By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

I wake up in the morning and the first thing I do is pull up the weather app on my phone. I want to know temperature and precipitation possibilities in order to get dressed appropriately.

Humans have always watched the weather. Where to settle, when to plant and harvest, what to accomplish during the day and yes, how to dress are all dictated by weather. Weather encompassed the seasons of the year which could be wet or dry, hot or cold. Weather was either your friend or your worst enemy. It has always been watched, but it has not always been recorded on a daily basis and used to predict weather patterns, droughts and storms.

The science of meteorology, the tracking and understanding of weather patterns is really a relatively recent thing. Ancient Babylonians tried to predict major weather change based on the shape and look of the clouds. Egyptian astronomers were fairly adept at predicting the arrival of the Nile’s seasonal floods. Aristotle wrote Meteorologica as a compilation of all known knowledge about atmospheric phenomena, theories and guidelines for predictions. But it was the invention of data recording devices — barometers, dew point calculators, anemometers, hygrometers — that helped insure accuracy. Ordinary people, interested in the nature of weather, began keeping records. Well, not all were ordinary; Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo and Benjamin Franklin are on that list.

In the early 1800s, volunteer recorders and observers of weather in the United States started seeing patterns emerge in the data. The telegraph, invented in 1837, aided in weather information collection and sharing. In 1849, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, began collecting data from across the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean by giving out weather instruments. Weather watchers transmitted their observations to the Smithsonian at least three times a day. Weather maps were drawn, sent to press and posted in public places within about three hours. A six-word message relayed the city, barometric pressure, dew point, temperature, cloud cover, wind velocity and direction. As people daily transmitted weather information, scientists correlated and analyzed it to find the patterns and make predictions — modern meteorology was born.

One hundred fifty volunteer observers across the nation reported regularly to the Smithsonian. By 1860, that number had risen to 500. Texas had at least 42 men and women who were Smithsonian meteorological observers between 1854 and 1873. Several of these were well-known individuals in New Braunfels; two of them lived and worked here.

Louis Cachand Ervendberg, born around 1809 in Germany, emigrated to Illinois in the 1830s. He came to Texas in 1839, and after meeting up with Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels in Industry, Texas, he was given the job of pastor of the German Protestant immigrants. He and Ferdinand Lindheimer met the immigrants at Indianola and came inland with them. Ervendberg first lived in a house on Church (now Coll) Street, behind the log German Protestant Church. The cholera outbreak of 1846 was the cause of at least 60 orphaned children. The Ervendbergs opened their home and set up a tent to house and care for them. In 1848, Ervendberg set up the first state-sanctioned orphanage (Waissenhaus) out near Gruene.

Along with their own five children, the Ervendbergstaught roughly 20 orphans farming and housekeeping, as well as reading, writing and arithmetic. Ervendberg left the pastorship in 1851 and concentrated on finding out what crops could be grown in Texas. He experimented with different wheats, tobacco, medicinal plants, sheep and silkworms. Ervendberg corresponded with many men, including Asa Grey at Harvard. He was also one of the early Smithsonian meteorological observersof the 1850s. The rest of the Ervendberg’s story has been covered by Myra Lee Adams Goff in “Around the Sophienburg” articles (search on Sophienburg web site).

Jacob Ludwig Forke was born in 1817 in Hanover, Germany. After arriving in New Braunfels, he took over the position of Smithsonian meteorological observer reporting from 1855 to 1857, after Ervendberg left New Braunfels for Mexico. Family lore says Jacob made daily trips out to the Waissenhaus to record his observations. He married Karoline Langkammer, one of the orphans, in 1856. Talk about your “meet cute”!

Jacob Forke first farmed land on the Waissenfarm for at least a year, making 32 bushels of corn which was ground into meal. Eventually, wife Karoline bought the store and home of Victor Bracht (author of Texas in 1848) in 1865. The 1852 Bracht home and store stood at 593 S. Seguin Street, the present-day corner carpark of Bluebonnet Motors. Karoline deeded the property to her husband in 1866. No reason for this rather interesting chain of ownership can be found. However, a story has been told that Karoline would often leave her home and go next door to the Forke store to fuss at her husband and the men gathered inside playing skat or dominoes instead of working. She was obviously one of those strong, independent, no-nonsense German women. The property was sold by the Forke descendants in 1970, and eventually the store became a part of the New Braunfels Conservation Society’s Historic Old Town New Braunfels.

The telegraph had given meteorologists the ability to observe and display almost simultaneously all the observed weather data. This led to actual forecasting of weather. Because of the complexity of capturing and understanding the weather information, the system became part of a governmental agency. President Ulysses S. Grant signed a law in 1870 which birthed the first national weather service as a part of the US Army Signal Corps. In 1890, President Benjamin Harrison moved the meteorological responsibilities to the newly-created US Weather Bureau, an agency of the Department of Agriculture. The Bureau eventually became the National Weather Service, an agency of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 1970.

Whether or not you are interested in weather, are you not continually amazed at how our little Hill Country town finds it way into the history of our world?

