By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

When I was in junior high school, I sometimes would tag along with my dad when he drove my Oma to Comal Cemetery. She tended my Opa’s grave twice a month. While they were scraping the dirt and replacing the flowers, I would wander through the gravestones. It may sound goofy, but I loved the way that they were perfectly aligned, each with their own color and design according to the personality of the person laid beneath them. I rarely made it down to the “really old” part of the cemetery before we had to go, but I loved seeing the “cemetery trees” (Italian cypress and cedar bushes) that had long ago outgrown their originally intended landscape purpose. It was not until much later that I came to love Comal Cemetery for the history that it holds.

The arrival of German immigrants on Texas shores in 1845 opened the doors to a new life, adventure and unfortunately, untimely death. Some immigrants died on the way to their new town and impromptu burials were performed along the road. By July 31, 1845, 505 people had arrived in New Braunfels. When surveyor Nicolaus Zink laid out the town, he reserved a little over 4 acres of land on the southwest side of town for the New Braunfels Cemetery. Settlers kept coming to New Braunfels and sadly, 293 burials took place in the New Braunfels Cemetery between 1845-1846.

New Braunfels continued to grow, prompting the later settlers to seek land/housing across the Comal River. The new developments of Braunfels and Comal Town eventually became known as Comaltown (although still part of New Braunfels). A new cemetery, Comal Cemetery, was established in Comaltown in March 1868. It was perched on the bluff above the Guadalupe River where Common Street came to a dead end.

New Braunfels businessman John F. Torrey issued a promissory note, donating 8 acres of land plus $500 to three trustees for use only as a public graveyard, with the exception of a small plot of land for his family. There were additional stipulations that it be fenced and have a proper hearse to transport bodies for burial. The first known interment in the cemetery was Fredrick (Fritz) Hartwig on August 12, 1873. The City of New Braunfels took over administration of the cemetery from the Comal Cemetery Association in January 1887 (at John Torrey’s request) in exchange for $1.00.

The Comal Cemetery acreage has increased over the years. The original cemetery of 8 acres gained 6.93 acres in 1913 when Henry Kellermann sold his land adjoining the Torrey acreage. A small amount was gained when heirs of John Torrey, signed a quit claim deed to the original Torrey family plot, as their father had died and been buried elsewhere. Then in 1927, it gained another 10 acres with the purchase of land formerly belonging to E.A. and Ella M. Eiband. Today, the cemetery covers almost twenty-five acres and is the final resting place of over 12,550 souls.

The earliest graves are laid out in an east-west orientation, with feet to the east. I was always told that with feet to the east, your face will see the rising sun forever. It must have been an inefficient use of the land because in the later sections, graves are slightly akilter, with feet facing more northeast and mostly parallel to Common Street. I get it, perfectly square plots. The square plots hold 4 graves and most likely were sold as a “family plot”.

My Opa’s was an 8-grave plot, curbed and covered in sandy dirt and a caleche rock mix, much like the rest of the cemetery. Everything was dirt, including the spaces between the graves and the roads. A good family tended their loved one’s gravesites to keep the weeds off. Grass growing on a grave was said to be disrespectful. The wealthier families, like in the old part, had fancy Victorian wrought-iron or pipe fences around their plots (in very rural areas, it was to keep animals from grazing). Some families completely covered the family plot over with concrete to permanently prevent weeds. Others marked their plots by planting evergreen bushes at the corners, which then grew into huge “cemetery trees” that can be seen from a distance. Comal Cemetery was a “scraped earth” type cemetery until at least the late 1970s before allowing grass to grow between the grave plots.

One of the most unique features of Comal Cemetery is that unlike some cities, Anglo Americans, African Americans and Hispanic peoples are buried in the same cemetery. It was Mr. Torrey’s wish to establish a Freedman’s section. Sexton’s records prior to 1917 were lost, but between 1917 and 1957, over 200 burials took place in the Freedman’s section. Citizens petitioned City Council and were granted the addition of more burial spaces in the Freedman’s section. One of those citizens was Amos Ball Jr., who was the city’s Animal Warden for 26 years and is buried there. Another notable burial in this section is Ruth D. Harper, who was born in New Braunfels and taught and served as principal at Booker T. Washington. Notable Hispanic persons resting in Comal Cemetery include Thomas Sias Villanueva, Sr, a distinguished Army veteran, who worked for the City of New Braunfels as the cemetery sexton for 20 years; and the Rev. Daniel Campos, a Pentecostal minister, who began the Iglesia Santa Pentecostes Jerusalem church, in 1958, serving the Hispanic community in New Braunfels for 35 years.

