also, note Mager Cemetery and the Beyersville Cemetery
Beyersville, community near Dacus Crossing and Dacus School.
Dacus Crossing was mentioned in records soon after the Civil War, the school by 1889, where church services were also held. Gustav (Gus) Beyer settled there in 1886, established several businesses; post office at Beyersville was established on April 15, 1893, Gustav Beyer, postmaster, succeeded by William Rummel (1898), changed to Wilhelm Rummel a month later; Robert Stumhofer 0906); office closed January 31, 1909. Businesses included stories of Beyer, Rummel, Albert Frerichs, Stumhofer, J. T. Simcik's molasses mill, 1908-1935; blacksmith shops of Albert Becker and Walter Sipple; gins owned by Leopold Bachmayer, Charlie Bachmayer, Ben Thonig; Albert Frerichs garage; Wagon Wheel Tavern; Sons of Hermann Lodge Hall used for dances and community activities. The name of the school was changed from Dacus to Beyersville at least by 1897. A small oil field was developed on the Charlie Preusse farm about 1940. School consolidated with Taylor in 1950.14
BIBLIOGRAPHY Clara Stearns Scarbrough, Land of Good Water: A Williamson County History (Georgetown, Texas: Williamson County Sun Publishers, 1973).
View Mager Cemetery Historical Marker and the Beyersville Cemetery below on this page
BEYERSVILLE, TEXAS.
Beyersville is on Farm Road 619, thirty-five miles northeast of Austin in eastern Williamson County. The area was first settled shortly after the Civil War and was originally known as Dacus or Dacus Crossing. Beyersville became the town's official name in 1893 when Gustav Beyer established a post office, which remained in operation until 1909. The Dacus school opened in 1889, adopted the name Beyersville in 1897, and was consolidated with the Taylor schools in 1950. In 1896 Beyersville had an estimated population of only fifteen but soon grew to include several retail stores and gins, two blacksmith shops, a garage, a tavern, and a molasses mill. The Order of Sons of Hermann Hall served as a center for community activities.
Beyersville's population was estimated at 100 from 1933 to 1970.
From 1970 to 2000 it remained around seventy-five. At some time, the community was moved one mile south of its original site to a location known earlier as Happy Hill. In 1986 Beyersville had two taverns, a diesel and equipment repair shop, and a Czech fraternal hall.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Clara Stearns Scarbrough, Land of Good Water: A Williamson County History (Georgetown, Texas: Williamson County Sun Publishers, 1973).
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Mager Cemetery Historical Narrative
Mager Cemetery is located in southeast Williamson County, Texas (approximately 1 mile south of Beyersville), adjacent to and just west of Highway 1466.
Reinhold and Franziska (Krueger) Mager donated one acre of land of their 150 acres located in the Robertson's Pasture area in Williamson County for the purpose of a cemetery and a school, becoming known as Mager Cemetery and Mager School. Church services of the Lutheran faith were held in the Mager schoolhouse.
Reinhold Mager was born in Spremberg Province, Brandenburg, Germany on September 11, 1863.
After leaving Germany, he landed at Galveston, Texas. Franziska (Krueger) Mager was born in the Dessau Community, Travis County, Texas, on October 30, 1868. She was given the name Franziska in memory of the ship Franziska on which her mother, Augusta Thiele, came to Texas in 1855. Reinhold and Franziska are laid to rest in the Mager Cemetery — Reinhold — November 11, 1930, and Franziska — August 07, 1951. (1)
The first known burial in the Mager Cemetery is Albert C. Mager in 1900. The last known burial WV was Franziska Mager in 1951. Many of the markers bear an inscription in the German language; most of the buried were of German heritage. The total number of people buried in the cemetery is 55; of these, 14 are infants. There are six markers with no names. They are included in the total. This information is as accurate as deemed possible.
The Influenza Epidemic of 1919 claimed the lives of many.
