Early on the Sunday morning of April 13, 2025, a bright Texas day dawned cool with a bit of breeze. About one mile east from historic Fort Martin Scott and almost four miles from Fredericksburg, center of the German Texas Hill Country, a small group of individuals, friends and members of the John Whitmer Historical Association, gathered at the Zodiac Historical Marker on Elmer Schmidtzinky’s farm. Those gathered included Melvin C. Johnson, noted historian of the Wightite movement, Eric Paul Rogers from the JWHA Board, Barbara Jones Brown, Vickie Speek and Casey Paul Griffiths, former JWHA president.
The one-time Mormon cemetery of the frontier followers of renegade Apostle Lyman Wight no longer exists, having been harrowed under in 1934. Its Texas Historic Marker had been listing for some years as armadillos burrowed underneath it. The list was particularly noticeable when JWHA visited the marker during our annual conference held in the area in 2023. Seeing the need to preserve this historic site, members of JWHA worked together with local citizens to remedy the problem. In March 2025 the marker was repaired using private funds, and the group gathered to rededicate it to those who lay in the earth for more than 170 years.
As part of their visit in the area, JWHA members and local citizens also held a meeting to discuss the importance of preserving Mormon history in the area. When a local citizen asked why Mormons would be interested in preserving the history of a man some considered an apostate, a member of JWHA replied, “He’s still part of the family.”
Wightite historian Melvin C. Johnson stood and spoke: “Heman Hale Smith stood here where we are today in this spot 144 years ago. Born at Zodiac in 1850, he returned with family and friends to Zodiac in 1881. He memorialized the dead in the name of the living. ‘We the living today stand here to remember the dead, to dedicate this historical marker to the memory of those who lived here in pioneer days. They created a unique community in the wilderness, dedicated to their faith, created families and individuals who began the American and German presence of Zodiac, Fredericksburg, and other crossroads that became Gillespie County, Texas.'”
Johnson concluded, “We the descendants and friends of Zodiac too desire to be enlightened, and may we too ‘move on in unity and love as before; but in a sure, safer way!'”
Watch a brief video of the rededication.
After the ceremony at the monument, several JWHA representatives and local Texans traveled to Mormon Mills, where they paid their respects to a Wightite Cemetery located there. Our sincere thanks to the local citizens who hosted us and helped us preserve this historic treasure.
