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Named for former enslaved African American Alex Wren (1838-1924) and his family, this cemetery is the final resting place for members of the Wren Colony, a freedom colony near Boerne. Alex Wren, his parents and siblings were brought to Texas in the 1850s as slaves of Methodist Parson Daniel Rawls. After Emancipation, Alex Wren married Charlotte Manning (1848-1940). Sometime after 1867, they moved here onto a 160-acre parcel and began farming and ranching. Several other African American families obtained land adjoining the Wren property, forming a community known as the Wren Colony, or Streetville, after early resident, Richard Street (1843-1892).
As was typical of rural communities and of the segregated south, the African Americans of the Wren Colony buried family and friends at the family cemetery, on the Wren property. In 1924, after Alex’s death, Charlotte sold their land except for the two-acre cemetery which she deeded to the Boerne Colored Cemetery Association as a burial place for the community.
The earliest marked burial is that of Peter Wren (1865-1899), Alex and Charlotte’s firstborn child. However, there are handmade tombstones and footstones that may predate 1899. Grave markers range from elaborate polished granite to simple hand-carved stones, and some burials are only marked with an oval ring of limestone rocks. Three veterans are buried here, including John Warren (1847-1917), an African American soldier who fought with the Texas Cavalry during the Civil War. The Wren Cemetery and colony are a testament to the African Americans’ determination for freedom, commitment to family and legacy through the generations.
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