Gottfried and Friedrike (Dickow) Pagel came to Texas from Pomerania in 1850 with eight children and purchased land in this vicinity in 1852. The following year, Friedrike died shortly after giving birth to her ninth child. In 1855, Gottfried wed widow Johanna "Anna" Zorn Fritsche. Her daughter Magdalena wed the eldest Pagel son, Friedrich Wilhelm, known as Wilhelm, in 1858. Gottfried moved his family to Lavaca County, but Wilhelm and Magdalena stayed in Fayette County. They bought more land at Willow Springs, where Wilhelm built a stone house, operated a store and served as the first postmaster for the community then known as Rock House. Wilhelm died in 1873 and was buried on the original Pagel land, where his mother may have been buried 20 years earlier. His is the first marked grave in what became Pagel Cemetery. Magdalena died in 1886, and hers is the second known burial. Many neighbors joined the Pagels in burying loved ones here, and there are numerous interments from the extended Henniger, Garlin, Kruse and Lincke families. The cemetery is maintained by descendants of the area's pioneers, many of whom were of German heritage. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2005