Sources: Sophienburg Museum: Oscar Haas Collection, Newspaper Collection, Forke and Ervendberg genealogies; PBS: The American Experience: A Brief History of the National Weather Service; National Weather Service: History of the National Weather Service; OpenMind BBVA: Meteorological Records: This Is How We Started to Record the Climate.

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By Myra Lee Adams Goff —

The year is 1849, just five years after the first emigrants arrived on the Texas coast. Hermann Seele has been invited to spend December 26th with Pastor L.C. Ervendberg, his wife Luise, their five children, and the 19 orphans left parentless by the devastating immigration conditions beginning in 1846.

The story behind the orphans is a tragic episode. In December of 1846, the first of an additional 5,247 emigrants arrived at Indianola. The Adelsverein had run out of money This factor and excessive rain led to no food and no transportation to the interior. Cholera broke out and the emigrants could not leave. At this time the sad trek to NB began and hundreds died along the way. The sick brought disease to the new colony. In 1846 alone, Pastor Ervendberg, pastor for the Adelsverein, added 348 deaths to his record and 60 children were parentless.

Ervendberg and his wife put up a large tent on their church property to protect the orphans, and friends and relatives claimed all but 19. These, in turn, were taken in by the Ervendbergs. They established Neu Wied outside the city limits, the first orphanage in Texas.

Now let’s return to Hermann Seele and end this story on a happy note. Seele left his home which he called Elisenruhe, located on the banks of the Guadalupe River (Seele Street). On his horse Bill, he galloped north on Seguin St. and down to the Comal Creek. Leaving the muddy street, horse and rider slid down the bank and climbed up on the other side. Now passing Merriwether’s mill, and riding through the river bottom, possibly where the golf course is, he crossed the original Comal about where Schlitterbahn is and on to Austin Street. He rode through the elm forest of Comaltown. Many of those 150-year old elms are still standing.

Suddenly around Rock Street, he noticed a number of crude rock-covered graves. They were some of the first emigrants in Comaltown who never reached their destination. Now on Gruene Road, his attention was diverted toward the Guadalupe River and he saw the rooftops of houses in Hortontown across the river.

Continuing on the prairie, Seele came upon Neu Wied, a charming farm building on a small hill. He was greeted by the boys who raced down the hill to open the gate. The girls greeted him from the porch.

They entered a spacious hall-like entryway that ran the entire length of the house. In the center were two long tables with benches. The schoolroom wing, where Ervendberg taught the children, was on the north. Here tables were covered with white tablecloths and presents for each child. The Christmas tree was a young cedar with a small garden around it and carved rocks to resemble honeycomb. Figurines of shepherds and the Christchild decorated the base.

Also, in the room were volumes from the Smithsonian Institution, maps, silk cocoons strung on strings, insect collections, and stuffed birds.

Handmade presents were abundant. The girls had sewed suits for the boys and knitted stockings. They had crocheted gifts for each other. The boys braided whips for each other and there were new quilts in the boys’ rooms.

A colorful old gentleman named Buegel, visiting with the Ervendbergs, told of his adventures during the Texas Revolution to the gathering sitting around a circle in front of a crackling fire. It was 11:00 in the evening before his enchanting tale was done. Outside a fresh norther whipped up the wind.

The next morning Seele was awakened by the sound of the coffee mill and the clear voice of one of the girls singing a song by Johannes Falk:

O du fröhliche
O du selige,
Gnadenbringende Weihnachtszeit

O, thou joyful,
O, thou wonderful,
Grace-revealing Christmastide

Seele’s day at Neu Wied was over and he made his way back home.

Fast forward to today. Gone are the days of mostly handmade gifts and decorations as Amazon continues to boom, but here in New Braunfels we still share the traditions of our German heritage brought over by the immigrants. One of those traditions is the celebration of Saint Nikolaus Eve on December 5th. St Nikolaus day is observed on December 6, and it is the feast day of Saint Nicholas of Myra. It is a favorite holiday with German children and, with those in New Braunfels as well. St. Nikolaus is not the jolly, old, bearded Santa that we know. He is a little gruffer, taking more interest in the children’s behavior and learning their prayers. Here, on the night of December 5, hang their stockings before going to sleep. Next morning, they find stockings filled with nuts, candy, and small gifts from St Nikolaus.

St. Nikolaus visits the Sophienburg Museum on December 5, to find out if the children have been good. There is still time to call the Sophienburg to RSVP for your family now. If we should miss you, the Sophienburg wishes you Merry Christmas!

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives; Around the Sophienburg by Myra Lee Goff.

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

How we honor our dead says a lot about who we are. It embodies what we believe and how we live and die. For Hispanic Heritage Month, the Sophienburg Museum and West Side Community Center and Library have partnered to focus on where local Hispanic families have laid to rest their loved ones. We have discovered many stories to share with New Braunfels at our second Fiesta Patria event, “Jardin de las Almas” or Garden of Souls. This free event will be held Saturday, September 10, 2022, on the Sophienburg grounds from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and will include food, entertainment, exhibits and activities for the kids.

The graves of men, women and children of Hispanic descent can be found in each of the five main city cemeteries: New Braunfels Cemetery, Comal Cemetery, Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Cemetery, Panteon Hidalgo and Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Cemetery. We started with the information recorded in Sexton records. With the incorporation of birth and death certificates, city land deeds, newspaper accounts, photographs, church records and Morales Funeral Home records, we began to build a story of early New Braunfels and how we lived — and died — together.

