Johann Gotthülf Altwein (1801-1853), a grain mill builder and operator, and his wife Wilhelmine (Quandt) (1802-1880) brought their family to Texas from Prussia in 1851 and settled on a farm on the west bank of the Guadalupe River near this site. They donated land for the first Schumannsville community school, named Altwein School in their honor, which was moved closer to the town in 1879 and renamed Unionwein School. About one-half mile east of this site is the Altwein family cemetery, established in 1853 after Johann Gotthülf Altwein died of heatstroke while clearing the land three months after purchasing the farm. Only one grave in the cemetery is marked with a headstone, that of two-year-old grandson Herrman R. Altwein (1880-1882), though family history records at least fourteen burials there, some marked with simple native rocks. Those interred also include Herrman's parents, Wilhelm (1840-1915) and Louise Staats (1847-1888) Altwein, and two of their daughters, including Otillia (1884-1886); two children of a local Mexican laborer are also believed to be buried in the graveyard, along with the Altweins' oldest daughter Augusta (1830-1901), her husband Johannes Krams, and their daughters Augusta Krams Dammann and Matilda Krams, who all died in 1883. Another daughter, Bertha Matilda Krams Scheffell (1861-1933), was the last person interred in the family cemetery. The Altwein family was representative of many German immigrants who came to Texas in the 19th century, and descendants still live in the region.