Remains of some of the earliest New Braunfels settlers can be found in the oldest part of the cemetery including those from Germany, France and other parts of the United States. The more notable persons found in Comal Cemetery are Ferdinand Lindheimer; Hermann Seele; Ernst Gruene; and H. D. Gruene, (son of Ernst), who built the now famous gin, saloon, store, and dance hall in Gruene, TX. One important, but lesser-known person buried there is Daniel Murchison. He was born in North Carolina and moved to Texas when he was 23. He was hired by Prince Carl as a guard for the early colonists. He went on to help with the Veramendi’s Braunfels and Comal Town developments; served in the 11th Texas Legislature, representing Comal County; and helped revise the state constitution.

The headstones marking a life gone in Comal Cemetery are truly like stepping-stones through New Braunfels history. Comal Cemetery received a Historic Texas Cemetery designation in 2000. It will soon receive a Texas Historical Marker from the Texas Historical Commission. Please watch for the marker dedication ceremony announcement.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives; Comal County Historical Commission

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

This past March I was in Macedonia, Greece with my eldest daughter. No matter where we walked the ground was literally littered with history — bits of marble, colored tesserae from mosaics, tiny pieces of bronze and always, always pieces of pottery.

History was everywhere.

I remember going to elementary school at Seele in the 1960s. We had a playground, but often, we would end up playing in the vast green grassy area between the school buildings and the Fredericksburg Fields. It really did seem “vast” to us. Whether we were playing kickball or some other game, it was not unusual to find Native American points (we called everything an arrowhead) just lying on top of the ground.

History was everywhere.

Recently, retired policeman/Texas Ranger Ray Martinez brought in two metal objects. He had found them while parking cars for the Lion’s Club at Wurstfest. The objects were lying on the top of the ground, not together and not even at the same time. Their shape caught his attention. He donated them to the Sophienburg.

One object is a thin, squared-spike, 8.25 inch-long, that looks like a really big nail not a railroad spike. Hand-wrought and perfectly straight, I’d venture to guess it has never been used but simply dropped and forgotten.

Hand-forged by whom? Possibly by one of the African-American slaves William H. Meriwether brought with him from Virginia in 1847; it is likely at least one of them was a trained blacksmith. Meriwether’s slaves dug the millrace in Landa Park and built the first water-powered mill on the Comal River. The spike was found in the area of what had been the foreman’s house and the slave quarters.

Meriwether sold the property to Joseph Landa in 1859. Perhaps a blacksmith employed by Landa made the spike. Maybe it was dropped by workers constructing the Landa Industries buildings or the sheds along the railroad tracks installed to transport product to and from the Landa complex.

History is everywhere.

The other artifact is not made of iron. It is lead. Lead is a soft metal made from galena ore mixed with antimony or metallic arsenic. It melts at 375 F. The 10.75 inch-long and 3/8-inch-wide bar is stamped in block letters, “St. Louis Shot Tower Co.” It is not often an artifact gives you such a great clue and Ray Martinez had already done some internet research. I did more, and this ugly dark gray bar is way cooler than it looks.

First, what is a shot tower? In 1782, Englishman William Watts discovered that if he dropped molten lead far enough through the air the surface tension of the lead would form it into a perfect sphere. That’s how raindrops are formed. Watts built a six-story tower and placed a water tank at the bottom. At the top he laid a copper sieve. When he poured molten lead through the sieve, its downward six-story flight was long enough to form the lead drops into spheres and to cool the lead enough for it to begin solidifying by the time it hit the water.

Why make little round lead balls? The balls being manufactured were “shot”. Making shot for rifles by hand was labor intensive, so if you need a lot, like for an army or to sell in stores, Watts new shot tower method was a huge technological breakthrough. Shot towers sprang up all over England and after Jefferson’s 1801 Embargo Act which halted imports, shot towers became popular in America as well.

The St. Louis Shot Tower Co. was opened in the 1830s and continued producing shot until the end of the 19th century. It also produced lead bars like the one Ray found. St. Louis Shot Co. reported that during a five-month period, they could produce 1,994,374 pounds of round shot and 426,400 pounds of lead bars.

What were the bars for? Although bags of shot were available in stores, many rural folk and hunters continued to hand-mold their own shot. The Sophienburg has many single and double shot molds used by early citizens. During the Civil War, both shot and bars were obtained and used by soldiers on both sides. If you think about it, with a bar, you could make yourself 20-24 shot balls while sitting around in camp before a battle. Wouldn’t it be easier to just carry a couple bars instead of a bunch of little balls? And what if the supply wagon didn’t make it? You could still have ammunition.

