By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

Divining. Dowsing. Witching. Switching.

These strange words all refer to the same thing, an ancient method of finding something under the ground. It’s not science. It’s not magic. Some people have “the gift” and others do not. In many cases, the ability is found generationally in families. Whatever it is, it has proven to be a relatively effective technique for finding minerals, coal, oil, water, treasure and burial sites for centuries.

German miners used dowsing rods to locate minerals in the 1400s. English miners were using the method in the 1600s. Americans tended to call dowsing either “witching” or “switching”, possibly because many practitioners used witch hazel branches (switches) for the rods. Dowsing rods can be made of hazel, hawthorn, willow, peach, pear or cherry branches, but not elder. Elder trees were associated with witchcraft and dowsing is not witchcraft.

Dowsing rods are simple to use. The diviner (dowser, witcher or switcher) holds the ends of a Y-shaped branch with the joint nosing upward and then walks across the ground they want to survey. Say he or she is looking for water — when underground water is passed over, the joint end will point down or twist. The strength of the rod’s movement can even estimate the distance under the surface so you know how deep to drill for a well.

Elmo Jonas (1916-2001) learned how to switch for water in the 1930s from watching his uncle. As a Wassersucher, or switcher, Elmo used a Y-shaped rod from the branch of a peach tree. He stored his rods wrapped up in his freezer. Mr. Jonas was known across the county for his ability to find water to help people locate sites for wells on their property. In a New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung article, Mo Schwab was quoted saying, “To my knowledge, he’s never had a client say it was a dry hole …. He doesn’t charge for switching. He earns his living on his sheep ranch off Purgatory Road. People make donations if they want to, but I know he’s found good water sources for people who gave him nothing.”

In other words, he wasn’t scamming anyone.

The Herald-Zeitung interviewed Elmo in 1995 about the “gift” he shared with others. He and many of his neighbors were relocated when their family ranches and farms were bought to make way for Canyon Lake and Dam in the late 1950s. Buying new land and building a new home made it necessary to also drill new wells. Elmo Jonas found just the right spot for good wells for those resettling.

How does it work? No one really knows. Some think it has to do with a physical principle, possibly electrical in nature, that isn’t yet understood. Curtis Bremer (1934-2016) said, “There is no scientific evidence, but I’m satisfied that it works, and I’ve used Elmo Jonas on six or eight wells. I’d want a switcher if I were drilling a water well today because you increase your probability.”

The U.S. Geological Survey can’t prove how or if it works so they caution against using a water witcher. But, they cannot prove it doesn’t work, and as many people have seen, somehow it does. In 1975, Mrs. James Mayer of Bulverde was asked to locate water for a well at the Comal Indepent School District’s Smithson Valley High School. Successful, she was asked by the school board to also find water for Mountain Valley Elementary and Middle School in Sattler. Harvey Pape reported on that experience. “She would just walk across the field and the rod would go straight down — she just could not hold it. There were two places on our land like that. It was really amazing to watch, in fact, the first switch she used split in half.… She gave me the switch, and it wouldn’t do anything, … we gave it to my little daughter, and the switch pulled almost out of her hands.”

Water is not the only thing people switch for. Former educator Wilfred Schlather also uses a divining rod to locate lost gravesites. Sounds weird, right? Mr. Schlather taught high level math and physics at New Braunfels High School as well as hand-built the first computer on campus. He is definitely no stranger to scientific facts. He doesn’t know how switching works, he just knows that it does.

I got to go on a grave hunt with Wilfred (It is so hard not to call him Mr. Schlather.) a couple of years ago. We needed to find out where a young boy was buried in one of the local cemeteries. We vaguely knew about where he was lying, but with no headstone, it was just guesswork. Wilfred got out his switching rods — two copper pipe cylinders in which he put L-shaped pieces of wire. He held one copper cylinder in each fist so that the long end of the L-shaped wires swung freely facing forward. As he passed over different areas of ground, we watched in astonishment as suddenly the wires turned inward and crossed each other and then several steps later uncrossed. I. Kid. You. Not.

Wilfred repeated the action flagging where the wires first crossed and then flagging where they uncrossed. Between the flags was the exact space that would be needed to bury a child’s casket. To make certain of his results, he walked parallel to the marked space. The wires did not cross. When he walked across the area of another marked grave, the wires did their crossing thing again.

“May I have a go, Wilfred?” I asked hesitantly. “Here, try it,” he said, handing me his rods. I held one copper pipe in each fist and with the rods floating forward walked over a marked grave. At the foot, the wires turned inward and crossed. At the headstone, the wires uncrossed. I tried the burial site he had just located. At one end of the space the wires turned inward and crossed and at the other end the wires uncrossed.

It was quite the OMG moment. Apparently, I have the “gift” for finding graves. Who knew I was so blessed. I was telling my mom about this article. It seems I had an uncle in the Fredericksburg area who was a water switcher. Looks like I need to try switching for water!

Sources: New Braunfels Herald; New Braunfels Herald Zeitung; Texas Escapes Online Magazine: “The Ancient Art of Dowsing”,  “Dowsing for Graves, Witching For Water”; Farm and Dairy, “The Curious History of Water Witchers”.

“Around the Sophienburg” is published every other weekend in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

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By Myra Lee Adams Goff —

A young German count, Arnold-Henkel von Donnersmark, came to the New Braunfels settlement in 1845 with Prince Carl. He built a large frame building where he lived and conducted his hotel and saloon business. In less than a year he had accumulated several thousand dollars.

This is how he did it: he bought a barrel of whiskey in San Antonio, set up a tent in New Braunfels, and sold it to emigrants that had money. These early emigrants, having just arrived and not yet established homes, stayed in Donnersmark’s hotel, for it provided a comfortable place to stay. Besides, they liked the idea of being served by a member of the aristocracy. This would never have happened in Germany. (Source: Roemer’s “Texas”)

Donnersmark’s house, hotel, saloon, was located on the corner of Castell and Mill Sts. which is now a parking lot across the street from McAdoo’s Restaurant. Donnersmark’s house itself served a very important role in early New Braunfels because it was designated as the first post office. It was dismantled in 1904 by Louis Henne who then used the lot for a customer camp yard for his lumber, hardware, and tinning business.

C.W. Thomae was the first postmaster in 1846 and then Donnersmark took over in 1847.

