Moline Swedish Lutheran Cemetery
| Moline Swedish Lutheran Cemetery | |
|---|---|
 The Moline Swedish Lutheran Cemetery established in 1897 in Elroy, Texas. | |
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| Details | |
| Established | 1897 |
| Location | |
The Moline Swedish Lutheran Cemetery was established in Elroy, Texas in 1897. It was originally an annex to the Gethsemane Lutheran Church of Austin, Texas. The Swedish population began to move away from the area in the 1930s, and by the 1950s, the congregation was too small to sustain the church. The church was dismantled after closing in 1955. The remaining congregation became the charter members of the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Austin, Texas[1] and many of its members became stewards of the site.
Swedish settlement in Elroy, Texas
The Swedish migration to central Texas was largely fueled by the work of
Parsonage
In 1908, the women of the Moline Swedish Lutheran Church organized and raised funds to buy the lot next to the church and built a parsonage for the pastor and his family. The parsonage also served as a venue for weddings and community gatherings. This building is still standing near the cemetery.
Friends of Moline Lutheran Cemetery
The Friends of Moline Lutheran Cemetery (FMLC) is a
Adjoining cemetery
In 2013, the FMCL discovered an overgrown addition to the Moline Swedish Lutheran Cemetery which had been neglected since the 1960s.[3] This Adjoining Cemetery contains the mostly unmarked resting places of domestic, farm, and cotton gin workers. The damaged, concrete graves were barely visible over the brush and vegetation, and the metal markers and wooden crosses were completely obscured. Research by the FMLC helped identify one name among the markers. Cruz Reynero was born in Mexico in 1914. He and five of his siblings came to Elroy to work at the Swedish Farmers' Cotton Gin. Reynero died at age 19 and was buried in the Adjoining Cemetery, his grave marked with a large, wooden cross. The cross was eventually lost to overgrowth during the cemetery's abandonment, but uncovered and restored by the FMLC in 2013. Another identifiable grave in the Adjoining Cemetery is the granite obelisk raised in memory of Alfonso Torres (1890-1911). Mariano and Delphina Torres, the parents of Alfonzo, came to the United States in 1875 and raised ten children. Alfonso and his siblings all died before age 25 with the exception of Rosendo Torres (1885-1964) who lived to be 79. The obelisk marking Alfonso's grave was broken into three pieces during the cemetery's abandonment and restored by the FMLC in 2013.
References
- ^ Pitman, Suzanne & Ronnie. "Moline Swedish Lutheran Cemetery". Austin Genealogical Society, 2006.
- ^ Scott, Larry Emil. "The Swedish Texans". University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio, 1990.
- ^ Mashhood, Farzad. "Local nonprofit tries to restore 106-year-old Swedish Cemetery in Elroy". Austin American Statesman, 2013.