Concentrating on finding the oldest references and markers, many hours were spent this lovely warm Texas summer visiting, over and over, these places of history and culture. Each cemetery has its own unique identity.

New Braunfels Cemetery, located on West Nacogdoches between Peach and Grape streets, began in 1845 and received many of those early pioneers who founded NB. It also is the resting place for the almost 400 people buried in mass graves who died from hardship and illness like cholera. The oldest existing marker is of Johann Justus Kellner (1821-1851). The first recorded Hispanic burial was of the two-year-old son of Antonio Urdiales in 1885; four other Hispanics are recorded prior to 1900. Like so many of the souls in New Braunfels Cemetery, these are now unmarked. Many of the burial markers in this sacred ground have deteriorated over time and worse, been heavily vandalized. The identity of this relatively forgotten cemetery is one of perseverance through hardship.

Comal Cemetery is across town on Common Street and Peace Avenue. Located on land donated in 1868 by John Torrey, the first recorded burial was Fredrich (Fritz) Hartwig in 1873. However, people were using the nearby hillside covered with cedar trees (Die Peines) prior to that. A search in the sexton records revealed 33 people with Hispanic surnames were buried here between 1874 and 1900. Dionicio Lira (1879-1903) is the oldest existing marker and is located very near to Daniel Murchison’s (1809-1867) elaborate pink granite obelisk. Lira shares the immediate area with Martina Azares (1862-1906), Petro Hinojosa (1885-1919) and Pedro Dominguez (1899-1921). From its inception, Comal Cemetery’s layout made space for African Americans and Hispanics. Its identity is gracious and formal, rooted in its respect for each soul and their contributions to NB history.

Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church first had a cemetery in the late 1840s near New Braunfels Cemetery on the city’s west side. A lawsuit over polluted water resulted in a land trade that gave the church a new burial ground near Comal Cemetery. Located next to the NB Public Library on Common Street, Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Cemetery was opened in 1889 with the internment of ten souls from the old cemetery. It is laid out on a strict grid with a center monument. The earliest part of the cemetery is the northern half which fronts Common Street. This half is divided equally between Hispanic and German/Anglo. This equality sparks joy!

More joy is found in the ways each half is culturally represented. The German/Anglo side is formal, dignified and focused on solemn remembrance. Their markers manifest the hard-won success of the citizens and honor them. The Hispanic half is less traditional. Honor is given but with a greater sense of creativity. Personality, color, and unique-shaped concrete markers with added decorative materials express the cultural inclination to celebrate life as well as honor death. The identity of this cemetery is one of freedom as the two cultures exist side-by-side through shared beliefs.

It wasn’t until after World War I, that the Hispanic community created their own cemetery. Panteon Hidalgo was begun through the efforts of a group of influential Hispanic men who saw the need to accommodate the growing population. Opened officially in 1920, Panteon Hidalgo is located across Dittlinger Street from the Catholic Cemetery and across Peace Street from Comal Cemetery. Hidalgo is a world of colorful tiles and artificial flowers with Its traditional concrete crosses crowded together. Unlike the German population, family plots here are rare, but it is rather fun to crisscross the cemetery finding family members and also seeing the graves of other old friends. Its identity is friendly and warm with remembrance.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church was begun in 1926 and by 1930 had grown to the point it decided to have its own cemetery. Perpetuo Socorro or Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cemetery was officially opened in 1931. This cemetery shares the block on Peace Street with Panteon Hidalgo and in many ways is similar in look and style to its neighbor. I think there are more flowers, more colored tiles, more family mementos and childrens’ toys which makes this cemetery feel very alive and cared for. It’s personal. Dignified but fun. Its identity is rooted in love of family.

We have gotten to know each of the cemeteries — each delightfully different. We have gained an understanding of how New Braunfels has grown from that early influx of pioneering Germans in the 1840s-1850s to include the African-Americans who became free in the 1860s and the Mexican citizens migrating up through Texas in the 1890s-1900s. The intensive look into our cemeteries has shown us that New Braunfels was built through the hard work and sweat of all its ethnicities. Together we have built New Braunfels and together we have died and been buried here.

Sources: Comal County Historical Commission, Sophienburg Museum & Archives

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By Myra Lee Adams Goff —

To know the history of New Braunfels is to know the history of Comaltown. This is somewhat true but not entirely. In 1845, there were two towns, separated only by the Comal River‘s original channel which basically runs from Landa Park Lake between the golf course and Schlitterbahn.

Let’s look at the 1840s map of the two-league Veramendi tract to locate where these two settlements were. I found the map in the abstract of my property. It is very crude and not to scale but you can get the idea. A portion of area No. 1 makes up the original city of New Braunfels. Areas No. 2, No. 3 and part of No. 4 were Comaltown. All of the area was owned by the Juan Veramendi family. The name Veramendi lives on even today with a new subdivision by that name. Juan Martin de Veramendi, born in San Antonio in 1778, was a politician during the Spanish and Mexican periods in the history of Texas. He married Maria Josefa Navarro, who was from a prominent family, and the couple had seven children. Veramendi received two Mexican land grants in Comal County. One consisted of 8,856 acres (two leagues as pictured) and the other 4,300 acres (one league) above the Balcones Escarpment. The Veramendi subdivision is part of the one-league grant. Juan Veramendi died in Monclova, Mexico in 1833 from cholera.

