By Myra Lee Adams Goff

Yesterday (Feb. 9) a historic event took place for New Braunfels Masonic Lodge No. 1109. The cornerstone leveling of a new lodge building at 1353 Wald Rd. took place. This is the fourth home for this lodge.

It is believed that the history of the Freemasons goes back in antiquity to the worker organizations formed into guilds of like trades, particularly the building trades. A group of members is called a lodge. Today members wear aprons that look like the working clothes of the old stonemasons. The term “free” possibly refers to the freedom to move without the restrictions of the feudal lords.

Although it is not a religious organization, nor does it take the place of religion, members must believe in a Higher Being. Freemasonry accepts worthy men and seeks to make good men better. Members work through degrees, the highest being the 33^rd degree. Lodges support all good works, and believe in the equality of people, freedom, and democracy.

The first Grand Lodge was established on June 24, 1717, in London, England. The first Grand Master in America was appointed in 1730 by the Grand Lodge of England. Fourteen U.S. presidents were Freemasons, plus other Revolutionary notables, such as Benjamin Franklin, and Paul Revere. The cornerstone of the National Capitol was laid by Mason George Washington on Sept 18, 1793. The well-known painting of him wearing his Masonic apron was given to him by the Marquis de Lafayette, a French aristocrat fighting for the American cause.

Closer to home, the Grand Lodge of Texas was formed during the time of the Republic with Sam Houston presiding at the formation. This Grand Lodge set aside 10% of their revenues for free public education. The Texas Freemason charter was received during the Battle of San Jacinto.

With this impressive background, let us get to the history of NB Lodge #1109. Remember that before the Texas Revolution the area that we now call Comal County was in the larger district of Bexar. The Texas Legislature created Comal County in 1846 after Texas became a state. The first Masonic Lodge in Comal County was actually in Twin Sisters on Curry Creek. Then when the final boundaries for Comal County were set in 1858, the western section of Comal County, where the lodge was located, was separated and the lodge was then located in Blanco and Kendall counties. Twin Sisters Lodge #216 was eventually moved to the city of Blanco and named Blanco Lodge #216 where it still exists.

The second Comal County Masonic Lodge, #276, was chartered in 1864 and demised in 1874. Some well-known early leading citizens belonged to this lodge, a few of which were Hermann Seele, Ferdinand Lindheimer, George Pfeuffer, Louis Henne, J.J. Groos, Joseph Landa, John Torrey, and Joseph Faust.

In 1915 the third lodge ,#1109, was chartered and met at the carriage house next to the Jahn building on South Seguin Avenue(building no longer standing). Fourteen Master Masons asked for a charter and chose R.E. Kloepper the first Worshipful Master, J.E. Abrahams the first Senior Warden, and J.E. Herd the Junior Warden. Celebrating the formation of this lodge in 1916, more than 200 Masons from neighboring counties marched with local candidates and guests from the Jahn Building to where the ceremony was to take place in the Knoke building (where the former Eiband and Fischer store was located). Some visitors came by train, but the majority came in automobiles. After the ceremony, they went to Tolle Hall for roast pig and sweet potatoes.

Then in 1923 the lodge moved to the Albert Ludwig building on the corner of W. San Antonio St. and S. Castell Avenue (present site of Phoenix Saloon). Being a Mason, Ludwig built a third floor to his building and offered it to house the lodge. Notice that the third story does not cover the whole building.

Forty two years later, the lodge was moved to its building at 1157 W. San Anonio St. where it remained until the new lodge was purchased and dedicated yesterday. This building is also home of the New Braunfels Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star and the New Braunfels Assembly of Rainbow Girls, affiliates of New Braunfels Masonic Lodge #1109.

Worshipful Master Riley Miller, who jokingly says that “real men do wear aprons”, invites all to come visit the lodge with its Museum and Library any Tuesday evening.

In 1916, Richard Kloepper was the first Worshipful Master of N.B. Masonic Lodge No. 1109, A.F. & F.M.

By Myra Lee Adams Goff

What’s happening to the old house at 230 W. Mill St? I found out. Jeff and Denise Mund have bought the old Georg Pfeuffer house and they are restoring it. Records show that this is the sixth time that there have been major additions and renovations.

Ownership of the lot on which the house stands was conveyed to Johann Georg Pfeuffer in 1852 and it is assumed that the house was built shortly thereafter. It is one of the early houses in New Braunfels built with fachwerk walls, a custom brought from German architecture. One can see fachwerk construction in present day Germany. Casement windows with unique latches can be seen upstairs. Hand-hewn cedar beams throughout the house and wide cedar beams were used in the ceiling. The full basement contained the kitchen and has a brick floor. In the downstairs area are two original black walnut doors, a wood that was plentiful along the banks of the Guadalupe.

Johann Georg Pfeuffer was born in 1799 in Bavaria. He married Barbett (Barbara) Broschel in 1829 and six children were born to the couple.

Pfeuffer was a tanner and owned several tanneries in Germany. He was quite a prosperous businessman. The children were all educated and servants tended to their needs.

The family does not know why in 1845 Pfeuffer sold all his tanneries, uprooted his family, and signed up with the German Emigration Company to come to Texas. They were among the second group of emigrants and arrived in Galveston in November of 1845. From there the family took a schooner to Indianola.

A near tragedy occurred when they were put on an overloaded schooner. It sank in the bay outside of Indianola. The lives of the family were saved but most of their possessions were lost. Now they were virtually penniless and were stranded on the coast along with the hundreds of other emigrants. They didn’t arrive in New Braunfels until 1848. The 1850 Comal County census lists Georg as 51, Barbett as 44, Valentine as 18, Christopf as 16, Daniel as 12, Barbette as 9, and Anna Marie as 6. The oldest son, also named George, was 20 years old and wasn’t listed in this census. He was known to have moved to Corpus Christi at the time.

Sometime between 1852 and 1860, the elder Georg Pfeuffer began a tannery in the basement of his home on Mill St.( Source: “Texas and Texans”,1914 translation). Inquiring about the process of tanning, I asked Al Ludwig, the g-g grandson of Georg Pfeuffer and owner of Ludwig Leather Co. on Seguin Street. He said that the process was done by soaking the hide in tannin extracted from oak trees to produce leather that was soft and durable. The word Tanne is an old German word for oak or pine trees (hence the word Tannenbaum). How did this family survive with the tannery in the basement?

Family records state that Georg Pfeuffer was very opinionated about the politics of the day. He signed the petition in Comal County calling for secession. Four sons fought in the Civil War.

About that time the young Georg Pfeuffer returned to New Braunfels from Corpus. This Pfeuffer son became the most prominent in the family, as he was a Texas Senator and responsible for the capitol in Austin being constructed of Texas Granite. Later he became president of Texas A&M College. To read more about him, log on to Sophienburg.com Nov. 26, 2008.

Johann Georg Pfeuffer (Sr.) died in 1886. Thereafter the house was conveyed to the Baetge family. In 1942 Arthur Baetge as executor of the Baetge estate sold the house to Annie Lehman who, in turn, conveyed it to her son Leroy Lehman in 1954.

Leroy Lehman and his wife Agnes raised one son and four daughters in this home. Some changes were made to the home to accommodate their growing family. The August Koch map of 1881 shows the house without the side porch that the Lehmanns added. Ernest Lehman, son of the Leroy Lehmans, recently brought the original pillars to the Munds.

The City of New Braunfels designated the house as a historic landmark. All of us in New Braunfels benefit from restoration projects like the Munds have taken on.

Johann Georg Pfeuffer