This article was published in the March 26, 2013, edition of the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung. The regular publication schedule will resume June 2, 2013.

By Myra Lee Adams Goff

Like so many young men, Ernst Gruene had heard the exciting stories of Texas, a Republic in its own right. He was ready to leave Germany and take his mother with him. Freedom was the driving force in his decision; freedom from demands of the aristocracy, freedom from conscription, and freedom from excessive taxation. Little did he know that in 100 years, he would have a settlement here in Comal County with his family name.

Gruene was engaged to a young woman, but she broke off the engagement when she heard of his Texas plans. He consulted a “marriage broker” who made an appointment with Antoinette Kloepper. They married and soon after in 1845, the couple, his mother, and two servants left for Texas. After his stepbrothers bought out his family interests, he had ample funds. He carried about $5,000 in gold coins sewed in his vest. When he was almost washed overboard (gold can be quite heavy) he gave half of the coins to Antoinette who sewed them in the hem of her skirt.

They arrived on the coast and migrated to New Braunfels on May 15, 1846. So begins the amazing story of Gruene, Texas.

Ernst and Antoinette Gruene settled in Comaltown on Rock St. (building still standing) where three children were born. He continued to buy land. In 1872 he bought the land east of the Guadalupe River called Goodwin. This is where his second son, Henry D. would build a home and start a business and this would become Gruene.

Cotton was the #1 cash crop at that time and H.D. advertised for sharecroppers interested in growing cotton. Twenty to 30 families moved onto his land and each was assigned from 100 to 200 acres. Small three or four room farm houses were built for tenants and a school provided.

The first mercantile store in the area was built where tenants could buy groceries, implements, and hardware supplies and could buy them less expensively and on credit until the harvest came in. With the mercantile store, a lumberyard was set up. Because of the success of the store, Gruene constructed a large two story building (now an antique store). It held a working bank, holding mortgages and farm financing.

Soon a cotton gin was constructed powered by water pressure from the Guadalupe River. (This first gin burned down in 1922. It is the site of the present Grist Mill Restaurant.)

The IGN Railroad built a freight and passenger depot about a mile west of the community

in the 1880s and MKT built another in 1901, allowing Gruene to export cotton and grain and import goods for his mercantile store. What is now known as the Gruene Mansion became the home of Mr. and Mrs. H.D. Gruene in 1872. It started as a one story residence and a second story was added in 1886.

A dance hall with saloon was built in 1878. That was Gruene Hall, the communities social center. H.D. Gruene became Goodwin’s first postmaster in 1890 operating out of the mercantile store. This store was on the original north & southbound stagecoach route. Gruene became a stopping point for the Tarbox Stagecoach Line.

The settlement changed its name from Goodwin to Gruene as the whole town rotated around the Gruene family. When H.D. retired in 1910 he turned over the management to his two sons, retaining that Gruene tradition. His daughter resided in Gruene and eventually his parents did also. At one time Gruene had visions of subdividing but the project never got off the ground and when he died in 1920, thoughts of the development came to a halt.

By 1924 a Chrysler agency opened its doors across the street from the big mercantile store, the site of the first store.

The boll weevil stripped the cotton crop and the tenants were hit hard and many moved away. After recovery of the cotton crop, the Great Depression hit. This brought on a decline in cotton production and an end to the tenant system. A result was the closing of the mercantile store. The two railroad stations closed and the depots were destroyed. Various businesses inhabited the buildings, but the one business that never closed during these tumultuous times was the dance hall and saloon.

Gruene has a very prestigious historic designation; it has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Gruene Historic District, the only National Register Historic District in Comal County. In addition there are several buildings with Texas Historical Commission designations: Gruene’s Hall, Gruene Mansion, Erhardt Neuse House (now Gruene Haus Country Store), Original Gruene Mercantile (now Gruene General Store) and the H.D. Gruene Mercantile (now Gruene Antique Company). There are also two THC subject markers titled Gruene Cotton Gin (outside of the Grist Mill Restaurant) and Gruene. Additionally, there are City of New Braunfels historic designations on several properties. Gruene is a prime example of “Historic Tourism”.