Why was the lead bar found in the parking lot field? Your guess is as good as mine. I know that during the 1850s the New Braunfels Schuetzenverein (Shooting Club) shot targets in fields near the water out at “The Point” (which is sort of where Comal Cemetery, the VFW and Cypress Bend Park are). In the 1860s, men in the Comal County Home Guard shot targets in fields near the Comal around Prince Solms Park. Spent shot was also found in the playground area of Carl Schurz Elementary School. The museum has a handful of shot from the schoolyard in a jar. The Lion’s parking lot would have been a perfect place for target practice as well.

Of course, none of my guesses may be right. Both metal artifacts could have been there because of floods.

I’m thinking that if we look, we might all stumble across really wonderful history in our own backyard. I find Native-American points and scrapers in mine. What might be in your backyard? Who lived in your house, and what is their story?

History really is everywhere.

Remember, please, that searching or (God forbid) digging on someone else’s property or city or state property is illegal without prior permission and authority. Don’t be an idiot. Be responsible and ethical.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum and Archives collections; https://stlouispatina.com; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_tower; https://www.uh.edu/engines/epi422.htm; https://www.minnesotatrap.com/history-in-the-makin/shot-towers-page; https://www.inventricity.com/local-heroes-william-watts.

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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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(Encore of article that first appeared November 26, 2008.)

By Myra Lee Adams Goff —

Recently I went to the Comal Cemetery to visit family and friends. Don’t tell me that I’m the only one that does that; someone brings the flowers! Since I started writing this column I have greatly increased the number of people that I know in the cemetery, particularly those born in the 19th century.

Take an over-all look at the cemetery and certain things stand out. One is the number of obelisks, particularly in the old section of the cemetery. The dictionary describes an obelisk as a four- sided stone monument that rises to the point at the top. Ancient Egyptians used to place obelisks at the entrance of tombs.

The granddaddy of obelisks in the Comal Cemetery is the one dedicated to Senator George Pfeuffer. This monument is 24 feet tall and towers over all the others. It was given in Pfeuffer’s honor by the Granite Association of Texas. Here’s the story:

In 1877 George Pfeuffer was appointed Comal County Judge, filling the unexpired term of Dr. Theodor Koester and was elected to that position in 1880. In 1882 he was elected to a seat in the Texas Senate. During his tenure, he led the fight within the Senate to have the State Capitol in Austin built of Texas granite instead of Georgian marble.  The obelisk is made of that Texas granite and that’s the reason for the memorial.

Pfeuffer had other irons in the fire besides politics; he owned a dry goods store in NB on the south corner of San Antonio St. and Castell Ave. After he died in 1886, the business was carried on by the family until the 1920s. The building is the one with the mural of Prince Carl on the side. Pfeuffer also owned a lumber yard in NB and other lumber yards elsewhere.

Pfeuffer as a young man worked for Ferguson and Hessler Dry Goods store. He was sent to Corpus Christi by Ferguson to tend to businesses in that city. There he met and married Susan Gravis. In 1861 when the Civil War broke out, they returned to NB because he felt his family would be safer here.

When Pfeuffer became County Judge, he was appointed to the Board of Directors of A&M College in Bryan. He is given credit for putting the finances back in order, allowing A&M to build its first dormitory, Pfeuffer Hall. Sophienburg President David Pfeuffer is George Pfeuffer’s g-g-g-grandson.

So many families have plots in the Comal Cemetery and if you know NB history, you will recognize the names of Ferdinand Lindheimer, Hermann Seele, the Hennes, Guenthers, Fausts, and the list goes on and on. Many of the older family plots have ornate iron fences and elaborate tombstones.

A practical and decorative grave covering can be seen scattered around the old cemetery section. I’m referring to the shell-covered graves. Made by H.T. Mordhurst, I found about 10, most of who died in the early 1900s. Mordhurst, born in Germany, came to NB in 1900 and began a business of producing concrete blocks for buildings, several of which are still in NB. He went into this business with Emil Heinen.

In the meantime, Mordhurst developed this technique of decorating graves. Using a wooden form to create a mound, he covered it with iron mesh, and then poured concrete into the mold. Cockleshells from the Texas coast were brought to NB by train in barrels. They were filled with cement and a wire was twisted inside before they were attached. Mordhurst died in 1928 and that was the end of the shell-covered graves.

There’s a lot of history out there — some we know and some we don’t.

“May they rest easy in their final abodes beneath hallowed soil, these hardy pioneers, these staunch characters who built a nation.” (From a Centennial editorial, Chas.W. Scruggs, Editor, New Braunfels Herald, 1946,)

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By Myra Lee Adams Goff

This week the Sophienburg Museum and Archives will present a great shopping experience to the public. It’s called Weihnachtsmarkt, or Christmas Market, at the Civic Center. It begins Friday, Nov. 19th through Sunday, the 21st.