In 1851 the post offices moved to the Adolphus Benner store. Benner was the postmaster and when he died, Mrs. Benner took her husband’s place, thereby having the distinction of being the first woman postmaster. She served until after the Civil War, when she was replaced due to the fact that she served under the Confederacy. (All of those positions were replaced if they had served during the Confederacy).

Next, post offices were in the bus station, Courthouse, Hermann Seele residence, and Pfeuffer store. Then in 1915 President Woodrow Wilson signed a law appropriating $50,000 to build a post office building in New Braunfels. This is the building that now houses McAdoo’s Restaurant. Guess who the U.S. Secretary of Treasury was at that time? William G. McAdoo! The present post office on Seguin Ave. was built in 1984.

In addition to the post offices in New Braunfels, there were about 20 rural post offices, two of which are at the bottom of Canyon Lake (Cranes Mill and Hancock). Each of these post offices had an individual postmark signifying that the letter had been mailed from there. Eventually all small sites were closed except New Braunfels, Spring Branch, Fischer, and Canyon Lake.

Originally stamps on letters were postmarked by the postmaster writing the cancellation date and place. Then cancellation progressed to hand stamping. Can you imagine the post office doing either one of those methods now? Cancellation then moved to digital postmarks.

These postmarked letters have become collector’s items, as everything does when it becomes obsolete. One can learn a lot about history by collecting these cancelled letters. Collectors look for old hand-cancelled letters and specific postmarks. I have seen a 28th Wurstfest postmark dated Nov 4, 1988, and a New Braunfels Sesquicentennial postmark of April 14, 1995, with the Sesquicentennial seal. A most interesting one to me is a New Braunfels Centennial celebration envelope which says “mailed from Landa Park.” It has a picture of the old Sophienburg, Las Fontanas, with the message “Because of these, the now famous Comal Springs, the German emigrants chose the site of New Braunfels.” The official postmark is New Braunfels.

Permission for special postmarks have been granted, like the commerative Pony Express rider in 2006. I have seen two stop stations, one in Gruene and one at the Schmidt Hotel.

Growing up in New Braunfels, I remember the socializing that took place on the post office steps on Castell St., especially on Saturday. Maybe this form of socializing had its roots in Arnold-Henkel von Donnersmark’s hotel and saloon across the street.

Excerpt from Around The Sophienburg by Myra Lee Adams Goff, Sophienburg Museum & Archives.

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

Oscar Haas was well known as the historian and record-keeper of New Braunfels and Comal County. He documented a hundred years of our community’s progress through twenty years of newspaper articles and a published book. Now in its fourth printing, The History of New Braunfels and Comal County, Texas 1844-1946, a book by Oscar Haas, set the standard for historical documentation about German immigration. It has been the “go-to” for generations of researchers, but there is nothing like hearing his voice as he tells his own story.

“I was born on October 12, 1885, on land which is now at the bottom of Canyon Lake…. We moved to Twin Sisters. My parents decided to move to New Braunfels so that their children could have more education than they would have gotten (in Twin Sisters).” He attended the New Braunfels Academy but dropped out in sixth grade. “I could get a job selling groceries and delivering groceries at $12 a month. That was a lot of money. They taught me to ride a bicycle and go out once a week and ride around town and take up orders from the housewives, then come back and fill those orders and put ’em in baskets and then hitch up a horse and deliver the groceries around town.”

He clerked in another general merchandise store for several years. “We had to have conversations in English and Spanish, and of course, German. They wanted the clerk to speak their language or they wouldn’t buy from you.” Haas opened his own store in the 1920s. “We handled ready-to-wear, men’s and boy’s and children’s ready-to-wears and shoes and hats, millinery, and dress materials, by the yard and all kinds of trinkets. It was in the Richter Building. I had a partner, Walter Wiedner, so we called it Oscar Haas and Company. When the Depression hit, then we lost. It was loss, loss, loss, and finally you lost everything, ja.”

That loss prompted him to run for Comal County Treasurer in the 1934 election. He served as Treasurer for 28 years, unopposed. That is when the history bug bit him. “Yes, I just got stung in 1934, and fortunately, men like Herman Seele, the first schoolteacher” were still around. “He was a tall, pleasant faced, full-bearded man and always interested in greeting the people as he came walking down the street, particularly children. He always stooped down to shake hands with the children.”

“One day, I was in Otto Rohde’s — who was then County Clerk of Comal County’s Office — I saw on the shelf where the first book of the minutes of the Comal County Commissioners Court. I asked Otto, could I look at it? As I opened it up, I saw the recording of the very first session of the Comal County Commissioners Court in 1846. I found it so interesting that I took it down to the editors of the New Braunfels Zeitung, the German-language newspaper, and to the New Braunfels Herald, the English-language newspaper.” They both told him that if he wrote weekly installments from the minutes, they would print it. It took about three years. “After that was finished, I went through the minutes of the first church in New Braunfels, which also took about three years. And then after that, went through the City Council minutes.” All of them were in German and required translation to English to be published in the New Braunfels Herald. In 1961, he and his wife wrote a history series in 144 weekly installments, “Comal County in the Civil War”, translated from Ferdinand Lindheimer’s German-language newspaper articles of the 1860s.

Haas retired from his job of county treasurer in 1962 to devote time to compiling his vast collection of historic materials into the definitive History of New Braunfels and Comal County, 1845-1946 first published in 1968. The knowledge and information gained from all the years of going through official city, county and church minutes was a tremendous foundation for his book. He did further research into translated writings of Carl, Prince of Solms-Braunfels, Dr. Ferdinand Roemer, and others to fill in the earliest parts of New Braunfels’ history.

Other published works include Chronological History of the Singers of German Songs in Texas (1948); The First Protestant Church, Its History and Its People:1845-1855 (1955); and a translation of the Civil War diary of Capt. Julius Giesecke of New Braunfels. He contributed multiple articles to the Handbook of Texas History and received numerous honors for his devotion to history. Not bad for a sixth-grade dropout.

While going about my research for this story, I looked for something different than what others had written about him. I looked for his voice. Among the treasures that are held by the Sophienburg Museum and Archives is a stash of oral histories, the “Reflections” program, professionally recorded since 1976. Oscar Haas was number three. He was 90 at the time of the recording. I pulled the recording from the studio and played it for Don Cooper, the volunteer that has faithfully been cataloging the Oscar Haas Collection for at least two years. It was entrancing. Don’s face lit up as he actually heard the voice of the man that created boxes and boxes of notes written on scraps of paper and backs of old ballots. I could hear the impish demeanor and twinkle in the eye of a man I only saw in photos. His voice took me back to childhood, when my grandparents and many of the store clerks spoke with a little German accent and a “ja” on the end.

