KOTHMANN HOMESITE AND CEMETERY
HEINRICH CONRAD KOTHMANN (1798
- 1881) AND HIS WIFE ISLE KATHERINE PAHLMANN (1810 - 1905) AND THEIR FAMILY
SAILED FROM GERMANY TO INDIANOLA, TEXAS IN 1845. AMONG THE FIRST FAMILIES
TO SETTLE IN FREDERICKSBURG, THE KOTHMANNS WERE ISSUED A 640-ACRE LAND
GRANT IN MASON COUNTY IN 1848. IN 1856 THEY MOVED TO ART AND WERE AMONG
THE FIRST IMMIGRANT FAMILIES IN THIS AREA. A TRAINED CABINETMAKER AND MUSICIAN,
KOTHMANN BEGAN RANCHING AND ACQUIRED ANOTHER 640-ACRE TRACT OF LAND.
LOCATED ON THEIR FORMER HOMESTEAD, THE KOTHMANN CEMETERY IS
ALL THAT REMAINS OF THE ORIGINAL RANCH SITE. CONTAINING ONLY FIVE GRAVES,
ALL OF KOTHMANN FAMILY MEMBERS, THE GRAVEYARD BEGAN WITH THE BURIAL OF HEINRICH
CONRAD KOTHMANN IN 1881. HIS WIFE ISLE IS BURIED BESIDE HIM. THEIR SON
KARL, THE FIRST OF THEIR FAMILY BORN IN TEXAS, IS BURIED HERE ALONG WITH
HIS WIFE KATHERINE (HOERSTER) KOTHMANN. A FIFTH UNMARKED GRAVE IS THOUGHT
TO BE THAT OF A GRANDCHILD.
THOUGH MOST OF THE LAND WAS SOLD AFTER ISLE'S DEATH IN 1905, THE FAMILY RETAINED ONE ACRE INCLUDING THE CEMETERY PROPERTY. THE CONCRETE WALL AND SLAB WERE CONSTRUCTED AFTER 1937 TO PROVIDE PROTECTION AND EASE IN MAINTENANCE FOR THE FIVE GRAVES. THE FAMILY MAINTAINS THE CEMETERY.
(1996)
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