H.D. Gruene Mercantile built in 1904. Patricia S. Arnold, artist.

By Myra Lee Adams Goff

Do you know where the Klappenbach House is located? From Landa St., turn onto Fredericksburg Rd. and go straight until you get to a hill, Klappenbach Hill. The house on the left is the Klappenbach property. The story of the Klappenbach family is indeed interesting.

The story begins in Sorenbohm, Germany, where in the 1820’s, Johann Heinrich Voelcker was called to be an evangelical Lutheran preacher. He was married to Caroline Wilhelmine Wirth and they had four children, Friedrich, Julius, Franciska, and Eugen Voelcker. In1834 their oldest son, Friedrich, died and then two years later Rev. Voelcker died, possibly of smallpox from parishioners he was tending. The young mother was left alone with three children. She moved to Anklam, a seaport town in far North Germany near the Baltic Sea. Here she eventually married Georg Jochim Jacob Friedrich A. Klappenbach.

Klappenbach, born in 1810 in Lenzen, had studied “Legal Science” at the University of Griefswald. While there he joined a radical reform protest movement, was arrested and sentenced to six years in prison. A year passed and his sentence was commuted. Friends who were in this movement said that Georg was nicknamed “Rebell” and the group was a democratic reform group that met at a pub to drink beer and make speeches. This movement eventually led to the later revolution of 1848 in Germany.

After his arrest, Georg moved to Anklam. He took several municipal jobs. Apparently the political situation was in chaos because the mayor’s position was perpetually vacant. Klappenbach ran for mayor and won, but that didn’t end the discord.

Now here’s a familiar name: John O. Meusebach (as he was later called in Texas) was called on to help sort out the reforms in Anklam and a bond grew between the two men. This friendship ultimately led to Klappenbach’s coming to Texas.

In Anklam Klappenbach married the widow Voelcker, and together they produced a child, Rosa, born in 1840 who died in 1842. Another child, Bruno, was born in 1845.

The Klappenbachs were familiar with the fact that Meusebach emigrated to Texas and Julius Voelcker, Caroline’s oldest living son, emigrated first. Meanwhile the Adelsverein contacted Georg offering him free passage and land in New Braunfels if he would come as an assistant to John Meusebach. He accepted the offer in 1846 and the family pulled up stakes and moved to Texas.

Although Klappenbach received the traditional half acre lot in town (on the corner of Seguin Ave. and Garden St.) he also claimed 50 more acres. This property was bounded by Landa St., which was then called County Road, up Fredericksburg Rd., adjacent to the Balcones Escarpment, and down Parkview Blvd.

On this property in 1846 the Klappenbachs buried Caroline’s child, Franciska Voelcker, 22 years of age. Dr. Ferdinand Roemer describes the funeral in this manner: “According to a North American custom in the rural districts, all people in the funeral procession were mounted (on horses) which appeared unusual ….” The burial was on the property of the stepfather, beside the springs of the Comal, in view of the river and shaded by forest trees.

Stepson Eugen Voelcker constructed the dog-trot style homestead for the Klappenbachs near the springs. He had been trained in carpentry and home building in Anklam. Three feet thick walls of native fieldstone rubble with mortar made of caliche and straw were then covered with stucco. The roof is supported by two unjointed cypress beams the length of the house. The floors are cedar.

Klappenbach farmed and ranched on this property. He used the “GK” brand. He didn’t give up his interest in politics, being elected mayor in 1851 and then on the school board of the NB Academy. He was elected chief justice of Comal County in 1861.

Carl and Augusta Buehler bought the property from Klappenbach in 1881. It was Buehler that terraced the property next to the hill below the house. Buehler was known for his horticulture and the soil was so rich, and the area so perfect for growing fruits and vegetables, that even today many plants spring forth on their own – herbs such as horehound and mustang grapevines.

The most unusual trees are the anaqua trees. They are an old variety that grow close to water (aqua is water). There are many in Landa Park. About this time of year these trees are covered with tiny fragrant flowers that soon turn into berries. Indians concocted a dried food call pemmican. The berries of the anaqua were mixed with dried venison and made into paste for easy carriage.