After Juan Verimendi died, the Veramendi lands were divided in the 1840s and the two-league property divided further into five parcels. All were awarded to heirs of Veramendi who eventually sold the properties. A portion of area No. 1 was sold to Prince Carl for the new settlement of New Braunfels.

When the Texas Legislature incorporated New Braunfels in May of 1846, the town of Comaltown (areas No. 2, 3 and 4) was included as part of New Braunfels. In 1850, forty-five Comaltown citizens petitioned the legislature to become a separate city and to change the boundaries. The petition was rejected so Comaltown remained part of NB.

Ferdinand Roemer writes about early Texas, “A speculative American had laid out a new city between the fork of the Comal and the Guadalupe within view of the city of New Braunfels called Comaltown.” Roemer was referring to Daniel Murchison, agent for Maria Antonia Veramendi Garza. Comal Town (named originally to be a separate town) was laid out in area No. 4 by Maria and Rafael Garza. The plaza in the middle is where the Christus Santa Rosa Hospital lies. It originally was a plaza given by the Garzas to the people who bought lots in the Comal Town subdivision.

The subdivision of Braunfels was later platted in 1868 in area No. 3 and contained a plaza that later became the location of Lamar School. The large dance hall, Echo Halle, now Eagles Hall, is in this area. Area No. 2 was the last area of Comaltown to be subdivided. Initially, it had been purchased by Mather and Richardson.

During the flood of 1972, Comaltown became an island. It was surrounded by water – the Comal and Guadalupe Rivers and Blieders Creek. Some of the lower lands, like the golf course and Landa Estates, were completely inundated but most of the area was above water. Many city landmarks were located on dry ground such as the New Braunfels Hospital, the Comal Cemetery, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cemetery, Panteon Hidalgo Cemetery, Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Cemetery and the Comal County Fairgrounds.

My home was, and still is, in the middle of the Braunfels Subdivision. I remember the flood well. With no electricity, no fresh water, no cars, no ambulances, the only noise that could be heard was the rushing of flood water as it picked up trees and buildings along the banks. The most devastating loss was that of fourteen lives.

Back to the beginning: As time passed from 1845, many businesses sprang up in the Comaltown area especially along Union Avenue. There were grocery stores, a gas station, saloons, a funeral home, mechanics and churches. As New Braunfels’ city limits grew, Comaltown did not. It was a land-locked area. Many Victorian style homes as well as small craftsmen style homes were built. Many of the homes were built by Adolph and Alwin Moeller. My Comaltown family connection begins with the Moeller family. On Austin Street, there is a three-story beautiful rock home that was built in the early 1850s by Johann George Moeller, grandfather of Adolph and Alwin Moeller. Johann finished the hand-hewn rock home in 1857. It remained in the Moeller family until it was sold to Schlitterbahn a few years back.

Both the Moeller brothers established themselves in New Braunfels construction. Many of the buildings in downtown New Braunfels were built by Adolph or Alwin Carl (A.C.) Moeller. Occasionally you can look at the old sidewalks and see the name A.C. Moeller Contractor. My friend David Hartmann and I claim Johann Moeller as our first ancestor in the Comaltown area. Johann Moeller is my g-g-grandfather and he is David’s g-g-g-grandfather. David and I both grew up in Comaltown. Yes, 20 years apart.

In the next few articles, David and I will tell you about what we remember about Comalstadt from the 1940s and the 1960s. We often get together and share remembrances about the good old days in Comaltown. Perhaps we will tell you about the social life, businesses, churches and schools.

My dad used to say that everything that relates to property changes value every 25 years, sometimes good and sometime bad. I think Comaltown is changing for the good.

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Are you confused about which historical anniversary to celebrate or that you have celebrated? Is it for New Braunfels? Is it for Texas? Is it for the United States? Did we celebrate one year, 25 years, 50 years, 75 years, 100 years (centennial), 150 years (sesquicentennial) or 200 years? We have celebrated so many historical events that it’s starting to really get confusing. And now plans are underway to celebrate the 175^th year of New Braunfels’ founding.

The founding fathers (and mothers) celebrated the first American Fourth of July in 1846, a little over a year after arriving in New Braunfels. Then they celebrated the New Braunfels 25^th etc., etc., etc. In the early 1990s, about 50 New Braunfelsers even traveled to Braunfels, Germany, to help our sister city celebrate its 750^th birthday. I was fortunate enough to be able to go to that big bash. We were treated to a happy time. The Germans love “Texas Charlie” as they called Prince Carl. The long parade featured every era you can imagine. The entry that stuck out in my mind was the era of the Black Plague. Why? They had carts filled with bandaged plague victims and it was gruesome. I suppose we had a similar situation here (cholera, not plague), but as far as I know, this era has never been a parade entry.