“Reflections” is still recorded and airs 9 a.m. Sundays on KGNB. Copies are available for purchase. Is your parent or grandparent recorded as they talk about New Braunfels? Wouldn’t it be great if you could hear their voice again? We also want to record your stories about growing up and living in New Braunfels. Call us at the Sophienburg, 830-629-1572.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives; Handbook of Texas Online.

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That place we call HOME, New Braunfels, has long been a “go to” place for summer vacations. It seems especially so for the holidays, like the upcoming July 4th. Each year the excitement grows as Main Plaza is draped in her patriotic finery and the stars and stripes appear on homes, businesses and cars. Anticipation of family gatherings, parades, homemade ice cream, ice cold beverages and fireworks is part of the what makes the Fourth special. And, the anticipation for such wonderful things also makes us look to the water and the weather. Will it rain on our parade? Will it not? Will we have enough water in the river to float? As of this writing, we are in Stage 2 water restrictions with scant few rain showers in sight. Not perfect, but not terrible.

New Braunfels has a long and storied history of July 4th celebrations. Overjoyed at becoming Americans, the original Founders celebrated their first Independence Day in 1846 with cannon fire and revelry. That tradition continued until the end of the Civil War when one of the cannons exploded. Later celebrations were taken on by the fire department. In 1978, Mayor Margaret Naegelin invited city councilmembers to her home for coffee before travelling to the Plaza in antique cars, where they enjoyed ice cream and lemonade while the Courthouse bells played. Mrs. Naegelin, also the president of the Sophienburg Museum and Archives, unknowlingly initiated the first Sophienburg Old Time 4th of July Parade and Patriotic Programs in Downtown New Braunfels. This year we celebrate 40 years of sponsoring the celebration. But what about the one that didn’t happen?

It was dry in 2002, with much talk about the lack of rain; at the end of June, New Braunfels got relief in the form of 3-8 inches of rain over several days. Everyone kept their fingers crossed the rain would stop in time to let the parade and fireworks display go on as planned. By Wednesday, it was decided that the annual fireworks display in Landa Park would be postponed until Saturday to give the grounds time to dry out.

Above Canyon Dam, it was a different story. It had already rained more than 15 inches, filling Canyon Lake to near capacity. Officials expected the waters to flow over the spillway on Saturday. On Wednesday, the Corps of Engineers proactively closed Canyon Lake for the July 4th weekend, as well as, all of the parks until August 1st. The rivers remained open.

In town, Anna Lee Hicks and her parade committee were ready for the July 4th parade. The Main Plaza Bandstand was draped in her finest attire and the streets were dry. It was going to happen! Then the calls came. Anna Lee Hicks, Sophienburg Board Member, got calls from both Mayor Adam Cork and Comal County Judge Danny Scheel at 4:30 a.m. asking her to call off the parade! What we didn’t know was that the past week’s rains totaled closer to 34 inches in the Hill Country above the lake, all of it flowing into the Guadalupe River and Canyon Lake. By the morning of the 4th, warnings had gone out to Canyon Lake and Guadalupe River neighborhoods to evacuate. KGNB/KNBT aired the interview with Hicks’ announcement of the parade cancellation, asking everyone to stay home and stay safe. She remembers that some people (she believes from Canyon Lake area), having already gathered for the parade, took it upon themselves to make a circle around the Plaza in their own makeshift grass roots parade anyway! She still wonders if they made it home safely.

On Thursday, July 4th, 2002, at 4:29 p.m., the waters poured over the 1,260-foot long spillway of the Canyon Lake Reservoir for the very first time since the dam was completed in 1964. It was slow at first. Early Wednesday calculations had predicted water over the spillway to be no more than one foot with the flow not to exceed the 5000 cubic feet per second maximum release from the reservoir. By Thursday morning, however, the continuing rains in the upper river basin changed that prediction drastically. In reality, the water flows were seven feet above the spillway at 67,000 cubic feet per second. At conservation pool level (909 mean sea level), the lake stores 378,852acre feet of water. Just under one and a half times the amount of water stored in Canyon Lake went over the spillway in approximately six weeks. For those of you reaching for your calculators, allow me. That is over a half million ACRE FEET of water rolling down the Guadalupe River in an uncontrolled fashion. The results were both amazing and devastating. Approximately 48,000 homes and 9 lives were lost. Businesses were lost. The newly built pavilions at Canyon Lake were all but demolished. Trees, rocks and soil churned under the force of the water, leaving behind a gorge at least a mile long, hundreds of yards wide and fifty feet deep in places. On the plus side, the Comal County evacuations were mostly successful. According to former County Judge Danny Scheel, there were no lives lost in Comal County due to early preparedness. And the Gorge? Well, it is a new beautiful window to the earth’s strata as old as 111 million years. Quite the educational tool.

So, it was in 2002 that the Sophienburg Museum and Archives didn’t host a parade, but we did capture the information and are sharing the story. With New Braunfels recently being listed as the second fastest growing city in the United States, it becomes more important (and more difficult) to cherish our heritage, traditions and history. This year, the Sophienburg turns 85 years old. As the Guardian of History and Keeper of the Traditions, our gift to the community (as it has been for the past 40 years) is The Annual Old Time 4th of July Patriotic Parade and Program. It is little, and home grown, and very Pollyanna-ish — and we like it that way. We invite you all to bring your families, your camp chairs and your patriotic spirit to a Grand Old Flag Waving Birthday Celebration on Main Plaza for the greatest nation on earth. (Find more parade information on our Facebook page or website https://sophienburg.wpenginepowered.com/)

Sources:

• New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
• Comal County
• Canyon Lake Gorge (https://canyongorge.org/)
• Wikipedia

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In my travels in Comal County researching history, I have met some interesting individuals that tell great stories. One of them was Wilbur Bill “Big Willie” George, age 91, 92 in April. Herb Skoog, who interviewed George a few years back for the Sophienburg Reflections Program, called him a Renaissance Man. A Renaissance Man can be described as an outstandingly versatile, well-rounded person. I think you’ll see why Bill George, entrepreneur, fits this description.

Bill was born to Haydn and Elsa Nowotny George in New Braunfels in a house on Union Street. The home belonged to his aunt and uncle, Hedwig “Artie” and Hollis George. Remember that up until the 1940s almost all babies were born at home. Bill’s parents Haydn and Elsa lived near Fischer on Potter’s Creek so they came to town for Bill to be born. Aunt Artie was a nurse who assisted in home births.