Buehler’s grandson, Edward Penshorn, took ownership of the farm and then Melvin and Juanita Johnson bought it in the 1930’s. Finally the present owners, Tim and Elisabet Barker, bought the remaining 3 1/2 acres in 1984. Barker is a Master Gardener who grows magnificent flowers on the five terraces. Two small historic buildings have been moved on to the property blending in with the historic dog-trot house still in existence.

Much of the information for this article column has been collected from the Sophienburg Archives. There is a collection of about 450 family books, one of which is “Fink, Voelcker, and Klappenbach Families” by Albert Henry Fink. These family books are a real plus for researchers!

Georg Jochim Jacob Friedrich A. Klappenbach, 1860s

By Myra Lee Adams Goff

On May 8, 1914, the New Braunfels Herald’s front page story announced that “a model federal highway was to be built from Austin to San Antonio”. This Federal Post Road was a forerunner to IH 35. The same year that the road was completed in 1916, a young man from Ohio named Joe Sanders arrived in New Braunfels. He would have a huge impact not on the highways but on the backroads of Comal County.

State legislator S.V. Pfeuffer considered this new highway the most important project ever started anywhere in Texas. He believed it would inaugurate an era of road building that would never stop. The old Post Road from Austin to San Antonio had deteriorated badly over the years with some sections having no topping and some sections muddy.. Crossing over the Cibolo Creek was often flooded.

Joe Sanders’ story has to do with roads, automobiles, and tourism. Because of a bout with typhoid fever, a doctor suggested that he move south. Choosing New Braunfels, he brought with him a natural knowledge of the newly invented automobile. He took a job locally with Hippolyt Dittlinger, a local successful businessman.

Around the turn of the century the automobile had made its debut in New Braunfels.The first automobile dealership in town was Walter Gerlich Auto Co. opened in 1912. Gerlich sold Buicks and Model T Fords. By 1916 other auto dealers in town were: Hamilton Zipp selling Hudson and Dodge; Zoeller, Voigt & Bornemann, dealers selling Oakland High Speed Motor Cars; Baetge Auto Cycle Co. selling Willys-Knight autos; D. Stahl & Son selling Studebakers; Gruene Bros. Auto Agency at Goodwin selling Velie and Maxwell cars; C.H. Bruemmer Auto Shop selling Crow & Elkhart and Velie. Source: (Sesquecentennial Minutes, Nuhn and Skoog)

The touring car was the most popular car. It was an open car and the public had the idea that this car was safer. As a touring car, more could be seen on a tour from an open car. Of course, dust was a big problem because early roads were dirt. Traditionally drivers wore long coats and goggles to protect from the dust. They had to scramble to put up the top when it rained. The gas tank was under the front seat and had to be removed to fill the tank. Car lights operated with gas or carbide generators and sometimes kerosene oil lamps. The car had to be cranked to get it started. Flat tires were a big problem.

Now with the highways everyone had access to transportation. The Red Ball bus lines from San Antonio to Austin were nothing more than touring cars that could carry six passengers.

By the 1920s tourist courts popped up along the highways and served as rest stops .By 1927 Texas had 18,728 miles of highways with only 9,271 hard-surfaced. Source (Jasinski)

Back to Joe Sanders. When he arrived in NB in 1916, the circumstances were ripe for his abilities and interests. He loved the highways and roads, the mechanics of the new automobiles,the touring cars, the backroads and the Dittlinger family.

Hippolyt Dittlinger , a very successful businessman, hired Joe to work on all of his cars and be his chauffer. Dittlinger owned three Franklin cars, air-cooled with a wooden frame, the “Cadillac” of the time. Most cars in NB were Model T’s, much more affordable than the Franklin.

Sanders became acquainted with all the roads in Comal County by “touring” the back roads. He often came across motorists who were lost. He decided he would make road signs from wood painted white and lettered with black stencils.The Texas Highway Dept. posted state and federal route signs by 1929 but there were no signs for the backroads.

