Frank Cemetery

FRIEDRICH FRANK (1818-1883), BORN IN GERMANY, SAILED TO AMERICA IN 1852 ABOARD THE SOPHIA ALONG WITH THE WENDT FAMILY TO GALVESTON. UPON ARRIVAL, THEY MADE THEIR WAY TO AUSTIN COUNTY AND BOUGHT LAND. IN 1853, FRIEDRICH FRANK MARRIED FRIEDRICH WENDT’S DAUGHTER, MARIE WENDT (1826-1902). FRIEDRICH AND MARIE HAD TEN CHILDREN. FRIEDRICH, ALSO KNOWN AS “FRITZ,” LEARNED HOW TO MAKE BEER IN HIS HOME COUNTRY OF GERMANY AND BROUGHT HIS SKILLS TO TEXAS AND AUSTIN COUNTY. THE FRANK BREWERY OPERATED IN THIS PREDOMINATELY GERMAN COMMUNITY FOR SEVERAL DECADES UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF FRITZ. LATER HIS SON, HERMAN, TOOK OVER OPERATIONS OF THE BREWERY. HERMAN ALSO OPERATED A RACETRACK ON THE PROPERTY TO PROMOTE HIS PRODUCT. PROHIBITION FORCED THE BREWERY TO CLOSE IN 1918.

FRITZ AND MARIE FRANK ARE BURIED IN THIS SMALL, FAMILY CEMETERY. OTHER BURIALS INCLUDE THREE SONS, FERDINAND FRANK (1858-1893), WILHELM FRANK (1855-1928) AND MAX FRANK (1865-1928), A DAUGHTER, JANE FRANK BROCKMAN (1860-1948), A SON-IN-LAW, RUDOLPH BROCKMAN (1846-1924), AND TWO DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW, BERTHA REINECKER FRANK (1860-1939) AND MINNA CHRISTINA UECKERT FRANK (1872-1965). MARTHA FRANK FINN (1884-1903), FRITZ’S GRANDDAUGHTER, AND HER INFANT CHILD ARE BURIED HERE, ALONG WITH FRITZ’S TWO GRANDSONS, OSKAR FRANK (MAY 1891-AUG. 1891) AND WALTER FRANK (1893-1895).

THE FRANK CEMETERY LANDSCAPE IS TRADITIONAL, FEATURING A NUMBER OF TREES INCLUDING CEDAR, PINE AND CREPE MYRTLES SURROUNDED BY A FENCE. DESCENDANTS OF THE FRANK FAMILY MAINTAIN THIS CEMETERY AND ARE REMINDED OF THE DETERMINATION OF IMMIGRANTS AND PIONEER FAMILIES THAT SETTLED AUSTIN COUNTY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.