 1868

November 2 - Day of the Dead

This is the final installment and last of the posts dedicated to the celebration of El Dia de los Muertos in San Antonio's Mission Park South Cemetery.

November 1 - The Day of the Innocents

Celebrations of El Día de los Muertos generally consider November 1st as Día de los Inocentes (Day of the Innocents) or Día de los Angelitos (Day of the Little Angels).

Toys are brought for dead children (los angelitos or the little angels), or other ofrendas (offerings) such as the deceased's favorite candies on the grave.

El Dia de los Muertos

In communities with a large hispanic or Mexican population, El Día de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead) is celebrated as it has been in Mexico since the time of the Aztecs. During this period, families usually clean and decorate the graves with offerings or ofrendas. The celebration continues over two days. November 1st is to honor children and infants and is referred to as Día de los Inocentes (Day of the Innocents) or Día de los Angelitos (Day of the Little Angels).

People go to cemeteries to be with the souls of the departed and build private altars containing the favorite foods and beverages as well as photos and memorabilia of the departed. The intent is to encourage visits by the souls, so the souls will hear the prayers and the comments of the living directed to them. Over the past weekend, the cemetery of Mission Park South has been filled with families meeting to clean and decorate graves.

See Wikipedia for more information on celebrations of El Día de los Muertos.

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.

Davenport Cemetery

The first burial in Davenport Cemetery was Mary Ware Davenport in 1852. Mary was the wife of William Davenport, born in Virginia in 1820, who had come to Texas in 1843. The cemetery is on land that was part of a ranch they purchased on Cibolo Creek in 1851. In 1853, William married Nancy Young, daughter of John Young, who had served in the War of 1812. The cemetery is located just beyond the city limits of San Antonio.

JOHN YOUNG

BORN
In Knox Co.
Tenn.

Feb. 18
1793

DIED

May 16, 1879

MAGGIE

Dau. of
Wm. & N. DAVENPORT

BORN
Feb. 15, 1885

DIED
Oct. 23, 1887

ROBERT BORN Apr. 17, 1861 DIED Apr. 1867

MINNIE BORN Mar. 12, 1863 DIED Apr. 26, 1870

Children of William E. & Nancy DAVENPORT

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.

Military Monday - Capt. Charles L. Hudson

Capt. Charles L. Hudson is buried in the San Antonio National Cemetery which is part of the historic San Antonio cemeteries complex founded in 1853.

BRVE. CAPTAIN
CHARLES L. HUDSON

4th U.S. Cavalry

DIED
January 5th, 1874

At Fort Clark Texas

AGED
29 Yrs. & 11 Mos.

(Reverse)

ERECTED

by the Officers
of his Regiment

1874

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.

Tombstone Tuesday: A different sort of tombstone

JAMES LUTHER SLAYDEN

Kentucky 1853 - Texas 1924
Member of Congress 1897-1919
One who loved his fellow men
and labored for
universal peace

When I set off several years ago to find the grave of distant cousin James Luther Slayden at the Mission Park South Cemetery, the style of his stone was surprising to say the least. The small boulder on the right is the gravestone of his wife, Ellen Maury Slayden.

Ellen Maury Slayden is credited with conceiving in 1891 the idea for the Battle of Flowers Parade held yearly in San Antonio in memory of the fallen heroes at the Alamo and to commemorate the victory at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836, where Texas had gained its independence from Mexico. She was famous in her own right and the dairies she kept while in Washington were published in 1962 under the title Washington Wife.

More about the Slaydens at The Handbook of Texas Online.

Mausoleums and More

A gorgeous fall day in south Texas prompted a visit to Mission Park South Cemetery on San Antonio's south side. No gravestones of pioneers migrating west, here the overall impression is of the opulence of the 1920's - those grand days before the Great Depression.