This was quite an undertaking on Joe’s part and when he was elected commander of the local American Legion, their members helped to install the signs. As if Joe wasn’t busy enough, he designed an illustrated map of these roads showing tourist destinations .This 1933 map listed every road and village and gave mileage between various points. 5,000 copies were made to give away. Other maps followed and he issued a series of editions until his last map in 1960.

With time, more and more roads were constructed in the County and a beautification program during the 1936 Texas Centennial (spearheaded by Mrs. H. Dittlinger) helped the local tourist industry and helped to establish historical markers.

Laurie Jasinski wrote the book “Hill Country Backroads” honoring the accomplishments of her grandfather, Joe Sanders. Her book which includes three maps can be purchased at Sophie’s Shop at the Sophienburg. Jasinski’s book contains much more information than I could ever put in this column. It’s a good read.

Joe Sanders and his road signs. (Laurie P. Sanders collection)

By Myra Lee Adams Goff

Are you one who thinks that John Meusebach led the group that founded Fredericksburg up Fredericksburg Road, out Highway 46 and then straight on to Fredericksburg? I know that’s what I thought, but it’s not true.

I ran across evidence that this more recent pathway from New Braunfels to Fredericksburg wasn’t the way the group traveled. I enlisted directional help in interpreting Dr. Ferdinand Roemer’s description of the early 1840s route from retired TxDOT archaeologist Al McGraw. Roemer states that there was only one possible road to Fredericksburg from New Braunfels due to the accessibility of water for the animals and because of geographic conditions for wagons.

The road ran in a southwesterly direction from NB toward Fredericksburg just past the Cibolo along the Old San Antonio Road. The route includes a portion of old Nacogdoches Road that is designated as a National Historic Trail of the Camino Real. At this point it takes a straight northwesterly course intersecting and then following an old Indian trail running northward from San Antonio called the Pinto Trail (Pinta). The route continues to the valley of the Salado and then to a higher elevation and several miles above this point to Meusebach’s Comanche Springs. One would then descend into the Guadalupe valley to the banks of the Guadalupe River near modern Sisterdale where wagons could cross. Finally, travel to a high, broad plateau and continue north to Fredericksburg.

The route has few rough places or steep inclines, and is free of swamp and muddy river crossings. Apparently the Adelsverein helped maintain this route, as Roemer notes that he met a crew of 20 Adelsverein men working on the road near the Salado.

After resigning from the Adelsverein, Meusebach settled at Comanche Springs (now in the vicinity of Camp Bullis), established a livestock operation and an inn. The date is thought to be before 1852. Later when the route to Fredericksburg changed to the north, Meusebach sold his land at Comanche Springs and moved to Loyal Valley on Cherry Springs near Fredericksburg.

Today if you would travel the same general route, you would take Hwy. 482 from NB, continue on the Nacogdoches Road towards San Antonio, go past Rolling Oaks Mall, turn west onto 1604 and then take IH10 towards Fredericksburg.

Texas early roads often followed Indian trails. Some people think that these trails were created by long 12 foot tent poles dragged behind horses as they moved their tents from one spot to another. When the Spanish explorers moved into Texas, they reported seeing large herds of wild animals roaming the trails. The Spanish brought horses of Arabian stock and mustangs were their descendants. With time, the Comanche in particular had mastered the mustang for traveling the trails. Later, the Caminos were roadways blazed by expeditions connecting towns and missions.

When Comal County was created in 1846, the Commissioners Court had the power to lay out new roads and discontinue old ones. The court appointed local overseers to supervise maintenance of the roads. It required all able-bodied males between 21 and 45 to perform road duties several days a year. Also all people convicted of misdemeanors and those who owed unpaid fines were compelled to work out the amount in roadwork.

Laurie Jasinski in her book “Hill Country Backroads”about the origin of Comal County roads, stated that the commissioners declared Seguin and San Antonio Sts. to be the first highway roads in the county. By the latter 1800s some established routes were Smithsons Valley-Boerne Rd., Cranes Mill Rd., Bear Creek Rd .,Boerne-San Antonio Rd., Purgatory Rd., and Mountain Valley Rd.