The market offers 60 plus unique booths, plus Breakfast with Santa and a charming café called Sophie’s Café. It features freshly prepared food in a European outdoor café setting. Sophie’s Shop moves down from the Sophienburg to offer German-made Christmas ornaments and unique decorations. Many local authors are offering their books for sale.

The Sophienburg Museum and Archives is a not-for-profit organization that derives its operating funds from individual donations, memberships, and much from Weihnachtsmarkt. When you purchase at Weihnachtsmarkt, you are helping the Sophienburg keep its doors open.

The Museum displays the rich history of New Braunfels with occasional special exhibits. The present exhibition is the Civil War. A volunteer group works diligently on the collections stored in the old museum building. There is constant work involving organizing and restoring items and papers donated by individuals.

The Archives are a rather complicated collection of records. Let’s suppose you would like to find out something about your family or something about an historical event like WWI or something that happened in NB. In old journalistic terms, you can find out “who, what, where, where, when, why, and how”. Make an appointment to work with a helper.

Here is what is available to the public:

What the Genealogy Society has done for the Sophienburg records will “knock your socks off”. They have collected over 1,000 research books, have compiled burial records from the Comal Cemetery, New Braunfels Cemetery, Comal and Guadalupe County cemeteries and small family cemeteries. They compiled birth, marriage, and death records for Comal County, extracted from the CC Courthouse.

There is a large collection of obituaries and related documents put on the computer by genealogy, collected from 574 donated family history books. They compiled the census of 1850 and every 10 years thereafter to 1930. There is an index of Probate records and Commissioner’s Court minutes starting in 1866 through 1937. Many of the aforementioned records are available for sale in Sophie’s Shop. Genealogy has maintained the Herald-Zeitung on microfiche up to the present.

Recently First Protestant Church allowed the Sophienburg to copy their original German records from 1845 and their translation in English. There are other church histories as well, plus directories, telephone books, and high school annuals.

Now this is a big one: There are over a million photographs in the Sophienburg collection. An attendant can enter a name or event on the computer and tell you if a photograph is available. For a small fee, you can have the photograph copied. Over 200 maps, going back to 1836 are in the collection.

The Reflections program began in 1976 for the purpose of interviewing NB citizens about what they remember about the past. These programs are played on the local radio station. A list of people interviewed is available and a list of subjects is being compiled. About 1,100 interviews have been recorded and you may listen to them at the Archives or purchase a particular interview in CD form. This is an ongoing program and anyone interested in participating is welcome.

For serious historic research, there are the 65 Prince Solms Archives in German, with a few numbers translated into English. There are two volunteers available to do German translations, including the elaborate German Fraktur.

To bring us up in the technological world, the Sophienburg has a web site that you can log in at home. It’s chock full of information about what’s going on with the organization. In addition the column that I write for the Sophienburg that appears in the Herald-Zeitung every other Sunday is on the web.

The Sophienburg asks for your support in keeping this institution up to date by supporting Weihnachtsmarkt. See the website for details.

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

The forty-eighters were refugees of the failed German Revolution of 1848. They were idealists. They fought to establish a liberal and unified Germany using liberty, democracy and unity as their main tenets. The designation “forty-eighter” excludes the hundreds of thousands who emigrated from 1848-1852 for mostly economic reasons. It also does not include political refugees from previous periods of political unrest.

There were as many as 4,000 forty-eighters who came to America. Many of the Forty-eighters were young men in their twenties and thirties willing to risk their future. Many of them came from the southwestern Germanic states, from towns like Baden, Hesse, Wurtemburg, the Palatinate, and the Rhineland. Many were highly educated professionals: journalists, soldiers, physicians, pastors, bankers, engineers, lawyers, innkeepers and merchants. And many were “free-thinkers” or even atheistic in their views.

In the book, The Forty-eighters, edited by A.E. Zucker (1950), eleven professors put together a list of several hundred of these men who fled to America. The list includes six who emigrated to Texas — and interestingly enough, five of them have ties to New Braunfels. Let’s take a look at these guys.

Eduard Degener (1809-1890) was the son of a wealthy banker in Braunschweig. He was privately tutored and studied in England. He ran in aristocratic circles even though he favored liberal, democratic ideals. In his elected government positions, he voted for proposals pushing a German republic. He was a member of the first German National Assembly at Frankfurt in 1848. When the revolution failed, Degener emigrated to Maine and in 1850 he made it to Texas. He lived near New Braunfels, and then in Sisterdale, as a gentleman farmer. Degener was a German Unionist and vocal abolitionist. Two of his sons were in the group of young men who tried to get to the North via ship from Mexico in 1862. Overtaken at the Nueces River by a force of Confederate soldiers, many of the men, including the Degeners, were killed. Eduard was put in prison in San Antonio for several months. After the war, he was a wholesale grocer in San Antonio, elected to two constitutional assemblies in Texas and also served in the Forty-first Congress for two terms. In 1865, Degener, with William Steves and William Heuermann, bought land in Comfort. There, they buried the remains of those massacred at the Nueces and put up the “Treue der Union Monument” in their honor.

