Bushdale, Texas, Bushdale Cemetery, Milam County. (original) (raw)

History in a Pecan Shell

Bushdale was a German town that never grew beyond a one-room school and a business or two. After the school was consolidated with the Rockdale ISD, the community lost what little identity it had. Bushdale no longer appears on highway maps, official or otherwise.

The Cemetery is the only reminder that a community did exist. The founders and early inhabitants of Bushdale remain together as they did in life.

Immediately after entering through the gate, you'll see the headless torso of a fallen statue. This was a Union officer who served during the Civil War and one has to wonder if the desecration of his grave was simply vandalism or a posthumous revenge by bitter Confederates.

A new bench, a plaque and a new wooden bulletin board show that the Texas Historical Commission has recently included the Bushdale cemetery in their cemetery program.

The fallen Union Officer
TE photo, 2001

He survived the war, but fell in peace.
TE photo, 2001

Historical Marker: FM 908, 4 miles NW of Rockdale, on roadside pull-off near Bushdale Cemetery

Bushdale Community

The community of Bushdale was founded in this area of Milam County by German immigrants in the 1870s. Within ten years the population of the county doubled and the Bushdale area developed into a thriving farming community. A community cemetery was established on land owned by John and Johanna Broeckl. In 1878, school trustees Herman Henniger, John Timmerman, Sr., and Paul Pieper purchased two acres south of the cemetery for five dollars. A schoolhouse was erected on the site and it also served as a church on Sundays. In 1883 the Reverend Immanuel Glatzel organized Peace Lutheran Church. A church and parsonage were built on a seven-acre parcel of land donated by Herman Henniger. John and Martha Brockenbush operated a general store in the community, and a cotton gin and blacksmith shop were established by Gustav Backhaus in 1883. A two-story dance hall erected by the Herman Sons Lodge was the site of many social activities.

The Bushdale community gradually declined. Peace Lutheran Church moved to nearby Rockdale in 1909, and the school was closed in 1949. The cemetery is the only remnant of this once active community.

(1997)
Incise on back: Some known early families of Bushdale community area: Backhaus, Bauer, Brockenbush, Broeckl, Dornhoefer, Dockall, Doss, Druschke, Foehner, Gruttner, Henniger, Hirt, Leschikar, Loehr, Mayer, Menn, Pieper, Nieschwitz, Seelke, Seidl, Stolte, Stork, Strelsky, Strube, Timmerman, Vogel, Von Gonten, Voss, Wanoreck, Wenzel and Witkowski.

L - Bushdale Cemetery entrance
R - Parking problems are everywhere
TE photos, 2001

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