By the turn of the century, in the United States, two million miles of roads stretched across the country, but most were pitted rocky trails or soggy mud-holes. Jasinski found that in 1895, there were four autos registered in the US, and by 1899, three thousand.

In 1907, Harry Landa was one of the earliest auto owners. Change was taking place. As more autos were being purchased, local merchants converted the farmer wagon yards to parking lots. Hitching posts were removed.

Around 1910, crews improved city streets by a process of graveling called macadamizing, which was a process of packing down the roads with layers of progressively smaller rocks until the top layer consisted of crushed stones called screening, no larger than two inches in diameter. The roads caused so much dust that a sprinkling cart had to sprinkle down the roads every day.

1850s map of early route to Fredericksburg

View Larger Map

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In the next column we will look at how touring cars contributed to the tourist industry and Joe Sanders helped that happen.

By Myra Lee Adams Goff

A flurry of activity and preparation is engulfing organizations that involve themselves with Wurstfest activities. The ten- day celebration is from Nov. 2nd through the 11th. One organization, the Conservation Society, located on Churchill Drive, utilizes their grounds to hold a major fundraiser during Wurstfest. Carrying out the theme of early historic New Braunfels, they operate a German Kaffee Haus for lunch from 10:30a.m. to 2:00 p.m. from November the 7th through the 11th. The place is Forke Store.

This year’s lunch includes German potato soup, Koch Kase, Wurst, homemade desserts and features a sauerkraut cake. It actually does contain sauerkraut and the recipe comes from Mrs. Ben Faust who gave it to the Conservation Society. They, in turn, submitted it to the Sophienburg to be included in their book, “Guten Appetit”. I made this cake once and it’s delicious, but I no longer want to spend half a day baking it; I’ll get it at Conservation Plaza.

For those of you who are not familiar with Conservation Plaza, you should come and familiarize yourself with their grounds. Entrance is free and there is much to see. The Kaffee Haus is once again at Forke Store. New Braunfels has held many events in this building over the years. They estimate that the building is rented close to 200 times a year.

Forke Store was moved from the corner of Seguin Ave. and Jahn St. out to Conservation Plaza when the Becker family bought the property in the ‘60s. They gave the building to the Conservation Society. Arno Becker remembers a ten-foot wide trail from Seguin Ave. to the Comal River known as the “water lane”. It had been the property of the city and was used by early emigrants to walk down to the Comal to get water. This water lane ran across the property that Becker purchased and the city deeded the lane to the property owners. Somewhere under Bluebonnet Motors is that water lane. Sorry, you’ll have to turn on a faucet to get water.

The construction of Forke Store is interesting. The framework is of the “fachwerk” or half-timber style which means that the spaces are filled with bricks, stone or mud. When the emigrants arrived in 1845, they noticed that the building method that had been used in Germany would be well suited locally. The materials were all here – limestone for the foundation, cedar for beams, and sun-dried adobe bricks which could easily be made in Texas. Adobe would be poured into a wooden mold and even children could do this. A shingle roof was installed and siding was attached. The bricks were covered with mud plaster mixed with straw. Fine mud was smeared over and then painted.

The Forke building was moved in two parts and put back together with the original floor and ceiling. Doors and window sashes are also original. The store was a mercantile store and objects within the store reflect that. Old display counters are from Henne Hardware and the original handmade Forke walnut desk is displayed.

Originally the property belonged to Victor Bracht, author of “Texas in 1848”. He belonged to the nobility in Germany, was highly educated and trained for a mercantile career. In 1846 the German Emigration Company sent him to New Braunfels to look after the emigrants. He stayed a year, went back to Germany, and in 1848 returned to New Braunfels. That same year he married Sibilla Shaefer. One lot was given to him by the Adelsverein and he purchased another next to it for $35.00.The first store building and house next door was built in 1852. Bracht was a merchant at this location from 1846 to 1855 after which he moved to San Antonio. The first building described by Bracht was later used by Jacob Ludwig Forke as a “feather house” where feathers were sold by the pound.

