The Nesbitt Memorial Library hosted the annual Live Oaks and Dead Folks Cemetery tour in the old cemetery in Columbus this past weekend (November 4th and 5th). The weather was mild. the rain held off, and the tour sold out. Volunteers dressed up in period costumes and told the stories of interesting men and women who have gone on before. The tour provides a wonderful format for bringing history alive for young and old alike. I played Detlef Thomas Friedrich Jordt who under the pen name Detlef Dunt wrote the first book published in Germany about Texas. The book had the effect of encouraging German immigration to South-Central Texas. Jordt/Dunt settled with his family in the Frelsburg area and his two sons, Emil and Franz, became important civic leaders. Together with Geir Bentzen, I edited a translation of his delightful little book which appeared two years ago under the title Travel to Texas in 1833.
James C. Kearney 