The Texas Centennial of the Declaration of Independence From Mexico

Now clear your mind of all confusing past celebrations and concentrate on one celebration – the 1936 Texas Centennial of the Declaration of Independence from Mexico. Texas will recognize on March 2^nd, the date of Texas independence and becoming a Republic. Although the Centennial was officially celebrated statewide in 1936, the celebration began in 1935 and continued in 1937 and 1938 in New Braunfels.

The state did this 100-year celebration in a big way. The Texas Legislature and the U.S. Congress contributed $3,000,000 toward the project. Dallas was chosen as the center of the celebration. Every county in Texas received a granite marker with the date of the county’s establishment and the source of its name. Our county marker is on US 81 in front of Canyon Middle School.

Houston, San Antonio, Ft. Worth and Galveston put on large pageants. The Ft. Worth pageant called “The Winning of the West,” was by far the most visited, even more than the Dallas Exposition dedicated to the Centennial. In addition, museums like the Panhandle Museum at Canyon, the Texas Museum in Austin, the Big Bend Museum in Alpine, the Corpus Christi Centennial Museum, the West Texas Museum at Lubbock, the Alamo Museum and the Gonzales Museum, were established.

The celebration in Dallas occupying 50 buildings, was advertised as the first world’s fair held in the southwest. Throughout the state there were programs of significant historic events, battle scenes and pioneer re-enactments being performed a century after Texas won its freedom from Mexican rule and established the Republic of Texas. In 1846, Texas became the 28^th state of the United States. Texas is the only state that existed as an independent republic and one that was recognized by foreign countries.

Six Flags Over Texas is more than an amusement park. The six flags on Texas soil were France, Spain, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States and finally, the United States.

Centennial Celebration in New Braunfels

New Braunfels historical markers for the Centennial, besides the county granite marker, include the Mission Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe on SH 46 in front of HEB, that commemorates the Franciscan Mission from 1757, that was established to bring religion to the local Native Tribes. Another marker is dedicated to John Torrey for the establishment of mills on the Comal River. It is at the foot of Mill Street where the tube chute is located. Two markers are dedicated to Ferdinand Lindheimer. One is at his home on Comal Avenue and the other is at his gravesite in the Comal Cemetery. He is recognized as the Father of Texas Botany. One of the exhibits at the Centennial in Dallas was of the 500 plus wildflowers in Texas. Another marker is located at the home of George Wilkins Kendall, located on Waco Springs Loop Road near SH 46. He was a well-respected journalist, founder of the New Orleans Picayune, correspondent on the Santa Fe Expedition and Mexican war correspondent. Located on Landa Park Drive is a pink granite New Braunfels marker dedicated to the city’s founding. It has a bronze relief of the Sophienburg log cabin and tells the story of Prince Carl. It was erected by the State of Texas with federal funds to commemorate one hundred years of Texas Independence. By far the most well-known monument in Landa Park is dedicated to the German pioneers of Texas. The New Braunfels Herald announced: “New Braunfels has been selected as the site of the proposed monument (to Germans) for which the State Centennial Committee has appropriated the sum of $2,999. The rest of the funds were through contributions locally and collections had been reported in other parts of the state by the San Antonio committee of the Federation of German-American Societies, which is sponsoring the movement.” Refer to Sophienburg.com, May 15, 2007, for further information.

Besides markers, what else was being planned? The newspaper was full of activities to put New Braunfels “on the map.” The opening of Landa Park was a highlight of the time and the Cole Circus with Clyde Beatty. Beatty was known as the world’s most daring animal trainer. There were 20 big and little elephants, including Jumbo the 2^nd, the only African elephant in a circus in the country.

The Katy Railroads offered weekend bargain fares like $5.16 for a round trip to the Centennial Exposition in Dallas, and $4.93 to the Frontier Centennial in Ft. Worth, and for an extra 89¢ you could be picked up at the train station and transported by street car to the grounds of the exposition. What a deal! School children were given the advantage of the state-wide rate reduction on all railroads as well as special rates for the Centennial. The November Herald announced that 56 school children attended the Centennial and have returned from a two-day trip to Dallas.

Speaking of railroads, that very year the president of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s train rolled through New Braunfels on the MKT tracks on June 12, 1936. Nearly a third of Texas’ population saw and heard the president on his Texas Centennial tour. He visited Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Dallas and Ft. Worth. The train “passed through” New Braunfels in the middle of the night, but no stop. Supposedly, many people were standing by the tracks to see the president, but they were disappointed. All I can say is that FDR did not know how important New Braunfels was.

The NBHS Class of 1936 was known as the Centennial Class. There is a photo of this class in the Sophienburg.com column of August 21, 2007. I interpreted it as a costume party but now I know they were cowboys and pioneers. There were 54 seniors taught by 15 teachers that year and it was the largest class ever to graduate from NBHS up to that time. There were so many of them, that the graduation was held in the Seele Parish House because it had a stage that would accommodate all the graduates. In keeping with the Centennial Celebration, the class contacted several prominent Texans at the time to participate in the graduation.

On March 2^nd, take time to reflect on how important the Republic of Texas was in attracting the German settlers to Texas that led to the establishment of our great city. It would lead to other important dates and milestones that we celebrate today.

