La Bahia Cemetery
Goliad, Goliad County, Texas, USA
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The nearby Presidio, which Texans captured from the Mexican Army on February 27, 1836 (before the battle of the Alamo!), also has graves, many are ancestors of those buried in the La Bahia Cemetery. The dead used to be buried under the floor of the chapel. The floor was a dirt floor until the 1930's when it was tiled.
The Cabreras buried at La Bahia are descendants of Marcos Cabrera, a Canary Islander. Canary Islanders were from Spain and some marched overland from Vera Cruz Mexico to the presidio of San Antonio de Beaxar, with 56 people arriving on March 9, 1731 to blend with the existing community there.
Cemetery history:
Green H. Coleman, part of the Stephen F. Austin Colony, was originally granted the land that later became the La Bahia Community. On January 12, 1854, Green H. Coleman sold to B. S. Pullen "my headright labor of land except one acre….The said one acre of land that I herein reserve out of said labor is expressly for a burying ground. . ." Census records show he and his wife Sarah lived in the vicinity as late as 1880, when he was 80 years old and she was 73 years old. It is highly probable that they are buried in this cemetery.
Deed records through the years continued to reserve this acre of land for a graveyard, with no name mentioned. Later owners were John W. Middleton, George Keesee, Eliza C. Gardner, Lorenzo B. & Anna Little, and John William & Louise Wedemeyer. On February 6, 1890, the Wedemeyers sold the property to Carl Heinrich Friedrich & Louise Niemann. On June 6, 1892, the Niemanns sold 2 ½ acres to "A. Hinze, A. Kieke & F. Niemann, Trustees of the Coleman Graveyard and their successors in office" for $20. In March 1901, the Niemanns sold the land to Henriette Hinze, who passed it on to son Paul in 1917, and on August 8, 1933, Paul and Louise Hinze sold another acre to the cemetery association.
In 1879, German immigrants in the area formed the La Bahia Turn Verein, purchasing property and building their meeting place on the old La Bahia Road. Businesses were formed and a post office opened in 1879. This is probably when the community became known as La Bahia. There is no record of when the cemetery's name was changed from Coleman to La Bahia. In the early 1900s Wedemeyer and La Bahia were used interchangeably, but it is now only known as La Bahia Cemetery. There are no known Wedemeyers buried in the cemetery.
On January 11, 1948, ten ladies met for the purpose of organizing the La Bahia Cemetery Aid, and by 1957, there were 51 ladies in the organization. They planted the St. Augustine grass which now covers most of the cemetery. They funded the fence and native rock pillars, the La Bahia Cemetery sign, and workers to maintain the grounds and gravesites mostly with bingo games and concessions at the monthly dances held at the La Bahia Hall. Prizes in the beginning were sugar, flour, etc. When they began giving money for prizes, the organization gave half of the money collected as a prize and kept the other half for the cemetery. The bingo games continued long after the dances were no longer held.
The nearby Presidio, which Texans captured from the Mexican Army on February 27, 1836 (before the battle of the Alamo!), also has graves, many are ancestors of those buried in the La Bahia Cemetery. The dead used to be buried under the floor of the chapel. The floor was a dirt floor until the 1930's when it was tiled.
The Cabreras buried at La Bahia are descendants of Marcos Cabrera, a Canary Islander. Canary Islanders were from Spain and some marched overland from Vera Cruz Mexico to the presidio of San Antonio de Beaxar, with 56 people arriving on March 9, 1731 to blend with the existing community there.
Cemetery history:
Green H. Coleman, part of the Stephen F. Austin Colony, was originally granted the land that later became the La Bahia Community. On January 12, 1854, Green H. Coleman sold to B. S. Pullen "my headright labor of land except one acre….The said one acre of land that I herein reserve out of said labor is expressly for a burying ground. . ." Census records show he and his wife Sarah lived in the vicinity as late as 1880, when he was 80 years old and she was 73 years old. It is highly probable that they are buried in this cemetery.
Deed records through the years continued to reserve this acre of land for a graveyard, with no name mentioned. Later owners were John W. Middleton, George Keesee, Eliza C. Gardner, Lorenzo B. & Anna Little, and John William & Louise Wedemeyer. On February 6, 1890, the Wedemeyers sold the property to Carl Heinrich Friedrich & Louise Niemann. On June 6, 1892, the Niemanns sold 2 ½ acres to "A. Hinze, A. Kieke & F. Niemann, Trustees of the Coleman Graveyard and their successors in office" for $20. In March 1901, the Niemanns sold the land to Henriette Hinze, who passed it on to son Paul in 1917, and on August 8, 1933, Paul and Louise Hinze sold another acre to the cemetery association.
In 1879, German immigrants in the area formed the La Bahia Turn Verein, purchasing property and building their meeting place on the old La Bahia Road. Businesses were formed and a post office opened in 1879. This is probably when the community became known as La Bahia. There is no record of when the cemetery's name was changed from Coleman to La Bahia. In the early 1900s Wedemeyer and La Bahia were used interchangeably, but it is now only known as La Bahia Cemetery. There are no known Wedemeyers buried in the cemetery.
On January 11, 1948, ten ladies met for the purpose of organizing the La Bahia Cemetery Aid, and by 1957, there were 51 ladies in the organization. They planted the St. Augustine grass which now covers most of the cemetery. They funded the fence and native rock pillars, the La Bahia Cemetery sign, and workers to maintain the grounds and gravesites mostly with bingo games and concessions at the monthly dances held at the La Bahia Hall. Prizes in the beginning were sugar, flour, etc. When they began giving money for prizes, the organization gave half of the money collected as a prize and kept the other half for the cemetery. The bingo games continued long after the dances were no longer held.
Nearby cemeteries
Goliad, Goliad County, Texas, USA
- Total memorials370
- Percent photographed97%
- Percent with GPS79%
Goliad, Goliad County, Texas, USA
- Total memorials171
- Percent photographed85%
- Percent with GPS11%
Goliad, Goliad County, Texas, USA
- Total memorials359
- Percent photographed78%
- Percent with GPS1%
- Added: 22 Jul 2005
- Find a Grave Cemetery ID: 2149090
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