From 1855 there were several owners and in 1865 Jacob and Caroline Forke bought the property from Joseph Landa. They ran the mercantile store and raised 10 children. In 1902, the property was left to their youngest son, Louis, who continued the business until he died in 1966. The Becker family purchased the property from the Forke estate and this is when Forke Store moved to Conservation Plaza. Becker Motor Company was sold to Bluebonnet Motors in 2002.

Thanks to the Becker family and the Conservation Society, Forke Store lives on.

Louis and Hedwig Forke sit outside the Forke Store when it was located on Jahn St.and Seguin Ave. The store is on the right and the time is possibly in the late 1940s.

By Myra Lee Adams Goff

One of the more exciting stories concerning the early settlers of New Braunfels was that of Betty Holekamp charging across the Guadalupe on a horse after Prince Carl’s spectacular show of bravado. The story was probably somewhat embellished over the years, but nevertheless it’s a good one.

Prince Carl was of the highest class of aristocracy and I doubt seriously if he appreciated anyone trying to upstage him, much less a woman. He would not be leading the parade for women’s sufferage, but I think Betty would have.

Here’s the story: Georg and Elizabeth Holekamp had married in Germany on March 17, 1844. They set out for Texas to make a new life for themselves. They were on the brig Johann Dethart which was the first ship of the Adelsverein. They arrived in Galveston November 24, 1844.

Georg Holekamp, the son of the royal architect Daniel Holekamp, was educated at the University of Hanover and could speak German, English, French and also studied music and medicine. His father discouraged him from being a musician. He couldn’t have gone farther away from that career – a brick maker and a farmer. Music did become his hobby. For that matter it was while pursuing this hobby that Georg met Elizabeth Abbenthern. While playing the piano, Georg asked for a vocalist and Elizabeth (Betty) came forward. She was 10 years younger and he was impressed.

Betty’s father was the ministerial accountant in the royal court of the King of the state of Hannover. Betty was educated along with the king’s daughters to become a governess.  She had been around the aristocracy before so that may explain her willingness to challenge the prince.

Georg and Betty married and set out for the Republic of Texas. They arrived in Galveston on November 24, 1844. They made their way to New Braunfels and when they could, crossed the Guadalupe to get to the settlement.

Now Betty is the one that tradition says would not want to be outdone by Prince Carl. Supposedly he was riding a white horse and   plunged into the raging flood waters. This white horse story made me question the accuracy of the story. After all, “good” cowboys ride white horses. We don’t know what color Betty’s horse was but she followed suit in true pioneer fashion. Don’t you know Georg was impressed?

In New Braunfels they enrolled in the German Protestant Church. Their town lots bordered Garden St., from Comal St. to the Comal River.

When Texas became a state of the Union, Betty Holekamp sewed a 6 ft by 3 ft United States flag with the 13 red and white stripes and a lone star on a field of blue in the left corner. This earlier Texas flag was known as the Texas Lone Star and Stripes flag. Tradition says that the Holekamp flag was flown on the Plaza and believed to be the first American flag flown in town. Some think that the flying of this flag could have been a message to the aristocratic Prince Carl. What do you think?

Two years after arriving in New Braunfels, the Holekamps moved to Fredericksburg where they received property and Georg became an administrator in property settlement. They never gave up their properties in New Braunfels. Georg built a home and a saw and grist mill on the Comal River at the foot of Garza St. It was also a paper pulp mill and an ice plant. A flood nearly totally destroyed the mill in 1869. This property became Camp Landa and finally the property of Schlitterbahn.

In 1854 the Holekamps moved to Comfort as one of their first settlers. A small rock house is still preserved by the Comfort Historical Society. They also lived in Sisterdale and San Antonio. The Sisterdale house still stands also.

When the Civil War broke out, Georg enlisted in the Confederate army as a surgeon. His  small amount of medical training qualified him to do that. He was the company’s band director at the same time. Unfortunately he was killed in Brownsville in 1862 and neither the cause or burial site was revealed.