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The year was 1846, a year after Hermann Seele arrived in Texas. It was the time of year that we, in Texas, understand – July and August. The heat continued to increase and thunder storms made the Guadalupe River rise. A ferry boat at the confluence of the Comal and Guadalupe Rivers had washed away. It was again repaired.

Horrifying scene

Seele crossed the river to the place where the immigrants had been held up from crossing over the flooding Guadalupe. A most horrible scene was observed. Some chests and boxes of the immigrants had been brought over with great effort. Baggage and household goods were laying everywhere waiting with the immigrants to cross the swollen water. Wash was laid out on bushes to dry.

An old farmer lying on a feather bed had a raging fever. Not far away the corpse of a woman was wrapped in a bedspread. Small children were sitting around weeping for their dear, dead mother. The father in vain, tried to understand a discussion with the American wagon owner. What was he telling him to do? He couldn’t understand English.

Walking by the gruesome area, Seele noticed a man leaning against a tree with his hat fallen over off of his head. He wanted to warn him about the danger of sun. Seele went up to the man, shook him, and raised his head “which had sunk to his chest when his wide-opened eyes became fixed on me, motionless and unseeing. The man was dead.” He was buried there on the banks of the Guadalupe.

He passed a tent with nine people lying begging for water. No one would bring them any. Seele brought them water from the river in pails. A long-ago song sung by his mother passed through his mind:

Beyond the island and rocks
We have vanished for eternity.
I feel as though I must weep
Must weep like a child.

From The Cypress by Hermann Seele

Many immigrants camped across the Guadalupe River from Seele’s farm. Many were buried there and years later when the railroad came to New Braunfels, workers discovered the bones of the 29 humans recorded by Ervendberg. The workers scraped them up and reburied them. Today trains roll over the site.

Immigrants planned to settle the San Saba

The real original destination of the Adelsverein German immigrants was the land around the San Saba and Llano Rivers. The Adelsverein had a contract with the Republic of Texas to settle up to 6,000 families and single men in this area. They should have known better, but they didn’t. They knew nothing about Texas.

When Prince Carl arrived in the summer of 1844 to make arrangements for the immigrants to travel from the coast to the land grant, this inland trek from the coast was the biggest challenge he had. He made a trip by horseback to the San Saba and decided that the settlers had to have a half-way destination to stop for supplies.

Unplanned destination became New Braunfels

And so, on March 15, 1845 in San Antonio, Prince Carl purchased the land situated on the Guadalupe and Comal Rivers. This land became the inadvertent final destination of the Adelsverein immigrants. Immediately Prince Carl had Lt. Nicholas Zink plot out a town-site. At the west end of this plotted land was a four-acre cemetery named the New Braunfels Cemetery.

Ervendberg records

When the first immigrants arrived, Rev. Louis Ervendberg recorded some 400 deaths, most of which were buried in the New Braunfels Cemetery in 1845 and 1846. An unnumbered amount of burials took place at the coast and on the side of the road of the trek up from the coast. There are no records to show the exact number or who died at the coast and on the way to New Braunfels. Rev. Ervendberg began his recordings by word of mouth from arriving settlers and it is estimated that 300 or so died at the coast and along the way. He recorded 21 deaths in 1845 and 373 in 1846.

New Braunfels Cemetery

This city cemetery was the first provided for immigrants and dedicated June 25, 1845. The first person buried there was Elise Catherine Reh Peter. Her husband, Gerlach Peter, died a month later. It is presumed that they were victims of a cholera epidemic that was just beginning at this time. Records show that many were buried in nameless graves on the southwest section of the cemetery. Over two hundred deaths recorded by Ervendberg were buried in the New Braunfels Cemetery.

The First Protestant Church is the custodian of those death records. The church has allowed the Sophienburg Archives to copy the records. The records show the name, date of death, age, birthplace, place of burial and cause of death of each of the 348 recorded deaths in 1845 and ’46. The causes of death are so varied that it is impossible to draw any conclusions. So many died of convulsions and something called mucus fever, bilious fever, dysentery, blood poisoning and yellow fever. Most of these sound like symptoms rather than the disease itself. Only two concrete diseases have been identified, cholera and spinal meningitis. Towards the heights of the epidemic with several deaths a day, there were no longer coffins available and many were just buried in a mass grave. The area is marked on the grounds of the cemetery.

Whole families of parents and children sometimes died all at once. All age brackets were victims from the very young to the very old. Several women died of childbirth.

By 1847, the numbers of recorded deaths dropped to 71. One may conclude that this particular epidemic was over.

The rest of the story

When John O. Meusebach accepted the responsibility of taking the place of Prince Carl as Executive Director of the Adelsverein, he was full of optimism. After all, the newspapers in Germany had painted a beautiful picture of Texas. But when Meusebach arrived in Texas, he quickly assessed the misery of the immigrants on the coast. He realized the financial disaster and there was no money to help the immigrants survive on the coast or even to help them get to New Braunfels. He was informed that 5,000 more people were on the way.

What was he to do? He appealed to the Adelsverein who sent a meager amount of money. He then explored the land promised the immigrants around the San Saba and Llano Rivers, the original destination.

