William Persky

The Rockdale Reporter and Messenger ran his obituary on February 15, 1945. William Persky died at the Sharp home of his daughter, Mrs. E. J. Rinn, under three months after his hundredth birthday. Born in Germany, he came to America with his family at six, according to the paper; the plaque says eight. They settled in Austin County, where he farmed. His wife, Theresa Rundge, died fifty years before. He moved to Bell County in 1901 and to Sharp about nineteen years before his death. The paper called him the last Confederate veteran in the county.

What the plaque says

William Persky (Nov. 21, 1844 - Feb. 9, 1945) A native of Germany, William Persky migrated to the United States with his family at the age of eight. He enlisted in the Confederate army during the Civil War and served time as a prisoner of war. A farmer, Persky lived in Austin and Bell counties before moving to this area in 1925. He lived to be 100, and at the time of his death in 1945 was the oldest resident and the last Confederate veteran of Milam County. (1981)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Milam County Courthouse and Jail — 12 mi
  Cameron's 1892 Renaissance Revival courthouse and the 1895 St. Louis-built jail beside it, now the county museum, are listed together on the National Register.
• Temple Railroad and Heritage Museum — 27 mi
  The Santa Fe depot of 1911 in a railroad town that began in 1880 as a construction camp, now a museum with locomotives and cars parked beside the active rail yard.

More markers nearby

• Sharp — 1.1 mi
• Urban Cemetery — 2.0 mi
• Lilac — 3.8 mi
• Apache Pass River Crossing — 4.2 mi