Bill and his younger brother, Otis, grew up on family property near Fischer. It was on Potters Creek and was at one time 750 acres. Seventy acres of that property is now under Canyon Lake. Bill’s father was a WWI veteran and after the war, farmed and ranched the land. They raised cattle and goats for mohair which they sold in New Braunfels at the Co-op. New Braunfels had a large mohair processing facility near the Co-op.

Bill attended grade school through the seventh grade at Sorrell Creek School and Rebecca Creek School which were small country schools in the area of their home. For eighth and part of ninth grade, he rode his horse to Fischer Store School until the school burned down. It was a wooden school and during the fire, Bill remembered that he and a friend moved the large piano out of the burning building. The students then went to school in the old Otto Fischer home until the new rock school could be built. That school is still standing and serves as the Fischer Store School Community Center.

During his ninth grade a twist in his education took place. Since the country school went only through the ninth grade, students had to transfer to a large school if they wanted to graduate from High School. Because of the location of the George property, Bill could choose between New Braunfels and San Marcos.

The San Marcos football coach, Milton Jowers, had heard about Bill and his athletic ability and he convinced him to come play football at San Marcos High School. Bill attributes much of his athletic ability to hay hauling. Bill managed to be awarded All District designation. Many of you remember Milton Jowers who went on to become an outstanding coach at Southwest Texas University.

After Bill graduated from high school in 1942, he joined the navy. As a “naval fly boy” he was on active duty until 1946 and then was in the reserves. He started flying solo on the Cub Cadet, flew many types of planes and eventually served as an instructor. He spent five years in the military. A love of flying prompted him to continue to fly with the Weekend Warriors after the war.

After his military duty, his 1^st job was doing road work for Comal County and eventually the state. He started at 23¢ an hour. Bill had several jobs and then finally in San Marcos, Bill opened Spudnuts Donut Shop. It was a franchise and featured donuts made from potato flour using an old folk recipe originating in Germany. One day a man came into Spudnuts and offered Bill cash for the business. He took it and then opened “Big Willies” Drive-in. This famous hot spot was across the street from San Marcos High School and became a favorite of students in San Marcos.

Bill had an interest in plants and bought a business called the Garden Center in San Marcos and was lucky enough to land a big contract with Lady Bird Johnson’s beautification program. One of the results of this business still lives on. He planted trees along Highway 35 in Hays County and many can still be seen today.

It was during this time in 1962 that Bill and friend Frank Brown wondered if they could make a trip from San Marcos to Corpus Christi in a boat. Frank was head of the San Marcos Chamber of Commerce and they decided the trip would be a big publicity stunt to promote San Marcos and the San Marcos River. They tried out all kinds of boats and came up with a semi v-hull aluminum boat for the trip. Bill’s father said the boat would never float, but they patched up the holes and attached a sail. They launched their boat on the San Marcos River with a final destination of Corpus Christi Bay. They brought only a few food items with them: salt, pepper, cornmeal, coffee, and lard. Bill brought a 410 shotgun, a spinning rod and a frying pan. They depended on their hunting and fishing skills for food along the way. They ate a lot of fish and shot squirrels and deer. They took along a little tent with a bottom to keep out the snakes. A twisting and turning river turning back on itself like a demi-john made it very narrow in places where they had to carry the boat.

The course of the river was laden with danger. Trees hung in the water, dams had to be crossed, and swamps had to be conquered. They met with alligator gar, water moccasins, fire ants and mosquitoes along the way. They traveled down the San Marcos River that converged with the Guadalupe River around Luling. then proceeded down the Guadalupe River until they reached the San Antonio Bay. From there, they traveled to Corpus Christi Bay. The 330-mile trip took 20 days and they arrived in Corpus during the Buccaneer Days. Upon arriving, Miss Buccaneer gave Bill a kiss although he throught he probably was very smelly. Each of the men lost 40 pounds on the trip.

Frank and Bill enjoyed the trip so much that they had the idea of creating a boating competition called the Texas Water Safari. They took the idea to the San Marcos City Council for support and they got the approval from the council. In 1963 the first competition was held. The competition is now in its 53^rd year.

Rules had to be set up. Boats could only be propelled by human muscles. Competitors could receive only medical supplies along the way. They would put a little twist to the trip, making it a competition and the Texas Water Safari was born. Only two competitors reached Corpus Christy that first year but the Texas Water Safari was here to stay. The endpoint is now Seadrift and there are 12 check-points staffed with officials. It is held the 2^nd Saturday in June and is now 262 miles long.

Bill returned to Canyon Lake where he still lives on a portion of the family ranch overlooking the lake. Bill had invested in road building equipment and was part of many projects around Canyon Dam, including an airfield.

Bill George involved himself in the political life of the Lake. He became their commissioner for four years.

In 1983 Bill George was instrumental in starting River Gardens, an intermediate care facility for the mentally challenged. The facility has 160 beds and is located on the Guadalupe River at 750 Rusk Ave. He is still very much involved in the support of this facility.

This year, Big Willie George looks back on his 92 years. He lives by his beloved Potters Creek at Canyon Lake. He is indeed a Renaissance Man, an outstandingly versatile well-rounded person.

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Rural communities in Comal County outside of the City of New Braunfels formed mostly around land for farming and ranching. Stores, post offices and dance halls sprang up around these farming communities. Around Comal County roughly 30 of these small settlements developed. One of those communities was originally called Fischer’s Store. It was one of the largest and luckily it still exists because it wasn’t swallowed up by Canyon Lake.

One of the reasons for the success of this community was a social but cooperative organization called the Agricultural Society of Fischer’s Store organized in 1875. As you will see, as time goes by, it wasn’t always smooth sailing for this group.

Go back to 1853 when two brothers, Otto and Hermann Fischer emigrated from Germany to Texas and made their land claim. A few other families made their claims in this area in the late 1850s but up to that point, it had no name.

Due to the difficulty of clearing land for agriculture in the hill country, the Fischer brothers started their cattle ranching business. They encountered many hazards, such as Indians, wild weather, wolves, and rustlers. This was a time of open ranges (no fences) and the cattle roamed from the Pedernales to the San Antonio Rivers. During the Civil War, cattlemen had to have a pass to move from one county to another to retrieve lost cattle. Neighbors worked together to round up cattle to send on the trail drives to markets in Kansas. A trip to Kansas took about three months. Trail drives did not last very long due to these hazards.

