Historical Marker

Witte-Schmid Cemetery

This pioneer graveyard is an important reminder of the German heritage of Austin county. Following two of their sons to America, Dr. Ernst Witte (b. 1791), a native of Blomberg, Germany, and his wife Lizette (Linnemann) bought 1422 acres here in 1856. Near this site, the Wittes built a home which Witte heirs later donated to the Texas German Society. Dr. Witte died in 1869 and was buried here; Lizette died in 1883. The following year, the Wittes' heirs sold the land to Ernst and Lizette's granddaughter Emilie Sophia and her husband John Scmid. More than twenty family members are buried here. The cemetery features upright marble and granite gravestones, with some inscriptions written in German.