The Anna and Gus Thonig family suffered the loss of three children within a two-week period. Gus, the oldest was 21 years old, Otto was eight years old, and the baby, Grover, was 7 months. Anna's brother, Herman Wolf, also died of the flu during the 1919 epidemic. Anna, the mother, was so grieved. She could see the Mager Cemetery from her home about a mile across the fields, and she looked and grieved, "Why am I still here?" Wishing she could join her children in death, she went out into the bitter cold without proper clothing, hoping to get sick too. She was told she had her remaining children to live for. (2)
Rattlesnakes were a common part of this area of the Mager Cemetery.
Christine Wolf is believed to have been bitten by a rattlesnake. She put out a "flag" to notify her daughter, who lived nearby (as there were no other means of getting in touch). She had red streaks on her arm and lived only a few days. A rattlesnake was found and killed nearby. She passed away on August 29, 1934, and is buried in the Mager Cemetery. (3)
The cemetery is maintained by Emil Bachmayer on a volunteer basis and is in excellent condition. The cemetery is not in current use.
Information:
(l) Genealogy Andrew and Augusta Krueger; Copyright 1970 by Ben J. Krueger
(2) Contributed by Cecilia Thonig Hannan
(3) Contributed by Cecilia Thonig Hannan and Melba Ihlenfeldt Hill.
Research by: Mary Lucy Mager
Beyersville Cemetery Also known as Old Beyersville Cemetery
Local sources say that the post office was moved in about 1970 from the old Beyersville site on Wagon Wheel Road to present day Beyersville.
The buildings in the old Beyersville site were gradually abandoned and fell into ruins surrounded by weeds and saplings. The cemetery is now abandoned and overgrown with weeds, saplings, vines, creepers, and ground cover, which had to be cut away to photograph the gravestones. Two of the gravestones have toppled over on their inscriptions. There may be other gravestones hidden in the cemetery growth, which is enclosed by a cyclone fence about 100 or more feet along one long side of a field.
The cemetery is along Brushy Creek, with reeds from 10 to 12 feet tall along the rear of the cemetery. The river has flooded at times and may have caused some damage to the cemetery. Believed to be more burials than has been documented.
Notes:
WCHC’s Vol III, pg 71 per Clara Scarbrough & Mrs. Herman Riethmeyer Poldrack 1983 ”located on the N bank of Brushy Creek near Beyersville. Take FM 619 SE of Taylor, travel S toward Beyersville, but before crossing Brushy Creek, (3.6 miles S of the intersection of FM 619 & FM 112), turn left [probably should be “right”] near the old Wagon Wheel Tavern [in 2016: turn onto Wagon Wheel Rd], drive .3 mile to the edge of a field, then walk to the cemetery. The cemetery, which was originally near the village of Beyersville, is 1-1/2 miles NW of present Beyersville (the second location to be called Beyersville, & this second one originally called ‘Happy Hill.’) The land for this cemetery was given by Gustav Beyer, pioneer settler there. At the original site, besides the cemetery, there was a school, store, gin & houses. In floods, some damage has been done to the cemetery, & numerous other graves are believed to be there.” [There is mention of different fencing around certain headstones.]
THC’s ATLAS: Driving Directions: From CR 451/FM 619 intersection in Beyersville, go a 0.9 mile north on FM 619. Turn left onto Wagon Wheel Rd. and go 0.1 miles west. Stop just before a sharp bend and dilapidated house on the south side of the road, and walk 453 ft. south and west to the far western edge of a cultivated field. A partly fenced cemetery is located on the north bank of Brushy Creek and on the east bank of deep drainage. This cemetery is highly endangered. It is a map feature but is located on private property. No cemetery signs are posted. The cemetery is partly fenced and is not maintained. Many of the grave markers are fallen, displaced, or missing, and the cemetery is heavily overgrown with bamboo. Many of the graves are not clearly visible. Deep drainage runs along the western edge of the cemetery and may have significantly eroded a portion of the cemetery. There may be unmarked graves outside the fenced area as well. A large fieldstone and several wooden fence post may mark a grave plot just south of the fenced cemetery. The unfenced area is also overgrown with vinca and iris. The cemetery is highly threatened by erosion, flooding, nearby cultivation, and neglect.