On their ranch, the Fischer brothers not only raised cattle but also Merino sheep, a breed that was introduced by George Kendall. When fencing became possible, they were able to raise a better brand of cattle. At this same time, Hermann Fischer began a general store and the area became known as Fischer’s Store and finally, just Fischer. Hermann Fischer eventually became a successful mercantile business man and Otto became a successful rancher. This store is still standing at Fischer.

The Fischer Agricultural Society was formed to promote agriculture and animal husbandry and to acquaint families in the area through social activities, like dances. Dances were held outside or in someone’s home. A mixture of alcohol and the ability to carry a fire arm resulted in sometimes violent behavior at the dances. The first incident was an altercation between attendees in 1877 at which time a fiddle player was killed by a stray bullet. Can you just picture the scene? This caused the Agricultural Society to close down.

A few years later, the Society reorganized but in 1892 when a dance was held at the Andrea Kuhn place, a few miles from Fischer’s Store another shooting took place, resulting in the decision for the society to try and find a permanent home.

While Hermann Fischer was busy with the mercantile business, Otto Fischer had become a very successful rancher and he eventually owned over 2,000 acres. Otto’s interest in having an Agricultural Society is easy to understand. He gave a portion of his property to the Society to construct a permanent home which they did in 1897. A building for the dance hall would provide more security for Society activities. Society minutes before the last 1897 tragedy were not found and so the society’s minutes officially began in 1897 even though the Society was much older. A dance hall called Fischer Hall was built and still stands.

It is thought that members built the hall with some outside help. It is positive that most of the lumber was purchased at Henne Hardware in New Braunfels, as that name can be seen stamped on the inside boards. Like other dance halls in the county, this hall was built utilizing a lamination of pine and curved into arches, vaulting the ceiling. The wood for the arches was soaked in water and then bent in the form of an arch.

Immediately, activities and dances were held and in the first two years there was a July 4 Ball with Guenther’s Band providing the music, a costume Ball, an Easter Ball with the Bird’s Band, a Festival Ball and the Fischer Store Band performed.

Everything went well at the dances. Right? Wrong! In 1917, at a society dance a Comal County Sheriff’s deputy was shot by a man named George Burkhardt whom the deputy had suspected of robbing a watch in a recent burglary. Burkhardt had a gun in his boot, pulled it out and shot the deputy. Ironically and sadly, the deputy Alfred O. Fischer was the son of Otto Fischer.

Fast forward. The dance hall didn’t close but became the site of weddings, anniversaries, reunions, plays, school functions and masked balls. Best of all the hall became famous because it was the site of some famous western bands. Adolph Hofner started his career at Fischer Hall and Bob Wills who was named to the Music Hall of Fame in 1968, played there. His songs like “San Antonio Rose”, “Take Me Back to Tulsa”, and “Ida Red”, spilled out of the hall into Comal County.

In 1978, a Texas Crossover artist decided that Hollywood would use the hall in the movie, “Honeysuckle Rose, starring Willie Nelson. Although the scene in the hall was only a few minutes long, everyone enjoyed being entertained by Willie Nelson after shooting the pictures, where he sang for the crowds that had gathered.

In 1897, the Society built a nine-pin bowling alley adjacent to the Fischer Hall. The alley has expanded to four lanes and is still in use today. The dance hall is still used today also.

Bryan Weidner has done extensive research on the Fischer family and the Agricultural Society of Fischer’s Store. He is the son of the late Homuth Weidner and Thelma Fischer Weidner. He lives in the Fischer homestead in Fischer, where his grandfather Arnold B. Fischer lived and his mother, Thelma, grew up.

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There is one historian’s name in New Braunfels that is mentioned over and over. After writing this column for the last nine years, and writing a few books, I can’t begin to tell you how many times his name is mentioned as a writer or a translator. Somehow the name slips in there before you know it. The person to whom I refer, is Oscar Haas.

Haas’ material is widely used and the Sophienburg has a vast collection of his papers, published and unpublished. As far as historical writers, the same can be said for Hermann Seele and Jacob Lindheimer but not to the extent of Oscar Haas’ contribution.

Sophienburg volunteer, Ralph Koch, is presently going through and organizing material from the Oscar Haas collection.

Oscar Haas was born on October 12, 1885, on a farm in Cranes Mill in Comal County. He was the oldest child of Ernst Georg Haas and Ottilie Rochau Haas. Both families were German immigrants. The families had moved to the Cranes Mill “mountains” soon after the Civil War. The farm is 16 miles west of New Braunfels and now is under the water of Canyon Lake.

Haas spent much of his early childhood on the Little Blanco River in Blanco County. He attended a little country school called the Twin Sisters School.

In 1897, the family moved to New Braunfels and he started the third grade at the New Braunfels Academy on Mill St. Right after finishing the sixth grade at this school, he began working for druggist August Forke. Forke owned the pharmacy and this building is the famous Forke Store now located at Conservation Plaza. I say famous because so many NB events have been held in this building with its old floors that retain its old atmosphere.

Obviously Oscar Haas was a bright, curious boy. Riding his bicycle along country roads, he would sketch buildings and people. The Sophienburg Museum has a large collection of Native American arrowheads that he gathered mostly in the Landa Park area. It is a beautiful mounted collection hanging in the Native American exhibit and contains spear points, flint knives, scrapers as well as the arrowheads.

In 1918 Oscar married Clara Amelia Conring and eventually she became a partner with him in his search for the history that both of them came to love.

As a young man he worked for the large mercantile store of Pfeuffer and Holm as a salesman of men’s clothing. This led to a brief partnership in the retail clothing and dry goods business. His store was directly across from the First Protestant Church and the building was eventually moved to Gruene.

A real break in Haas’ life occurred when he was elected county treasurer in 1934, a position he held for 28 years. By 1940 he had begun the discovery, collection and translation of old county records in the courthouse. Around that time, courthouses all over the state began getting rid of old records because of crowded conditions. There was a feeling that these records had no value, but Haas knew better. He saved the county records and had them recorded in the Texas State Archives. It was from these records that he began writing articles for publication in the New Braunfels Zeitung and the New Braunfels Herald. He wrote a column called “Know Comal County” in which he translated the old Commissioners Court records from German to English. Starting with the year 1846, he revealed to the current population of the county what had happened 100 years earlier. This series ran for three years in both newspapers. Following this series was another series called “99 and 100 Years Ago in New Braunfels.”

