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Burial Ground for the Honored Dead of Texas, this Cemetery contains the remains of Stephen F. Austin, the "Father of Texas"; nine governors of Texas (as of 1968); and representatives of every period of State history and every department of State government. Statuary at the graves includes a marble figure of Albert Sidney Johnston by Elisabet Ney and bronzes of Austin and Joanna Troutman by Pompeo Coppini. The Cemetery was founded in 1851 when Gen. Edward Burleson, hero of the Texas Revolution, was interred on this tract. In 1854, the State purchased the land, which had once belonged to Andrew Jackson Hamilton, provisional governor of Texas from 1865 to 1866. The Cemetery was seldom used, however, until the 1860's, when some officers of the Confederate Army of Texas were buried here. Today small, white marble headstones mark the graves of about 1,583 soldiers and 515 graves of members of their families. Through the untiring efforts of Louis W. Kemp, a State Official (1881-1956), the remains of over 100 prominent persons were reinterred here after 1930. Since 1951 those eligible for burial here include designated State Officials, Confederate Veterans, and certain others. In 1968 there were 2,389 graves. (1968) Historic Texas Cemetery medallion attached to post. |