Carl Daniel Adolf Douai (1819-1888) was born in Altenburg. He studied at the University of Leipzig, got his doctorate and then travelled to Russia where he became a private tutor. He also married a baroness. From 1846 to 1850, Douai was in and out of prison five times! His revolutionary writings and his experimental school made him a target. Leaving Germany in 1852, he settled in New Braunfels and founded his own school. By 1853, he had become editor of the San Antonio Zeitung in which he advocated the gradual abolishment of slavery. Public outcry against his editorials necessitated the help of the Sam Antonio Turnverein (Athletic Club) to protect his offices. He moved to Boston in 1856. He founded a kindergarten and school but after several years this closed due to his atheistic articles. Moving to New York in 1866, he opened another school and edited a socialist newspaper. Through it he became one of the first to popularize Marxist philosophy in the US. Douai wrote articles on philosophy, German grammar, world history and education, as well as short stories and a novel. He was “a brilliant and courageous writer, unafraid of offending his readers’ opinion.” He was also a musician who composed over 60 songs.

Julius Dressel (1816-1891), born in Geisenheim, Rhineland, was the son of a prosperous wine merchant. He studied history, literature and law in Heidelberg. Julius joined his father’s wine business and promoted Rhenish wines around Europe. The Dresel home welcomed guests with radical political ideologies; Julius soon joined the ranks of these revolutionaries and was present at their major meetings. At the failure of the 1848 Revolution, Julius was exiled and he emigrated to Texas where his brother Gustav was employed by the Adelsverein (The Society for the Protection of German Immigrants) as general agent. He was good friends with Lindheimer and many of the early New Braunfelsers. He bought land in Sisterdale but he first worked the New Braunfels farm of John O. Meusebach. Several years later, he moved out to the Sisterdale property. During the Civil War, his abolitionist leanings caused the Confederates to place him in prison in San Antonio. After release, Julius did business in the city until his brother Emil died in California. He became heir to the estate and moved his family to the Sonoma Valley where he took over his brother’s vineyard until his own death. Dressel wrote and published essays and poems in various journals and newspapers, many dealing with the subject of homesickness for his Vaterland.

Gustav Wilhelm Eisenlohr (1811-1881) was born in Loerrach, Baden. He studied theology in Karlsruhe, Halle and Heidelberg. He became the vicar in Emmendingen. Eisenlohr was very outspoken in his support of the 1848 Revolution. Accused of high treason and imprisoned, Gustav was given the choice of being sentenced or to leave Germany. Fleeing to Switzerland, he then emigrated to America in 1850 with his young son. He first took a pastorate in Richmond, Ohio. Eisenlohr then answered an advertisement for the pastorate of the German Protestant Church in New Braunfels. He was installed by Hermann Seele in 1851. After six years, he accepted a pastorate in Cincinnati. He edited and wrote many poems for the Protestantische Zeitlaetter (newsletter) for 20 years. It was “for the instruction and edification of thinking Christians.” Educated in Greek and Latin, this liberal theologian also translated the poems of Petrarch! Pastor Eisenlohr and his second wife returned to New Braunfels 22 years later to retire. Both he and his wife are buried in Comal Cemetery.

Oskar von Roggenbucke (1811-1883), born in Suhl, Thuringia, was a career soldier who attained the rank of major in the Prussian army. Like many other soldiers, he resigned his commission and joined the forty-eighters. A political refugee, he emigrated and came to Texas in 1854. He and his family stayed six months in New Braunfels before settling on a farm in Comfort. He was also an abolitionist. His two sons refused to become soldiers for the Confederacy. They joined the group of Germans headed for Mexico and were among those slaughtered on the Nueces River. Von Roggenbucke lived in Comfort until his death.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives: Oscar Haas Collection; Dresel Family History; The First Protestant Church Its History and Its People, O. Haas; The Forty-Eighters, A.E. Zucker; A Hundred Years of Comfort in Texas, G. E. Ransleben.

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

It was a sweltering hot, end-of-summer, August Sunday in 1894, just perfect for a picnic by the river. Marie and Hugo Kramer gathered up their three children and joined Marie’s siblings, Georg and Lydia Hartman, and their in-laws Wilhelm and Walli Hartmann with their two children. Mrs. Williams and her three children tagged along. The group found a beautiful spot on the bank of the Guadalupe River at the top end of what is now Cypress Bend Park. The river came around the bend there and formed a beach-like sand bar with a shallow area where the children could wade and play. Quilts were spread out on the ground, baskets opened, shoes removed and adults and children tested the cool water. After getting their families happily settled, Mr. Kramer and Mr. Hartman walked downriver about a mile to do some fishing away from the giggling and frolicking kids.