Hermann Seele was an early writer who wrote history and stories about New Braunfels. Seele arrived in the settlement in May of 1845. His recollections gave us complete descriptions of those early years. Of course, they were written in German, but Haas could translate them. An important literary work that Haas translated was Seele’s “Die Cypress”, a collection of non-fictional and fictional stories. This book makes excellent reading and can be purchased at Sophie’s Shop at the Sophienburg.

Another translation by Haas was Fritz Goldbeck’s historic poems describing New Braunfels. This to me was a very difficult translation, as it is hard to translate poetry from one language to another. Next came the translation of Prince Carl’s papers in which he recorded everything about the colonization project. Now just imagine this project. He translated the German “Fraktur”, the German equivalent of English script. Most of the German letters don’t even look like the English letters. I will say this, however, he probably learned this script at the country school at Twin Sisters. My dad learned this Fraktur going to school in the country, but my mother did not. She went to school in NB where she was taught English and German was a second language.

In 1961 Clara Haas joined her husband in his next venture, a series of 144 installments for the New Braunfels Zeitung. It was “Comal County in the Civil War” translated from the writings of Ferdinand Lindheimer. These translations were in the newspapers in the 1960s.

Retiring from the position of county treasurer in order to work on his large collection of historic materials, he began work on producing the history book “History of New Braunfels and Comal County, Texas; 1844-1946.” This book, published in 1968, is for sale at Sophie’s Shop and has become the #1 aid to historians researching history of the area.

Other publications were: “The First Protestant Church, Its History and its People 1845-1955”; also a translation of the Civil War Diary of Capt. Julius Giesecke and “History of the Singers and German Songs of Texas.”

All of this activity in writing did not go without reward. Early on, Haas was honored with several awards. The Historical Society of the Evangelical and Reformed Church honored him for historic church writing and the San Antonio Conservation Society History Award was given to him in 1966. Last, the Comal County Chamber of Commerce honored him with their annual Besserung Award for Outstanding Community Service.

Much of the information for this article was gathered from writings by Brenda Anderson Lindemann, Crystal Sasse Ragsdale and the Dolph Briscoe Center of American History, the University of Texas, Austin.

Oscar Haas died in 1981, but his accomplishments will live on for as long as there is a need for history.

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Recently Brenda Anderson-Lindemann released her new book, “Bridging Spring Branch and Comal County, Texas.” What an interesting collection of true family stories of the people living in that area back to the early 1850s. Some of the subjects that she covers are rural schools and how the Comal Independent School District started. She has many stories of the early days, who’s in what cemetery, ranchland histories, obituaries, Canyon Dam, the Guadalupe, and history of floods in the area. The cover and title of the book are clever and appropriate. It is a picture of the U.S. Highway 281 Guadalupe River Bridge taken by Michael Krause.

This past week when we had so much rain, I knew immediately where to find information about floods, droughts and rainfall in Comal County. The book has so much information in it that it is impossible to give an adequate book review. I began reading the 474 page book and I was overwhelmed by a choice I had to make as to what to write about. Then almost at the end, I found my choice.

Pastor August Engel

Towards the back of the book my attention led me to Pastor August Engel. I had mentioned him before when I wrote about what was at the bottom of Canyon Lake, but Brenda had much more information.

My interest in Pastor Engel is because of my neighbor, Olive Marcel Georg Hofheinz. When she was a teenager and I was in Lamar Elementary, she lived in the house that my great-grandparents lived in and sold to her parents, Hollis and Hedwig (Artie) Georg. To this day, she reminds me that while I was visiting her mother, which apparently I did often, I cut up her brand new pajamas. Young girls are fascinated with and admire teenage girls. She had a small radio and she pasted her friends’ names out of alphabet soup on the outside. You never forget the teenagers who were kind to you when you were young.

Olive (Marci) and Will Hofheinz lived most of their married life in Dickinson and when Marci’s parents died, the Hofheinzs moved into the house next to ours. Our friendship continued. During the summer when my teaching career was on vacation, Marci and I would walk to the Comal Cemetery. Through our conversation, I became acquainted with the residents of this cemetery. She told me stories of the people and really got me interested in who was related to whom, a skill that I have perfected to this day.

Marci wrote what she remembered about her great-grandfather, August Engel. I immediately knew that his life would be interesting, remembering Marci’s ability to tell a story. I chose Engel’s story to write about based on what she told Brenda in an interview. I knew it would be informative because Marci’s family, the Engels and the Georgs, are from old families in the Spring Branch area and buried in the Cranes Mill Cemetery.

August Engel was born March 16^th, 1818, in Wurthemberg, Prussia. He was schooled at the Evangelischam Akademy Bad Bol Stuttgart. He was ordained a Methodist Episcopal minister. His parents owned a woolen factory in Germany. At that time, factories in England were able to make products out of wool at a lesser cost than the Engels could in Germany. Consequently, the parents decided to send their two sons, August and Wilhelm, to England to investigate the English woolen industry. Apparently their conclusion was that they would not be able to compete with the English companies.

The two brothers took off traveling around Europe and while they were traveling, they heard about the emigration movement to the United States. They decided they wanted to emigrate. August was married at the time, but his wife refused to leave Germany, so August and Wilhelm left alone. They arrived in America and Wilhelm stayed in Pennsylvania and became a newspaperman. Ironically, years later August’s son August W. became a journalist and eventually owned the “Arkansas Democrat” newspaper in 1926. His nephew, Marcus Georg (Marci’s brother) worked with his uncle and eventually owned the newspaper. He sold the newspaper and bought a TV station.

Back to the brothers August and Wilhelm. August was the one who emigrated to Texas. Coming to Cranes Mill in the mid-1800s, he opened a store and after the Civil War he became a postmaster in that store from 1873 to 1904. He also began his profession as a Methodist preacher. He found that most of the Protestants in the Hill Country were German Lutherans. He was granted permission to change to the Lutheran faith and become a circuit riding preacher in a tri-county territory of Cranes Mill, Rebecca Creek, and Twin Sisters in the Guadalupe Valley. Marriage records show that he also served people of Bulverde, Smithsons Valley, Spring Branch and Kendalia.

August Engel married Katherine Ernst. Remember that August was married in Germany? Because August had been away from his wife for nine years, he was granted a divorce. Katherine was a midwife, nurse, and she prepared bodies for funerals. She charged $3 to help deliver a baby and then would stay as long as ten days helping with what needed to be done around the house so that the mother could recuperate. Pastor Engel would drive Katherine in a buggy to the home where she was needed and then come back to pick her up.