In April 25, 1846, Meusebach guided 16 wagons and 180 settlers to colonize Fredericksburg. He then made a peace treaty with the Comanche Indians. This opened up the Texas frontier for settlement.

Meusebach remained a popular personality with the immigrants and in 1851 he was elected State Senator. Two years later, he was appointed commissioner for the German Emigration Co. to issue land certificates to the immigrants brought to Texas by the Adelsverein.

The rest of the story is good, thanks to John O. Meusebach.

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Soon after moving to New Braunfels, Bill and Bonnie Leitch began “looking for a perfect place to live away from city life” in the city. For that matter, the house they found in 1971 is very close to downtown but has the feeling of being “outside the city”. The home was an old Victorian beauty in a neighborhood that had changed, located on a street whose name had even changed. The house itself was still preserved and the Leitches bought the house and made it their ambition to restore it.

The house was located on Grand Street. Never heard of it? That’s because Grand Street (only one block long) changed to Hill Ave. and I bet you know where that is. It parallels Academy running next to the railroad track and then goes up the hill for about a block. This property was located in the Jahn Addition. The whole area was originally owned by Johann Jahn, the furniture maker in 1846. The property was later given to Carl and Emma Jahn by their mother, Anna Jahn, upon the death of their father, Johann Jahn.

The lot on which the house is located is really a double lot and the original property was two double lots, extending from Grand St. (Now Hill) straight through to Academy.

When Carl Jahn inherited the four lots, he sold two of the lots to Heinrich Blumberg and two to Johann Wahl. In 1905 and 1906, both Blumberg and Wahl sold their four adjoining lots to Frederick Hofheinz.

Now we get to the builder of the house that the Leitches bought. Records show that Frederick Hofheinz was 11 years old when he emigrated from Germany to Texas with his parents, Johannes and Emilie Hofheinz from Nassau in Germany. In 1852 this family landed on the coast at Indianola. After a difficult nine-day trek inland, the family settled in Hortontown, a small settlement across the Guadalupe River from New Braunfels. Very shortly after arriving, Johannes died of cholera, which affected so many emigrants at the time.

Frederick, as the oldest child, took on the responsibility of taking care of his mother and his younger siblings. He went to work as a teamster, hauling freight from the coast into the interior from age 14 until he was 22 years old.

During that time Frederick had moved to Kendall County and joined Captain E. Jones’ volunteers organization to guard the frontier from Indian attacks. In 1864 he married Emilie Wilke of Kendall County and started farming and ranching. Emilie was born in Lavaca, moved to New Braunfels where she went to school, and later moved to Kendall County with her parents. This is where she met Frederick. The couple eventually had four sons- Adolph, Hugo, Bruno, and Max. They also had two daughters, Adele (Mrs. Otto Beseler) and Emma (Mrs. Hugo Liesmann).

Frederick Hofheinz was very active politically in Kendall County. For several years he was elected Justice of the Peace and County Commissioner. In 1903 he was elected state president of the Order of the Sons of Hermann. He finally turned over management of the ranch to his son and the couple moved to New Braunfels.

When the Hofheinzs moved to New Braunfels (1905), they bought the four lots from Blumberg and Wahl and began building their home in the middle of the lots with the front facing Grand St. and the back facing Academy Ave. The old carriage house is still standing behind the house.

Before he died in 1918, Hofheinz became one of the principal founders of the New Braunfels State Bank. Both he and Emilie are buried in the family plot in the Comal Cemetery. Their headstones include porcelain portraits of the couple.

Now the house began its own journey, reflecting the change that time brings. First the house was sold to Charles Knibbe in 1920 and when Knibbe died in 1927, his children inherited the property and house on Hill Ave. and the other property on Academy at the back of the house. These were the four lots originally bought by Hofheinz.

During WWII the house was divided into three apartments. During this time the neighborhood deteriorated. A lack of housing in New Braunfels and the increase of train traffic was probably the reason. If you ask anyone that lives close to train tracks if they are bothered by the trains, the standard answer is, “What train?”

Then Ella Bremmer, daughter of the Knibbes, sold the house to Bruno and Elizabeth Schoenfeld who moved into the house. Schoenfeld’s son, Herman, built a home for himself and his wife, Lila, on the Academy St. half of the lots. Bruno, who was a brick layer by trade, made many improvements. He planted the pecan trees that still embrace the property and cut a cellar under the front porch. The elder Schoenfelds lived there the rest of their lives. Bruno died in 1959 and then Elizabeth in1968. When both were gone, the house stood vacant for three years until it was purchased by Bill and Bonnie Leitch.

Much time and love has gone into the restoration of this house, done mostly by the Leitches. A central tower and spindled friezework (gingerbread) accent a curved porch. Sitting on that front porch is an amazing experience. The window shutters were replaced. The 14- foot ceiling inside, with transoms to let the air circulate by the fans, above the longleaf pine floors, are original. Longleaf pine wood is now extinct and this house has longleaf pine decorative wood throughout. All the windows are the original glass, giving the appearance that only wavy glass windows can create. The ceiling is pressed tin with tiles in the hallway that were salvaged from the original Carl Schurz School.