Betty Holekamp continued living in Comfort and raised her seven children alone. She outlived her husband by 40 years. What a woman!!

Mill at the end of Garza St. built in 1850 by Georg Holekamp. This 1890 photo shows L-R John Peter Nuhn and son, Ben, and possibly H. G. Koester who owned the mill at the time. (Source: Roger Nuhn)

By Myra Lee Adams Goff

When the Faust St. Bridge received the prestigious Texas Historic Civil Engineering Landmark Award recently, all attention was on the bridge itself. But the Faust St. Bridge was more to New Braunfels than that; it was the way that hundreds of NB citizens got to the textile mill.

The bridge was the first high-water bridge in Comal County. On April 5, 1887, when the County took bids for the bridge, it was not in the city limits. The King Iron Bridge Mfg. Co. of Cleveland, Ohio, got the contract and the total cost including land for right-of-way and engineering costs was $33,269.The bridge built along the Camino Real provided an access across the Guadalupe on State Hwy. 2 from San Antonio to Austin. (Source: Comal County minutes and Oscar Haas)

In 1921 the trustees of Planters and Merchants Mill of San Antonio bought the land on the other side of the Guadalupe River located in the Esnaurizar Eleven League Grant from Louis and Bertha Meyer. A charter was granted two years later for the construction of a mill. The trustees built the local textile mill for the manufacture of fine cotton ginghams. Eventually the Planters and Merchants Mill became the New Braunfels Textile Mill, then the Mission Valley Mills s and then the West Point Pepperell.

The interest in textile mills flourished after WWI when materials became more plentiful. During the war, all textiles were devoted to the war effort. Major S.M. Ransopher set up the mill and brought with him R. B. Vickers and Howard McKenna with experience from textile mills in New England to help him run the mill. Both Vickers and McKenna became lifetime citizens of NB.

In 1929 Planters and Merchants declared bankruptcy and closed for about a month. In receivership, it was operated by Col. Ralph Durkee. The mill reorganized in August of 1931 under the name of New Braunfels Textile Mills. The William Iselin Co. of New York plus local citizens purchased stock in the plant. One of the new directors, Harry Wagenfuehr, sold stock locally. Reopening the mill was a real boost to New Braunfels.

In 1977 Herb Skoog from Radio Station KGNB-KNBT and the Sophienburg Reflections programs interviewed well-known business man in town, Haney Elliott Knox, about the history of the textile mill. Most of you know that Elliott Knox Blvd., which used to be Hwy. 81, was named after him. Active politically, Knox was elected mayor of NB in 1967. He and McKenna both served as chairmen of the McKenna Memorial Hospital.

H.E. Knox came to New Braunfels right after graduating from Texas Tech University in 1935 with a degree in textile chemistry. Knox said the primary reason for Tech’s offering this degree was the large cotton and wool crops in Texas at the time. Walter Dillard was running the mill and Howard McKenna was plant superintendent. Knox began as a laborer in the dye house at $12 a week.

In those early ’30s, patterns of the materials were determined by artists or customers. Styles changed rapidly and there was always a spring and fall line. There were about 300 employees. Over the life of the mill, thousands of families had textile mill connections.

After WWII the mill was expanded. They even started a retail operation about 1946. Bluebonnet Ginghams was the trade name and principal product. The operation moved into the Dacron business about 1955. Polyester, nylon and cotton blend changed the original product to a blend. Another change was Sanforizing ,the mechanical process of shrinking goods, thereby getting rid of the pre-wash of the past.

Big customers were Montgomery Ward, Sears, and J.C. Penney. In 1932 H. Dittlinger Roller Mills began sacking their flour in Bluebonnet Gingham. The sacks were in many colors that could be made into all sorts of articles of clothing. Because of the high quality of the cotton, these pieces of clothing made good “hand-me-downs”.

The bridge and the mill are a history lesson in themselves. From the center of the Faust St. Bridge, look up river and see the dam leading to the mill. Above the dam, submerged by the higher water was the settlers’ crossing at the foot of Nacogdoches St. The dam changed the Guadalupe forever.

