By Jaime Kilpatrick
Staff Reporter
Kyle —
Along with flowers and Confederate flags, there is now yellow crime scene tape marking the graves of several Hays County founders in the historic Kyle Cemetery.
The Hays County Sheriff’s Department received a call on Saturday that around 30 gravesites in the cemetery on Old Stagecoach Road had been vandalized.
The headstones — some more than six feet tall — were knocked over with many fallen to the ground, severely damaging some and shattering others.
All of the markers are for residents who were buried more than 100 years ago.
The worn and weathered biographical information on these markers is even more difficult to read now that they are in pieces on the ground, rather than upright.
Some headstones were knocked over face-down so visitors are currently unable to identify who is buried there until the cemetery is no longer considered a crime scene and the Kyle Cemetery Association is able to begin repairing the damages.
Jane Kirkam is president of the Kyle Cemetery Association. She said that the headstones in the cemetery are monuments of early town pioneers including Katherine Anne Porter’s grandparents, the Burleson family and the Kyle family.
“It’s just this random act of senseless vandalism,” Kirkham said. “ It’s really very sad. (The graves are) the history of Kyle, the families who probably aren’t around here anymore. I don’t understand it.”
Katherine Anne Porter is a Pulitzer Prize-winning Texas author, and her childhood home in Kyle was built by her grandmother shortly after the city was founded in 1880.
The Porters’ markers were not damaged, however the Burleson family plot is largely damaged.
The fallen markers of the Burleson family include four large obelisks marking the graves of Maj. Edward Burleson and his wife Emma Kyle Burleson, and one that reads, “Here lie the remains of our three lamented darling children Edward C. Burleson, Kyle Burleson, and Edward Burleson Jr.,” all of whom are listed as having died in the late 19th century.
According to the Handbook of Texas Online, Maj. Burleson was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1875 and the son of Gen. Edward Burleson who served as Vice President of Texas during the revolution.
The Burlesons were early settlers of San Marcos, and Texas State University’s Burleson Hall dormitory and the Burleson Street Historic District in San Marcos are both named for the General.
One obelisk bearing the name Eugene Green, born Feb. 8, 1870, died Jan. 8, 1902, was the only one of five obelisks damaged on the Green family plot.
Kirkham said she thinks it might have been people who wanted to “see how strong they were or how fun it would be” to knock over the headstones and obelisks.
Unfortunately, Kirkham said, the cemetery association is responsible for the clean up efforts.
“The cemetery, which is very strapped financially, will have to pay for this,” she said. “It costs the cemetery a great deal of money to have them repaired.”
Kirkham said that Pedernales Electric Cooperative has helped with cemetery repair efforts in the past by donating cranes and machinery.
Hays County Sheriff’s Deputy Mike Thielen said the official charge is criminal mischief in a place of human burial, a state jail felony.
A sign posted outside of the cemetery gates states that violating this law is a felony offense and carries up to 10 years in the penitentiary and a $10,000 fine.
Thielen said there are currently no known suspects, but anyone with information is encouraged to call (512) 393-2800 and ask for the Crimnal Investigations Division.
Callers wishing to remain anonymous can contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 324-TIPS.