At some point in the afternoon, 14 year-old Clara Kramer shouted; she had stepped off the sandbar into deep water and gone under. Mrs. Kramer, Mrs. Hartman and Mrs. Williams immediately recognized the child’s danger and jumped in after her. Two of the women instantly disappeared from the surface but Mrs. Williams struggled, and grabbing hold of a rock made it to shore where she then lost consciousness. The children ran safely back to the river’s edge, but George and Lydia Hartman risked the water in an attempt to save the three who had gone under and barely escaped drowning themselves.

A young stranger was fishing nearby and hearing the shouts and splashing water, rushed to the scene to help. He managed to retrieve the lifeless body of Mrs. Hartman which had bobbed to the surface.

The news of the accident quickly spread through New Braunfels, bringing Mr. Kramer and Mr. Hartmann along with hundreds of concerned people to the river bank to search for the missing mother and daughter. Hours later, J.D. Guinn found little Clara’s body downstream. The menfolk searched all night, torches lit, calling for Mrs. Kramer. She was finally found on Monday further downstream from her daughter. Ironically, Marie Kramer was an excellent swimmer and most agreed that she could have saved her daughter and sister-in-law if she had been clad in a light bathing dress instead of her regular clothing.

Maria Hartman Kramer (36) and Clara Kramer (14) were buried next to Walli Wastel Hartmann (23) in Comal Cemetery the following day. The town mourned.

The August 19, 1894 tragedy was deeply felt in this river-crossed town and indeed, tugged at the sympathies of folks across Texas. Newspaper articles revealed that an undercurrent, not the inability to swim, was the reason for the drownings. It was said that the women were dragged down into a whirlpool created by a “cave” or hole in the river bottom and washed along underground before exiting through other openings downstream. What a terrible way to go.

From that time on, children were told not to swim in that part of the river because of whirlpools. A sign was erected to alert folks about possible whirlpool dangers at that point of the river. My dad was warned about swimming there when he was a boy in the 1930s. There were still many people alive who remembered that disastrous picnic.

As a child, my brother and I were told about the whirlpools. I have a memory of standing on the riverbank licking an ice cream cone and watching the swirling green water while fearful visions of being pulled under and drowning swirling through my mind. Later, when we had Girl Scout Summer Day Camp at Cypress Bend Park, it truly never entered any of our minds to get into that whirlpool water no matter how hot it got. I told my children about the threat of whirlpools when they were little. I feel sure I was not the only one to spread the fear.

A couple of weeks ago, Sophienburg Museum director Tara Kohlenberg and I took David Hartmann driving around Comaltown to learn more about that part of New Braunfels. Stopping in Cypress Bend Park to bemoan the loss of the WPA-built amphitheater, he walked us over to the riverbank and pointed to a place in the middle saying, “Some of my relatives drowned in a whirlpool just there.”

My heart skipped a beat and I madly scribbled the 1894 story down as he was talking. I actually felt my old fear of this part of the Guadalupe welling up inside me. I looked at the water. It was so lovely and peaceful. No ripples or eddies blemishing the surface or swirls indicating dangerous currents. A family was splashing happily on the sandbar, oblivious to the events that occurred there over a hundred years ago. I had to keep myself in check and not run screaming, “Danger! Whirlpools!” lest they call the cops to subdue the strange lady.

It was weirdly vindicating to hear him tell about the Kramer-Hartmann drownings; my fear was not irrational. Do whirlpools still occur in that stretch of the river? There is no longer a sign. I suspect there are undertows and undercurrents all along the Guadalupe as it flows around rocks, buried tree trunks, flood debris and silted up areas. Maybe some of you kayakers can give me a shout and let me know.

It could all be just fine, but you won’t be catching me in that water.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives: Oral history interview with David Hartman, October 2020; Sacherer-Hartman Family History (FH1); Neu Braunfels Zeitung collection; Oscar Haas German obituary transcriptions.

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

Remember dot-to dot coloring books? The fun of dragging your pencil around the page to connect each black dot in order to get an image to color? I find that working at the Sophienburg often entails finding and connecting dots.

Recently, Wendy Zunker Coleman donated a small oil painting of “Torrey’s Mill” that had belonged to her great-grandmother, Alma Paulus Zunker. Pasted on the back is a yellowed news article on the mill and a ink pen message ending with “Alma Paulus Zunker gives to you Dec 24, 1964.” Up to the left is the date 1906. Wendy didn’t know much about the painting but didn’t think her g-grandmother painted it.

