Immigrant Julius Voelcker arrived in New Braunfels in 1845 and at age 25 became one of the First Founders of the city. Before arriving, he had studied pharmacology and medicine at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. His profession in the 1850 census was listed as “farmer”. A majority of immigrants listed their profession in this way. They came for land and this was a way to survive. Ultimately Voelcker chose to be a pharmacist and opened his pharmacy next to his home on the north side of the plaza.

Julius Voelcker’s chosen field would spur on a family tradition, as six members would follow this profession in the next generations. He married Louise Karbach in 1857 who had emigrated to Texas with her family from Mecklinberg, Germany. Four sons and one daughter were born to this couple: Frank, Rudolf, Bruno, Emil and daughter, Emma. Emma’s life would bring the family much joy but also grief.

During the Civil War Julius Voelcker joined a company of State Troops, 31st Brigade as a 1^st Lieutenant. Norma Colley, granddaughter of Voelcker, in a paper written in 1990 told stories that her grandmother, Louise Voelcker, told of the family’s experiences during the war when Julius was away serving in the war. Her grandmother and the children moved to a hill over the Guadalupe River. Frank, the oldest son, was bitten by a water moccasin on the banks of the Guadalupe. His life was saved by his mother. Bruno fell from a cliff but survived. After the war when Julius returned, the family moved back to their home in town.

On July 22, 1874, a terrible tragedy befell the Voelcker family when 12 year-old Emma Voelcker was murdered in the Voelcker home by Wilhelm Faust of Seguin. Faust’s estranged wife, Helene, was spending the night at the Voelcker home as she had done before and she was sleeping in the same bed as Emma. During the night, Mrs. Faust moved to the floor and the assailant entered the home and attempted to kill his wife with an ax, thinking she was in the bed. In the dark he hit Emma instead, killing her. Mrs. Faust was blinded by a near-fatal blow. Faust escaped but was caught in November. It wasn’t until October of 1875 that he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Locally the populace was enraged by the sentence so he was moved to a jail in San Antonio. He was moved back to the Comal County Jail but a lynch mob attempted to assassinate him. He was then moved into the Comal County Courthouse. (Old courthouse where Chase Bank is located) On July 28, 1876, some unknown person shot Faust through the window of his cell and killed him.

Julius Voelcker was elected mayor in 1875 but died six weeks before his term expired in 1877. Louise lived 41 more years. When the New Braunfels Parks and Recreation Dept. conducted its “Soul Searching” program in November, the Voelcker gravesite was one of the sites featured in the Comal Cemetery.

Bruno Voelcker followed in his father Julius’ footsteps. His drugstore was located on the corner of San Antonio St. and Castell Ave. (Red Stag). Bruno’s two sons, Edwin and Julius were both pharmacists.

Julius’ youngest son, Emil, married Caroline Zuehl and they lived on the Karbach ranch for many years. Emil was also a pharmacist. Their children were Louise , Herbert, and Norma. In 1891 Emil purchased six lots in the Braunfels subdivision between Union and Washington Sts. in Comaltown. A small house was already on the corner of Union and South Sts. and added on to over the years. This house still belongs to descendants of the Voelcker family.

Louise Voelcker married Robert Wagenfuehr and both were very civic minded and active in New Braunfels. Their children were Esther May,(mother of Betty Kyle), Milton, and Harvey. The Voelcker pharmacy tradition continued in the family with Harvey Wagenfuehr becoming a pharmacist and eventually owning Peerless Pharmacy on San Antonio St.

Tracing the history of the Voelcker family is in many ways typical of other family histories of immigrants who made New Braunfels their home in the 1800s. But in many ways this family’s history is unique.

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If you believe that all of the earliest settlers of New Braunfels were of German descent, then you will be surprised to learn how many European natives were represented. One of those Ausländers (a person not originally from New Braunfels with a German heritage) was James Ferguson from Scotland, about whom I will tell you in this article.

No list, I don’t care for what purpose, is entirely accurate, and in the case of New Braunfels, the first official list we have of inhabitants came from the 1850 census. According to the census, those of German descent far outnumbered inhabitants of other countries. There were people from Ireland, England and Scotland and there were people from other states who settled here also of Irish, English, Polish and Scottish ancestry. These transplants came to Texas from New York, Connecticut, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Maine, Indiana, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and then many from other areas of Texas. These non-Germanic people engaged in businesses, merchandizing, ranching, farming, milling and real estate. Most were given land grants and many bought land. They must have had funds to invest. Also on the census were two children native of Mexico and several children born “at sea.”