The textile mill dam during its construction. A.C. Moeller got the contract for the dam and the electric generator F building.

Google Maps: Faust Street Bridge

By Myra Lee Adams Goff

Would you like to know what was on the property on which our present Comal County Courthouse sits? If so, read on.

When Nicholas Zink laid out the town of New Braunfels, with its main plaza and streets leading to it, he was given the town lot #32 by the Adelsverein for his efforts. Town lot #32 is the lot on which our present courthouse is built. Zink built a house on this lot in 1845. In 1847, the year that Zink and his first wife were divorced, he began selling his property in New Braunfels and eventually left altogether.

Zink sold lot #32 to Samuel Millet dated January 21st, 1847, who used the house as a hotel. Millet, in turn, sold the house in 1852 to Dan Wheeler and Wheeler sold it to Karl Floege in 1866. (Source: County Clerk’s office, book A, deeds p. 35) The family moved to a farm outside of Seguin.

Samuel Millet who was originally from Maine has a Texas Historical Marker at his gravesite in Guadalupe County. It states that he had come to Texas in 1827 and died in 1863. Records show his birth as 1801. He came to Texas as a member of Stephen F. Austin’s colony. During the Texas Revolution, he took part in the battle of San Jacinto.

In 1833, he married Clementina Bartlett and they had nine children. She was also with Austin’s colony and from Tennessee. She married her teacher, Samuel Millett, who was a graduate of Bowdoin College. Family tradition claims that Clementina at age 90 could recall early history of the Republic and those who were instrumental in its founding.

Harry Landa, in his memoirs “As I Remember” writes that his father, Joseph Landa, made this statement about the hotel: “Old lady Millett, mother of the well-known cattleman, Alonzo Millett, was operating a boarding house at the corner where the Comal County Courthouse now stands. The Landas boarded for a few months at Mrs. Millett’s establishment until they bought the adjoining property on the Plaza”.

Alonzo Millett, one of Samuel Millett’s sons, made a name for himself in the ranching business. In “The Traildrivers of Texas”, Alonzo Millett is described as spending his boyhood days in Bastrop County and Seguin where he attended school. When the Civil War broke out, he and his brothers volunteered in the Confederate army. Alonzo was only 16 and his twin brother, Leonidas, was killed. After the war, the surviving brothers returned to Texas and over the years that followed, gained wealth by accumulating ranches in several states. “Misfortune came and their wealth was swept away”.(Traildrivers…)  Alonzo persevered and when he died, he owned a large ranch in San Juan Valley, Colorado. He was killed by being thrown by a horse and then buried in San Antonio. Thirty-five miles south of San Antonio was a small settlement named “Millett” after Alonzo. Many local and Seguin Milletts are descendants of Alonzo Millett and his wife, Arlene Wilson Millett.

Now back to the present courthouse: Early on, Comal County conducted its business in rented rooms, then to a privately owned building on Seguin St. (Elks parking lot). In 1860 the first two-story courthouse was built on the corner occupied by Chase Bank. In 1999 the present courthouse celebrated its 100th birthday. (For more information about this courthouse, log on to Sophienburg.com, Jan. 20, 2009)

Our present courthouse was originally designed to sit in the middle of the Main Plaza with four easy accesses. When that plan fell through, the present location was chosen. The jail was added later, obscuring two entrances and another closed to add more office space. When this present restoration is complete, the original four entrances will once again be usable.

Nothing is left of the Millett Hotel, as the building was torn down shortly before the new courthouse was started. Behind the present courthouse where a parking area was located by the jail, a water well was discovered. The Texas Historic Commission evaluated the dry well and said that it pre-dated the Courthouse.  The well would have been in the right spot for use by the hotel. It was recently filled in with sand to protect its integrity and to prevent a cave-in. The last remnant of an era.

The Millett Hotel is shown in the top photograph left under the trees. The bottom photograph shows the area before the courthouse was built. The large home in both photos is the Landa House. Late 1800s photos courtesy of the Sophienburg Museum and 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.

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