Together the couple took care of burials. Katherine would bathe and dress the body and place two silver dollars over the eyelids. Within 24 hours the body had to be buried, as there was no embalming fluid at that time. Pastor Engel performed the burial service, usually on private land of the deceased. The coins were removed before burial. Hundreds of burials were conducted and Pastor Engel kept records of all births, baptisms, weddings and funerals.

The photo is an example of the kind of baptismal certificates issued in the early days. It is in German script and translated it says:

Birth and Baptism
The two parents are August Jonas and Sophia Yablsey Jonas
14^th December 1873
A boy in Blanco County, State of Texas, United States of North America
Baptized in 1875 by Pastor Engel
Pastor Engel named him Benjamin Adolph (this is the first time the child is named in the document)
Godparents are Adolph Jonas, Heinrich Braemer, Miss Matilda Rochau
Signed August Engel in Twin Sisters Blanco Texas

August Engel died in 1904. Several years before his death, many records were lost as a result of an Indian confrontation where his satchel was stolen (a brutal story that you can read in Brenda’s book). Mrs. Engel lived on in the house after he died and years later during a very cold winter, she used many of the remaining records to burn in the wood burning stove. She had run out of firewood and probably didn’t know the value of records like that.

To purchase Brenda Anderson-Lindemann’s book, you may contact her at 830-228-5245 or purchase it at Sophie’s Shop at the Sophienburg Museum and Archives.

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Next Saturday, March 28^th at 11:00 a.m. a rededication of an historical marker will take place at the Canyon Dam Overlook. All are invited to view this beautiful view of the lake and dam. This site which was originally honored in 1968 with a Texas Historical Commission marker was vandalized and the marker removed some time ago. It has been replaced. Words on the new marker read:

IN THIS AREA, NOW COVERED BY CANYON LAKE, GERMAN EMIGRANTS WERE THE FIRST SETTLERS. A SOCIETY OF NOBLES (MAINZER ADELSVEREIN) SPONSORED THE EMIGRATION OF 7,380 GERMANS TO TEXAS FROM 1844 to 1847. THEY FOUNDED NEW BRAUNFELS IN 1845. MOVING WEST, THEY ESTABLISHED FREDERICKSBURG IN 1846. THEIR COMANCHE INDIAN TREATY OPENED 3,800,000 ACRES BETWEEN THE LLANO AND COLORADO RIVERS TO PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT. FARMERS AND ARTISANS, SCHOLARS AND SCIENTISTS, THEY TRIUMPHED OVER EPIDEMIC AND PRIVATION TO HELP BUILD TEXAS AND THE WEST.

Sponsoring the marker are the German American Society of New Braunfels, Helgard Suhr-Hollis, John and Cindy Coers, the Canyon Lake Rotary Club, the Canyon Lake Noon Lions Club, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/GBRA, the Comal County Historical Commission and the Texas Historical Commission. Installation of the new marker was provided by Don and Jean Koepp, Bob Warnecke, and John and Karin Brooks with Danny Zunker of Brooks Stone Ranch. The marker is mounted on a 2,000 pound limestone rock from the area.

It is appropriate to honor the German Pioneers in Texas at this site. Canyon Lake, filled by the Guadalupe River, was the settling place of so many.

The idea of constructing this dam to minimize flooding and conserve water goes as far back as 1929 when the idea arose. After a survey in 1935, plans were authorized and construction began in 1958. In 1964, the gates were closed and the lake began to fill. The water reached its conservation level of 909 ft. (ideal) above sea level in 1968.The flow of the upper Guadalupe, plus rainfall, constantly allows the Corps of Engineers and the GBRA to control the lake level. This is done by monitoring the amount of water flowing from the Guadalupe into the lake every day and the lake level. If the amount of water is too great, the amount released below the dam is increased and sent down to the lower Guadalupe River.

The spillway crest is 943 ft. At the dam’s outlet, a maximum release of water is 5,000 cubic feet per second.

The building of Canyon Dam and Lake has saved many lives and millions of dollars which would have been lost as a result of flooding. Flooding on the Guadalupe affects towns all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. When you drive out River Road next to the Guadalupe River, look up and you can see how high flood levels reached probably thousands of years ago.

The year 2002 saw the lake overflow the spillway for the first time in the history of the lake. With a recorded elevation of 950.32 feet, water went over the spillway in a very short time. This overflowing of the spillway, created the Canyon Lake Gorge. It has become a “true Hill Country treasure” unearthing fossils, 110 million years old, crustaceous limestone formations, dinosaur footprints, springs, channels, and waterfalls. For a small price and a reservation for a tour, the three-hour walk is available at canyongorge.org.

With the first flood above the dam in 1978, the lake reached 930.60 ft. Another 20 feet and it would have been over the spillway. Another flood in 1987, the lake reached 942.67 feet and another in 1991 reached 937.77. In 1997 an elevation of 937.60 feet was attained. The 2002 level was the flood of record.

When the lake level is under the conservation level, the gates below the dam are adjusted, waiting for rain on the upper Guadalupe to flow into the lake. The lowest the lake has been was 892.70 in 2009. This, of course was the result of the drought.

In 2011, I wrote an article for the Sophienburg column printed in this newspaper called
“So, what exactly is under Canyon Lake?” I think some of the information bears repeating:

Imagine the Canyon Lake area with no lake. What would it have been like? Ranchland, farmland, trees, cemeteries, the Guadalupe River and the site of two very small communities, Hancock and Cranes Mill. These two communities would eventually be under the lake.

Hancock was named after John Hancock, who in 1851, was granted land on the north bank of the Guadalupe River. Although a thriving little community, the population of Hancock had dwindled to 10 in 1940.

The community of Cranes Mill was the other community that is under water. James Crain established a cypress shingle mill along the Guadalupe River in 1850. Crain changed the spelling of his name to Crane in the Civil War. No one knows why, but it’s been Cranes Mill ever since.

Where there are communities, there are cemeteries. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1958 was responsible for the re-interment of approximately 89 bodies from 16 cemeteries along the Guadalupe that would be under water. These remains were moved to various other cemeteries like Comal Cemetery, Fischer Cemetery, Mt. Sharp Cemetery, Twin Sisters Cemetery, and some smaller family cemeteries. Each plot was researched and next of kin contacted in order to get permission as to where the remains would be moved. Many opted to not have the remains removed, which was their choice.