James Ferguson of Pershire, Scotland is listed on the 1850 Census as being 30 years old. Also in his household was Marie Hessler Ferguson, 32, native of Germany and wife of James; Alexander Ferguson, 24, native of Scotland, brother of James; Margaret Ferguson, 22, native of Scotland and sister of James; and Euphemie, three- months-old born in Texas, daughter of James.

James, as head of the household, not only acquired a vast amount of real estate, but was a successful merchant, and also involved in civic affairs. Scotsman James and his brother-in-law, Heinrich Hessler, from Stuttgart, Germany, were early merchants in New Braunfels. They purchased lots #3 and #4 fronting on San Antonio St. where the Red Stag store is located, and also the lot immediately behind this business, fronting on Castell Ave. Here they put up a two-story building for a mercantile store with their residence upstairs.

Writer Victor Bracht said in his book, “Texas 1848”, that caravans from Mexico stopped at Ferguson & Hessler Store to make purchases and that the brothers had transferred their business from the islands of St. Thomas. Ferdinand Roemer in his book, “Roemer’s Texas”, described the store as containing articles of food, ready-made clothing, shoes, saddles and harnesses, cotton and silk goods, and implements of all kinds.

Heinrich Hessler died in 1849 at the age of 28 as a result of being struck by lightning. His death brought about a partnership between James and his brother, Alexander, and the store then became Ferguson & Brother. Both became naturalized citizens in 1849. The meaning of this is that they did not come directly from St. Thomas to New Braunfels, but that they were in the U.S. or Texas before coming to New Braunfels.

James Ferguson took an active part in civic affairs. He became a city alderman from 1851 to 1854 and a Comal County Commissioner from 1854 to 1856. In 1853 he headed a committee of five men appointed to circulate lists for voluntary contributions to establish a municipal school. He was very successful at collecting these funds which were to augment money appropriated by the city council for the purpose of establishing a city school. This was the beginning of the New Braunfels Academy.

As a county commissioner, Ferguson worked for the building of a courthouse. Heretofore court business had been transacted in various rented buildings, including houses. Abandoning the idea of building a courthouse on the city-owned Comal River, and the other idea of a courthouse in the middle of the Plaza, the Commissioners Court decided to purchase half a lot from James Ferguson located where the Chase Bank is now for the courthouse. Later, on the steps of this old courthouse, Sam Houston made his pitch to Comal County citizens to vote against secession. This courthouse was built in 1860.

James Ferguson died June 11, 1858 and at the time of his death, he was the owner of vast real estate in New Braunfels and the counties of Comal, Gillespie, and Bexar. He not only owned the property on San Antonio St. and Castell Ave. but the lot where McAdoo’s Restaurant is located. He owned 2,046 acres of Potters Survey north of New Braunfels.

James and his brother-in-law purchased 305 ½ acres in Sattler from Jacob de Cordova in 1847. James named the property Marienthal after his wife, Marie, and “thal” in German meaning valley. This property is located on Farm Road 306 about ten miles north of New Braunfels. In those early days this road was just a dirt trail for wagons.

In 1857 the Ferguson brothers deeded Marienthal to Theodore Koester who, acting as agent, sold this farm to Carl Baetge. Carl built a two-story home on the property. This Carl Baetge is the same person whose previous home on Demi John Bend was dismantled and rebuilt at Conservation Plaza. If you haven’t seen the Baetge Home, it’s worth the visit. It is maintained by the Conservation Society. Carl Baetge from Uelzen, Germany, was certified as a civil engineer and went to work for a privately owned engineering company specializing in railroad building. In 1840 he was in Russia as chief civil engineer of the construction of a 420 mile railroad line between St. Petersburg and Moscow for the Russian government. Czar Nicholas I was eager to have the line because it would connect the summer and winter palaces of the royal family. The line was completed in 1846. The Czar awarded Baetge an honorary title for his railroad construction. The plans for this railroad are preserved in the Baetge Home.

Back to other pieces of property owned by Ferguson, there were two lots on Seguin Ave. near the old depot. This property was sold and became the location of the “Orphan Mother Felecites von Fitz” who conducted a Roman Catholic female school, according to historian Oscar Haas.

In Comaltown, he owned 12 lots and a 13 acres tract called “Amistad” farm. The location of this property was along the Comal River. He owned two lots in Fredericksburg, two lots in San Antonio plus 15,860 acres in head-right lands grants in Texas.

Ferguson leaves behind a block-long street or alley called Ferguson Avenue connecting Mill and San Antonio Streets. In 1856 Ferguson owned a 9 ½ acre tract of land outside the city limits that the county needed to construct part of a road. This little road became Ferguson Avenue. His name remains prominent in two places, the name of the street and his name on his tombstone in the Old New Braunfels Cemetery.

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