On a quiet stretch of Klein Street in Seguin, the past doesn’t rest quietly, it speaks. This October, the gates of Riverside Cemetery will open for an afternoon of history – history that will take center stage as the voices of Seguin’s earliest pioneers return to tell their stories.
The Saints Alive Riverside Cemetery Tour is more than a walk among headstones. It’s a chance to meet the women who helped build Seguin. Presented by the Affiliation for the Preservation of Shakespeare and Federated Club Rooms, in partnership with the City of Seguin, the living-history fundraiser has become an annual tradition that blends a haunting atmosphere with deep reverence for the city’s founders.
A Stage Among the Stones
The historic Riverside Cemetery, established in the 1800s and home to more than 2,000 souls, becomes a stage for actors who embody ancestors where they rest. Visitors wind through pathways shaded by oaks and monuments, pausing at gravesites where Seguin’s history comes alive.
This year’s spotlight belongs to the great ladies of Seguin. Portrayals include Eugenia Burgess and Harry Burgess (by Denise Crettenden and Papa Douglas), Anna Brodt (by her descendant Dottsy Brodt), Ella Dancy Dibrell (by Pat Hoppe), Evelyn Duggan (by Seguin Mayor Donna Dodgen), Catarina Knodel (by Robin Shellard), Willie Mae Weinert (by Johanna Bain), and Adelaida L. Montanez (by Marrisa Villareal).
In a unique twist this year, members of the Shakespeare Club of 1901 and played by Ellenor Crettenden, Linda Duncan, Peggy Schott, and Mary Jane Windle will gather at a single gravesite to re-create the club’s very first meeting.
Club member Bobbie Maddox says this year’s program highlights not one ancestor but a broader theme.
“Instead of highlighting one specific portrayal this year, I would say that we’d like to recognize the strength and contributions of the women who helped establish and build Seguin. The gathering of several Shakespeare members of the past at one gravesite is something we’ve never tried before, so that will be interesting,” said Maddox said.
Roots in the Past, Eyes on the Future
The cemetery tour first began in 2012 as a fundraiser for the historic clubhouse built in 1902 for Seguin’s women’s clubs—an architectural first in Texas designed specifically for women to gather. Members Sudi Bruns and Pat Hoppe dreamed up the idea as a creative way to support the building’s upkeep. Today, the tour is one of the city’s most anticipated Pecan Fest events.
Over the years, audiences have met a colorful cast of Seguin’s ancestors.
Maddox says each portrayal reminds guests that Riverside Cemetery is not merely a place of mourning but a resting place for heroes, scoundrels, visionaries, and the women who carried communities forward.
“Past favorites of mine among the ancestors called back to their gravesites include Jacob Ray, a Buffalo Soldier (African American soldiers). He was a former slave who was among the Black troops who patrolled the Western Frontier, protecting settlers, following the Civil War. Another, Timothy Pickering Jones, was somewhat of a ‘scamp’ who despite being the roommate of Edgar Allan Poe at West Point, prevailed as a proud son of Seguin and graduated from that venerated military academy. Poe was dismissed from West Point and did not graduate.
And I must credit Samuel Millett (1801-1863) who arrived in Texas in 1831, a member of Austin’s Colony. He fought in the battle of San Jacinto which is commemorated by a gravesite marker placed at his grave by the State of Texas. Later, settling in this area, Millett brought his family to Seguin where they lived on the grounds now home to Emanuel’s Lutheran Church. He owned a hotel in New Braunfels and farmed land in Geronimo. Most notable to me, he has twice been portrayed by my husband Marvel Maddox,” Maddox said.
Riverside: A Sacred Landmark
Originally part of an 1837 land grant to Ezekiel Smith, Riverside Cemetery grew to 15 acres through family and city contributions. Here, farming settlers rest alongside elected officials, business leaders, clergy, veterans, and former slaves. Club organizers say its aging mausoleum, monuments, and tree-lined avenues give the cemetery a hushed beauty — an atmosphere that makes it the perfect setting for Saints Alive.
More Than a Ghost Story
For Maddox, the event is less about spookiness and more about keeping stories alive. She says the women’s clubs have long recognized that preserving history is just as important as preserving buildings.
“The cemetery tour goes back to 2012 when the affiliation of the three clubs… realized they needed to raise funds for the upkeep of their historic club rooms which were built in 1902. The building is recognized as the first clubhouse in Texas established precisely for the gathering of women,” Maddox said.
As shadows lengthen on the grounds of Riverside, guests will gather not just to be entertained, but to honor the legacies of Seguin’s ancestors. Saints Alive proves that in Seguin, history doesn’t die—it speaks.