The sweet little thing was pleasantly painted but needed a gentle cleaning to remove surface dirt, so I spent several hours up close and personal with it.

A couple of days later, I was moving the Sophienburg’s painting collection. I reached for a small oil depicting the original Sophienburg and literally stopped in my tracks. The technique and color palette was eerily familiar. No signature on it, so I turned the canvas over and found a pencil message scrawled on the backing, “Painted by Ferdinand Paulus in 1905.” I got goose bumps. Was this the same painter of Wendy’s painting? Who was Ferdinand? Had I connected a dot?

I contacted Wendy and asked for a family tree. Meanwhile, I looked up the Sophienburg painting and found out it had belonged to Erna Zunker Timmermann who had lived on Klingemann Street. The oil painting had survived the 1972 flood and the water damage had been “restored” with acrylic paint. Our notes also said that Erna was the daughter of Ferdinand Paulus. Wendy came back with information on her g-grandmother and we found out that Alma and Erna were sisters. Pretty great, right? Had their father been the artist?

Plot twist.

Wendy shared the findings with her siblings and cousins and new information was added to the story connecting a few more dots for me. Armed with her family history, Wendy found out that her g-grandmother Alma had six brothers and sisters including Erna. The paintings had not been done by Alma and Erna’s father Ferdinand, but by their brother Ferdinand Jr. And to add drama to this story, Ferdinand Jr. was killed by a train. Yes, a train ran over him.

On Thursday September 2, 1909, the MKT “Alamo Special” (#241) was headed southbound to make its scheduled stop at 5:14 am in New Braunfels. Passing first through Comaltown on its way to the depot, the train crew was unaware that an accident had even occurred. In its wake, two men, Ferdinand Paulus, Jr. and Albert Bauerschlag, were left lying fatally injured at the crossing on Grove St. near Paulus’s home. “Mama, mama, help me!” groaned Ferdinand according to the reports. Mrs. Karoline Paulus, hearing her son’s cry, ran to his side. She had the severely mangled men carried into her home and the doctor was called. The physician found that Albert had already succumbed, but Ferdinand remained conscious and hung on for another hour and a quarter. They were both laid to rest that very afternoon in Comal Cemetery with Pastor Morhinweg of the Protestant Church officiating. That it was a quick burial tells you how bad it was.

Some family story, right? With this HUGE dot added to the tale of the oil paintings, I dug a little deeper into the museum’s resources. Newspapers in Shiner, Palestine, San Antonio, and Houston had all carried the story of the train accident. But I wanted to know more about the artist Ferdinand Jr.

I got in touch with the Zunker family again. They shared several images of Ferdinand with me. A cabinet card from 1899 shows a nice looking young man with a kind face. Another photo illustrates a fun-loving side as he and his friend Albert Bauerschlag (yes, the same guy that also was hit by the train) enjoy the newspaper and brews poured by an aproned bartender. Snippets of info from the NB Herald have told me he was a member and officer in the Comalstaedter Schuetzenverein (Shooting Club) so he must have loved camaraderie and competition. The Zunker family records state that he was “a pretty good poet” and while I have as yet seen no examples of his writing talent, I did find that he took part in Mayor Hoffmann’s 58th birthday celebration in 1905 by giving “original comic recitations [which] contributed not a little to the merriment of the occasion.” So many more dots!

The Zunkers also shared pictures of two other paintings by Ferdinand Jr. that are owned by the Timmermann branch of the Paulus family. A lovely composition of the Filipino gazebo in Landa Park includes palms and the gorgeous nearby magnolia as a young tree. The other painting is of our stately courthouse proudly flying the US flag from its topmost point. Family members recollect that he also painted the old NB Academy Schoolhouse and other landmarks in New Braunfels. In 1907, Ferdinand exhibited his work in photographer H.D. Klenke’s Gallery booth at the Comal County Fair. “The oil paintings of Ferdinand Paulus, the gifted, natural artist, who has never taken a single lesson in the art, were admired by all.”

And that’s as far around my dot-to-dot of Ferdinand as I’ve been able to go. My picture is incomplete but I know him a bit better, giving his little paintings new meaning. As usual, it’s the stories behind the things in the Sophienburg’s collections that so engage me in our history.

One more thing … I just found out he was involved in the early days of the NB anti-prohibition movement … but that’s a story for another time.

Every family has a history and every person a story. Do you know yours?

Sources: Newspapers 1908 — 1909: NB Zeitung, NB Herald, SA Freie Presse, Shiner Gazette, SA Daily Express, Houston Post, Palestine Daily Herald; Paulus-Zunker Family records; Interviews with Zunker and Timmermann family members; The Official Guide of Railways and Steam Navigation (1908); Sophienburg Museum & Archives: First Protestant Church records, Comal Cemetery records, obituary collection.