Two years ago John and Cindy Coers, who are members of the Comal County Historical Commission, decided to trace the re-interment of John’s great- great- grandparents, Heinrich and Karoline Startz Coers. What they found out was not only where the Coers lived, but where they were buried. Their bodies were re-interred to the Fischer Cemetery.

Heinrich Coers emigrated from Germany in 1846 and settled in the Guadalupe River Valley. He and his wife were buried on the Coers property along the Guadalupe River. John Coers was able to locate photographs of the original interment sites along with headstones for both Heinrich and Karoline. She died in 1864 and her tombstone was destroyed. The family decided to leave her stone, but move the body. The tombstone is now under the lake. Heinrich’s stone was in good condition and it was moved intact to the Fischer cemetery. A beautiful inscription on the tombstone in German, here translated in English, reads:

You have quietly carried your burden through the Pilgrim’s Valley. Christ was your life and dying your gain.

The Coers have partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and have scanned all of the re-interment documents. They will be soon available for research purposes at the Sophienburg Museum and Archives.

“Rest in Peace” seems quite appropriate.

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The Startz Café has the distinction of being one of the only small businesses in Comal County still in operation by the same family for over 50 years. They just received the Texas Treasure Business Award in 2014. They were nominated by Representative Doug Miller. This story is about how the Startz Café in Startzville came to be.

Looking at family trees can be both enlightening and mind-boggling, especially if it traces the Startz family. Their family tree reveals to me that if they had a family reunion of all the descendants, there wouldn’t be a hall big enough to hold them. The Texas story of the Startzs’ began with the arrival of Johann Startz and wife Margarethe Loeffler Startz on the first ship sent by the Adelsverein to Texas, the Johann Dethardt in 1844. Traveling with them were her three children, Katherine Loeffler, Christian Loeffler, and Louise Loeffler and the couple’s children together, Heinrich Startz, Friedricke Startz and Caroline Startz.

Johann Startz received a town lot in New Braunfels on Seguin St. but soon after arriving in New Braunfels settled in the area of Mission Hill and then moved to Smithson Valley. After Margarethe died, Johann married the widow Catherine Wenzel and they had one son together, Ludewig. It is thought that the family then moved to Buffalo Springs Settlement on the upper Guadalupe near the third river crossing.

Johann’s oldest son, Heinrich, moved to an area known as Hillview, near where our story of the Startz Café takes place. Heinrich married Louise Artzt and where they lived would later be known as Startzville. It was 17 miles northwest of New Braunfels near Tom Creek. Startz Hill, originally called Hillview, was changed to Startz Hill to honor Heinrich Startz. With its height of 1,400 feet, it is the highest point in Comal County. Later land owner, Carl D. Allen, donated the hill to Comal County and it is now named Allen Park. It was considered the first county park in Texas. From its summit, one gets a view of Smithsons Valley and a stunning view of Twin Sisters Mountains 32 miles away. Author Laurie Jasinski in “Hill Country Backroads” reveals details of an ancient sea bed which can be viewed at the park providing travelers with interesting fossils and water-formed rocks. The Sanders family found many geodes, some round and some split open revealing their crystalline centers.

This land in the hill country (Bergland in German) is what my grandmother called “the mountains”. Her description of the mountains was any place above the Balcones Escarpment. She had lots of friends in the mountains and it was a long time before I associated this area with mountains. It wasn’t what I learned in school as mountains.

Now let’s get to the Startz Café. Just down the road from Allen Park (Startz Hill) at the intersection of Cranes Mill and Sattler Road, Bruno and Viola Elbel had a cedar yard and a store in 1939. The Elbels built a house with a small grocery store inside where they sold mostly to the cedar choppers in the area. Cedar chopping was a big business. This home burned down in 1942 and so they built a rock home in its place. This was the building that Curt and Alice Schlameus Startz leased from the Elbels in 1944 and bought in 1946. Curt Startz was the son of Heinrich and Louise Startz.

In addition to the home there was an ice house which still stands, and two gasoline pumps later removed. Ice was in demand even before tourists arrived. Because Startzville was not on the Guadalupe River like other settlements, they had to rely on well water with a windmill. Also standing is a hand pump for kerosene.

Curt and Alice Startz were the sole owners of the store. Alice ran the store after Curt’s death in 1959. The Startz’s son, James Sr. and his wife Lorine, were the next generation to run the store. It was James Startz, Sr. who added the café next to the house.

The area was first called Startzville by Dr. E.J. Duffin who did a painting in 1950 of the front of the store calling it Startzville after the original members of the Startz family. By that time they had lived in the area more than 100 years. His humorous comments painted on the side of the building were: Startzville – Paradise Valley of Comal County; Population, same; Elevation, unchanged; Temperature, delightful; ice, groceries, beer. According to local author and historian, Alton Rahe, Dr. Duffin was possibly a good friend of the Startzs and owned 310 acres of land adjoining the Startz property.

With the building of Canyon Lake and Dam, nearby Cranes Mill and Hancock were submerged. Possibly the only advantage of not being on the Guadalupe River, Startzville remained and the area’s population increased as it became a tourist spot.

After the death of James Sr. and Lorine Startz, their two children assumed ownership of the business. They are James Startz Jr. and Sandra Startz Duncan. A fourth generation member of the Startz family is presently running the thriving café. She is Monica Startz Wetz, daughter of James Startz Jr.

Sandra Startz Duncan has some interesting memories of her grandmother, Alice Startz. Sandra and her brother James spent lots of time with her at the café. Like a few other early business women that I have heard of in Comal County, Alice had her opinions and didn’t mind sharing them. She was strict about a “no shoes, no shirt, no service” policy. Once she went out with a shotgun during the night when some teenage males were confiscating beer and soda and were putting them in the bed of their truck. She held them at gunpoint and used the pay-phone to call the law.

Sandra remembers activities like domino games and cards with lots of beer. She said her grandmother, although she had a “raw” sense of humor, was well liked.

Café hours are: 6am-2pm Monday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday; 10am-2pm Tuesday; 6am-8pm Thursday and 6am-9pm on Friday. Some of the old time family favorites include such items as Oma Startz’s (Alice) original chili and enchilada recipes, and Mamo’s (Lorine) pies like she made them.

It’s still a family operation with family members helping out. They “stayed put” and “bloomed where they were planted” in Startzville, Comal County, Texas.

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