By Myra Lee Adams Goff

On May 19th the Sophienburg Museum and Archives will present a Civil War Exhibit about what was happening here in Comal County during the war and the period of Restoration which followed it. One segment of the exhibit, sponsored jointly by the NB German American Society, will feature the art work of Carl Iwonski (1830-1912). Art work can tell us much about the times.

The first time that the Iwonski name appeared in historical literature was in 1847 when Leopold Iwonski, father of Carl, and a group of disgruntled citizens appeared outside the Sophienburg where Adelsverein’s second Commissioner General, John Meusebach, was residing. That night the Iwonskis, along with others they had recruited, demanded that Meusebach come outside and either honor their land contracts in the Llano region or give their money back. The crowd became agitated and insisted that Meusebach be hanged on the spot.

The von Iwonski family hails from the present Polish area of Silisia, originally a province until 1526, when it was overtaken by Austria. Then in 1742 it was overtaken by the Prussian state of Germany and finally returned to Poland in 1945 after WWII. When artist Carl Iwonski was born, it was part of Germany and his ancestral roots are Polish.

Political turmoil seemed to surround Leopold Iwonski. “He was described as an expelled Prussian” and he was no longer welcome in his native land. (Source: “John O. Meusebach”, Irene Marshall King)

Leopold Iwonski, his wife, and two children emigrated to New Braunfels with the Adelsverein in 1845. Carl was 15 at the time. The family moved across the Guadalupe into Hortontown, then in Guadalupe County. Iwonski became the land agent for owner Albert C. Horton, selling 50 acre tracts. He retained 41 acres of land for his farm. Young Carl Iwonski spent his early years clearing the land and helping his father construct the family home. In 1847 the home became a stagecoach inn and saloon, as it was on the Nacogdoches crossing of the Guadalupe. We learn from Carl’s painting what the interior of the tavern looked like.

Carl and his brother, Adolph, involved themselves with New Braunfels activities. They joined the Turnverein. His drawings of amateur theater in 1854 tell us what the stage and scenery looked like. Also his picture of Seele’s Saengerhalle is perhaps the only rendition we have of that building. The Iwonski exhibit features 25 original pencil or ink renditions of actors and actresses on stage at the Saengerhalle. Many of the characters on stage are recognizable, Hermann Seele being one of them.

Eventually, Iwonski and his parents moved to San Antonio where he taught drawing at the German-English school. He became a professional photographer with William DeRyee. DeRyee left San Antonio before the Civil War, but Iwonski kept the studio open.

Carl Iwonski was a Unionist. He was an admirer of fellow Unionist Sam Houston who refused to sign the oath of the Confederacy. In 1857 Ferdinand Lindheimer, editor of the Neu Braunfelser Zeitung, announced that a portrait of Sam Houston by Iwonski would be on display at the Saengerhalle theater.

At a time when many German Unionists of the Hill Country were being arrested or killed, somehow Iwonski managed to avoid conscription. Check out Sophienburg.com, Nov. 3, 2009.

Immediately after the war, the Unionists in San Antonio hoisted the American flag over the Alamo. Both Carl and his father were staunch Unionist Republicans. Carl drew a very controversial cartoon in the newspaper showing the Democrats’ exit from their public offices as a result of their affiliation with the Confederacy. With a Union victory, Iwonski became tax collector of San Antonio, however, when the Democrats swept office in the next election of 1872, Iwonski was out of office and he left for Germany. The next year he returned to SA and completed portraits of many prominent families. After the death of his father in 1872, Carl and his mother returned to Silisia.

Iwonski’s panoramic painting of New Braunfels tells us much about NB’s early days. The recently rediscovered10×10 ft. Prussian Council of War, 1870 oil on canvas will be featured. The rest of the Civil War exhibit, opening May 19th, will be just as interesting.

Carl Iwonski, (1830-1912 ) artist in New Braunfels and San Antonio. Sophienburg Archives

By Myra Lee Adams Goff

Thanks to some early settlers, we have pictures painted with words of what early NB looked like from writers like Roemer, Lindheimer, Brach and the most prolific of all writers, Hermann Seele. Let’s not forget all those personal letters that were saved by families.

One of the best descriptions of the early Mission Valley area was written by Wilhelm (Bill) Adams, the older brother of my grandfather, Louis Adams. In 1937 Bill Adams told his story to his son, Harold Adams, who fortunately for us all, typed Bill’s story as he was speaking.

The paper was copied in its entirety in Alton Rahe’s book, “History of Mission Valley Community”. Excerpts from that paper bear repeating.

Bill Adams and my grandfather Louis were sons of Heinrich and Katarina Doeppenschmidt Adams. Katarina’s father was Jacob Doeppenschmidt, Sr. whose ranch was in the Honey Creek area. Heinrich’s ranch was in the Mission Valley. Both families were ranchers from the beginning. Honey Creek Ranch is now under the care of the Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Heinrich Adams, as a single man, came to Texas and New Braunfels in 1850 from Prussia. A family tradition states that Heinrich was educated in Germany and was in an elite military unit - elite because one had to be over six feet tall to be eligible. That was tall for Europeans in those days. Supposedly he had to leave Germany because he hit an officer. In 1856 he married Katarina Doeppenschmidt, daughter of Jacob and Anna Marie Doeppenschmidt. There were six children; my grandfather was the youngest.

In 1894 after both Heinrich and Katarina had died, second son Bill bought the ranch from his sisters and brothers. My grandfather, Louis, being a minor, went to live with his uncle, Jacob Doeppenschmidt,Jr. Bill was a successful rancher and eventually expanded the ranch to 1100 acres.

Bill was also involved in politics. He served as a Deputy Sheriff and then Comal County Commissioner for eight years and then was elected Sheriff and Tax Collector in 1908-1920. (Source of above by Marilyn Thurman and Jane Brummet, granddaughters of Bill Adams).

Bill’s paints a word picture of the early Mission Valley area. At one time there were no fences and sedge grass was as high as a horse “waving in the wind like waves of the ocean” with no brush and cedar and an occasional live oak. The game was deer, wild hogs, wild turkeys, javelinas, geese, ducks, swans, pelicans, flamingos, wild pigeons (an extinct bird sometimes referred to as the wandering dove because it would drift south in the winter and return in the spring.) There were panthers, various wolves, coyotes, bears, leopards, wild cats, raccoons, opossums, ringtail civet cats, skunks, armadillos and other smaller animals.

Farming in the area started when the settlers arrived and they needed tanks and waterholes. This explains all the types of waterfowl. The most remarkable of all the watering places was the Post Oak Sea, a mile from Adams’ ranch house. It was a large body of water never known to go dry until 1887 and since then held water for only a short time following a series of heavy rains. When all other watering holes were dry and the Guadalupe was down to a trickle, this large body of water was full. If you want to see it, drive out Hwy. 46 and from the intersection of Loop 336, on the right side about four miles, you will see a large tank near the road. That’s not it! Drive a little further and off in the distance you will spot the “Sea” with a small amount of water. Speculations about the “Sea” going dry have gone on for years; some thought there was an earthquake, some felt it had to do with a storm in 1886.

“We young fellows from our neighborhood would get together at the Sea all on horseback with several trained dogs, and waited for the wild hogs to come to the water. The lake was several acres across and a mile in every direction. Good rodeos would take place there between the dogs and hogs.”

Other Bill Adams stories are reprinted in Rahe’s book that can be purchased at the Sophienburg.

On the Adams ranch, early 1900s. Left to right – Gus Reininger, Henry Adams, Bill Adams and H. Dittlinger.