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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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By Myra Lee Adams Goff —

What story could be timelier than a story about bridges? The San Antonio Street Bridge, the main bridge across the Comal River linking New Braunfels to Comaltown, is undergoing massive renovations that will take almost two years to complete. Under the circumstances, detours have been worked out and the traffic patterns will change. The Garden Street Bridge is one of the detours taking over the job of the San Antonio Street Bridge during this time.

Before the building of bridges, do you wonder how in 1845, people managed to cross from New Braunfels to Comaltown and back? The answer is that before the building of Clemens Dam, the water was shallower and there were several low-water crossings. Small islands on the Comal River, long disappeared, allowed people to just walk across.

The first bridge crossing between the two communities of New Braunfels and Comaltown was made of two pecan trees. It was appropriately called Pecan Bridge. According to early historian Hermann Seele, there was a foot bridge where the present Bridge Street meets the Comal. Seele tells us that there was a small island in the water where the Comal Creek and the Comal River merged above Clemens Dam. Early maps show where this little island was located. Two large pecan trees had been felled on to the island from the banks and this was the Brücken (bridge) that connected New Braunfels with Comaltown. In Oscar Haas’ translation of one of Fritz Goldbeck’s poem, Goldbeck says that often he and his brother crossed this bridge at the break of day to shoot wild turkey-cocks that came nightly to roost in the pecan forest on the opposite bank of the Comal (Comaltown). Pedestrians crossed back and forth from New Braunfels to Comaltown by holding on to handrails. History tells us that pecan and elm trees made up much of the forests of Comaltown.

The first bridge to accommodate wagons was built by the city in 1856. This bridge, made of timber, was located diagonally from the foot of Mill Street to the north edge of San Antonio Street. After ten years another bridge was built there in 1866 but was partially destroyed by the flood of 1869. This bridge was consequently repaired only to be completely torn away by another flood in 1870. The city then built an iron bridge in the same spot; it was also washed away by flood in 1872. This whole saga seems almost unbelievable.

Merchant C.C. Floege built a low-water crossing in 1872 that lasted until 1894 when it was replaced by a high-water bridge built from scrap metal salvaged from the Chicago World’s Fair. Then in 1923, the present concrete bridge was built. It has been used since that time and is the one being reconstructed now (2019). Wouldn’t you say that it has served New Braunfels well?

When you are standing in the middle of the concrete bridge, look over to the left towards the Tube Chute. That’s where John Torrey’s mill was located. John Torrey was a prominent figure in early New Braunfels. He owned a great deal of land in Comaltown and donated the land for the Comal Cemetery. Torrey Street and Torrey Park are named after him.

Torrey was a true industrialist. He entered into a lease agreement in 1848 with Hermann Spiess, trustee of the German Emigrant Co., to build a mill. Understanding the power of water, he built a dam in order to use water power to run his mill. He built a saw and grist mill and later added facilities for the manufacture of wheat flour and a shop for making doors, sashes and blinds. The top story of the mill was destroyed by fire in 1861. Torrey then added a three-story stone building. In 1872 a cloudburst caused a flood, tearing the foundation and destroying the rebuilt dam. You can still see remnants of the foundation at the Clemens Dam. lt has been said that fire, wind, and water plotted against John Torrey’s efforts on the Comal River. That three-and-a-half-mile river just wouldn’t give up.

John Torrey finally did give up his battle with the river and sold his property to banker William Clemens. In those days, owning property on the river meant that you also owned the water. Clemens built the dam in 1882 out of stone that was from the same quarry used to build the Comal County Courthouse. The dam stood idle until 1886, when Clemens secured a contract with the City of NB to furnish water for the first waterworks. This arrangement continued until the city purchased their own waterworks at the head of the Comal Springs at The Headwaters. Clemens Dam became idle with much of its upper structure removed. During World War II, as much scrap metal as possible was removed for use in the war effort. Who would have dreamed that this old dam could become the Tube Chute — one of the top tourist attractions in Texas?

The necessary renovations of the San Antonio Street Bridge forces the city to keep it closed until it once again becomes usable. Detours are necessary. One of the main detours is over the concrete Garden Street Bridge. The Garden Street Bridge was built in 1931. If you are not familiar with it now, you will be because it is a main detour route over the Comal River while construction is happening. The Garden Street Bridge was designed by architect Jeremiah Schmidt, a well-known designer of structures in New Braunfels. My grandfather, A.C. Moeller, was the contractor for the construction of this bridge. He and the other Moeller brothers were definitely involved in the building of some very important bridges and buildings in New Braunfels and Comaltown. Next time I will be telling you about the Moeller brothers and their legacy in New Braunfels.

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