Once a building like that is gone, it’s gone. A beautiful Queen Anne house has been saved from the chopping block by Bill and Bonnie Leitch. Viele Danke!

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Hermann Seele gave us a good description of the Texas Hill Country. I’m paraphrasing what he said and you can observe as you drive between Austin and San Antonio on Highway 35. In the distance, take notice of a low, dark green line of cedar-covered hills. This line indicates the location of the Edwards Escarpment. Along this line, the earth split long ago and the coastal plain on which you are traveling fell away several hundred feet. This falling exposed a limestone strata. Subterranean waters gushed forth to the surface by pressure and found themselves exposed to the surface. Barton Springs, San Marcos Springs, San Antonio Springs (Brackenridge Park) and Comal Springs are examples. The springs fed streams causing an abundance of water below the fault.

Now go above the fault and you see the beautiful hill country where so many small communities were established soon after New Braunfels was settled. In the hill country, surface water is scarce and wells are essential. Most of the land is used for ranching and small farms. The Guadalupe River and small creeks were important sources of water in the hill country. The settlements outside of the city limits of New Braunfels were created where water was available. One of the areas about 25 miles Northwest of New Braunfels was settled in 1850 and called Honey Creek.

Back in the early 1840s, a man named Andrew Bechtold heard stories from friends and relatives in Germany that Texas was indeed the “promised land” found along the Guadalupe River. With that thought in mind, Bechtold, along with his wife Christina and their five sons, made the 32 day trip across the seas, arriving on the coast just about when the cholera epidemic broke out. Many immigrants died and the tragedy for Christina was that her husband and four of her five children perished.

Christina who was 27 years old at the time and her one surviving son, Michael, had no choice but to make the difficult trip inland by ox wagon. These immigrants were looking for unclaimed land. Christina was Roman Catholic so she joined others of that same faith.

Among those immigrants was a single man named George Friedrich Kunz and it was on this trip that Mrs. Bechtold met and married Mr. Kunz. Together they came to an area of unclaimed land outside New Braunfels belonging to the State of Texas where a stream emptied into the Guadalupe River. They chose a spot where a small spring bubbled from under a rock. They applied for a homestead and within two years the 160 acres would be theirs.

The land was mostly caliche and so they constructed a shelter until they could construct a cedar log house. Buildings of cedar were very strong. Cedar logs were an important resource. Do you know why chests were made of cedar? Bugs don’t like it. While the couple was busy building their house, her son Michael was sent to the creek to get drinking water. On the banks he came upon a large number of swarming bees hanging from a tree forming a large clump. Michael ran back to the parents to tell them of his find and they decided to return to the place and look for honey that they knew must be there because of the bees. The name of the place became Honey Creek.

Of course, there are more than one story of the origin of the name Honey Creek. Another version is that early settlers found swarms of bees along the Guadalupe River. The creek bank would become a source of honey, a welcome addition to the meager diet of the settlers. Some even connect the name with the unusual honeycomb rock found in abundance in the area.

George Kunz was a resourceful man. He chopped cedar for his house. The cedar that he didn’t use for construction, he burned. He noticed that the burned cedar produced a coal that lasted for several hours. These coals could be used for heating an iron for ironing clothes. You may wonder why anyone would bother to iron clothes used in the outdoors. If you wash the stiff material that work clothes were made of, hang them out to dry, they are extremely stiff. Ironing the garment makes it more comfortable. This charcoal was George’s first cash crop and he hauled charcoal to sell in surrounding towns such as San Antonio, New Braunfels, and Boerne.

On one of these excursions, George Kunz met Rev. John Kosspiel, a Catholic missionary priest stationed at a parish in Boerne. He was actually a circuit-riding priest covering several counties. Kunz invited the priest to spend the night and say mass in his home. Other catholic families invited were Kneupper, Acker, Lux, Moos, Scheel, and Kaiser.

From that initial meeting, Kunz’s house became the site of services, even weddings. In 1876 a small log chapel was built near the Kunz home. It burned in 1877 and was replaced by a second log chapel. A larger frame church was built in 1892 on the site of what is now St. Joseph’s Educational Building.

After years of struggle, St. Joseph’s of Honey Creek received its first resident priest, Rev. Virgillus Draessel. Parishioner Barbara Wehe states that Draessel was in poor health and spoke almost no English, which was all right with his parishioners. He supposedly made a promise to the Blessed Virgin Mary that if he was made well, he would build a chapel on the hill and then a church. Land for this big church was purchased from Hermann Scheel. Rev. Draessel started the construction in 1908 and soon there was conflict between the priest and the parishioners who were building the structure.

Discouraged, Draessel returned to Germany for a couple of years at which time no progress was made in the church construction. He returned from Germany and completed the St. Joseph’s building. Rev. Draessel died after serving the church 34 years and was buried inside the church beneath the floor near the altar.

The Honey Creek State Natural Area, across the highway from St. Joseph’s Church is now open by guided tours only. It had its beginning as the Jacob Doeppenschmidt Ranch. The Doeppenschmidts were members of St. Joseph’s Church. As members of the family added parcels of land, the area eventually became the Honey Creek Ranch. This well-preserved wildlife area has become the showcase of the Texas Hill Country.

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