When I think of all the difficulties those first immigrants faced on their journey to New Braunfels — storms at sea, little food and fresh water, births of babies, walking hundreds of miles, disease and death — I shouldn’t be surprised by stories of shipwreck. But, I found a couple of tales that really made me stop and put myself in their place, again.

Viktor Bracht (Texas in 1848) tells the story of the Verein ship Karl Wilhelm which wrecked off the coast of Galveston on May 23, 1846, at the cost of “one or two lives.” Hours of digging later, I found an account of the wreck by August Santleben. He was a five-month-old baby at the time, so his story is really that of his father. The shipwreck was much worse than Bracht reported.

We made the voyage in a sailing vessel, the Karl Wilhelm … a full crew and one hundred and thirty passengers on board … making a safe voyage of seven weeks duration…those who greeted the land of their adoption with joyful expectations were destined to a watery grave when entering the harbor … the ship was stranded when passing through the channel … only thirty-five of the passengers were saved … rescued by a life-boat sent from the shore. Among them was an infant boy, about two years of age, who was thrown to my parents after they entered the boat, by someone on the vessel.

The passengers could see Galveston City just a half mile away when the ship grounded and broke to pieces. The little boy was Christian Schuchard (or Christopher Schuchardt); both his parents perished that day. The Santlebens took him with them to Castroville where he was fostered and raised by the Joseph Baden family. Christian ends up a rancher/farmer in the San Geronimo area. August Santleben and Christian, thrown together in tragedy, were forever friends.

… none of the desolate people could comprehend their losses until they congregated on the shore … the disaster fell heavily on the emigrants who had supplied themselves with wagons, farm implements and other necessaries … all were alike destitute of everything but the clothing they wore … they were thrown on the charity of strangers.

There had been an earlier shipwreck of a Verein vessel off the coast of England in March of 1846. The American barque Nahant sailed with 130 emigrants (50 children) from the port of Ghent on Nov 25, 1845. Lloyds of London records show that she made port at London on Nov 29. Storms caused the barque to stop at Ramsgate, sail out of Ramsgate, but sail back again on Jan 6, 1846, due to lost sails and damaged rigging. She was on her way again on Jan 30 but was forced into Ramsgate once more after losing the bowsprit. Repaired, the Nahant continued westward on Mar 8, stopping at Torbay (in Devon) from Mar 14-17 to wait out the weather.

At this point, you need to remember that the German emigrants had been on their journey for almost four months. They had not even made it past England! Had I been there, I would have seriously been reconsidering my decision-making paradigm.

On March 18, the Nahant “missed stays”, a nautical term for an unsuccessful tacking maneuver, which left her badly positioned in storm-driven waves. A letter, in the Verein Collections at the University of Texas, describes the gale-force winds increasing in strength and turning into snowstorms as night fell.

About 2 am with snow storm, the Nahant was driven on the rocks… The night was one of the most awful that can be imagined. The wind was howling and the waves roaring and lashing on the shores whilst shrieks of the poor creatures, with their helpless children, were heard imploring aid, the vessel rocking to and fro, her sides having been forced in and the hold filled with water.

The Nahant had been propelled onto the rocks at Poole Cove between Berry House and the Berry Head fortifications. Hundreds of citizens from nearby Berry Head and Brixham crowded to the site of the shipwreck to help with rescue operations. Lloyd’s agent, Mr. Hingston, coordinated the boarding of the vessel and the installation of large baskets, slung with ropes to the shoreline, to facilitate the rescue of the passengers one-by-one. Women and children preceded the menfolk; trunks, goods and belongings followed and were placed on the shore under the charge of the coast guard. No loss of life was reported. Lodgings for some were found at the poor house on Baker Hill, while others found sanctuary at Berry House, the nearby residence of Rev. H.F. Lyte.

His kindhearted lady no sooner heard of the catastrophe than she ordered fires to be lighted and provision made for as many as her house could accommodate. Mrs. Lyte herself managed and directed everything for their comfort.

The new day found wreckage from ships piled up against piers and breakwaters all along the coastline. The Brixham Lighthouse had been washed away. Amazingly, 34 ships survived the storm in Torbay that night.

The Nahant was refloated on April 12 and brought to Torquay where she was broken up. The Germans were taken care of until May 5 when another Verein ship, the TIMOLEON, collected them. The Timoleon arrived at Galveston Aug 8, 1846.

Did you just do the math? That was an over eight-month-long trip!

Just let that travel experience sink in for a bit.

Sources:

• Collections of Marjorie Cook and Ethel Hander Geue – Sophienburg Museum & Archives
• A New Land Beckoned, Chester William and Ethel Hander Geue, p 5-6
• Texas in 1848, Viktor Bracht, p 167
• A Texas Pioneer, August Santleben, p 5-6
• The Seguin Gazette-Enterprise, Jan 7, 1987; article by Mary C. Bond
• English Riviera Magazine, October/November 2015, p 20-23
• Torbay Wrecks, www.brixhammuseum.uk rootsweb – CORNISH-GEN-L Archives, West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser, Friday, 27 March, 1846 — TXAUSTIN-L Archives, message “Emigrants on the Nahant and Timoleon”

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The year 2018 marks 75 years of Scouting for New Braunfels Troop 133 sponsored by First Protestant Church. Seventy-five years is a significant milestone… so my story topic is born. At the beginning of any project, we tend to use the “scatter gun approach,” which is a broad search to see what pops up. All the pieces are laid out and we begin to connect the dots. There is almost always a random fact or two that do not connect to anything, but are interesting enough to save for later. My basic Boy Scout history search tells me that the Scouting Movement began in England in 1908 when the Scouting for Boys: A Handbook for Instruction in Good Citizenship was published by British General Robert Baden-Powell. The volume set out practical advice on camping, outdoor life and survival, as well as how to live an upstanding, moral life. It was not until February 8, 1910, that the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) was incorporated under the laws of the District of Columbia. Several scouting type programs for boys started independently in the U.S. with many of these Scout programs eventually merging with the BSA. Scouting is said to have begun in New Braunfels in 1916. However, we discovered one 1936 newspaper account where C. A. Jahn, former mayor of New Braunfels, and other prominent citizens claimed that two companies of Boy Scouts existed in New Braunfels during the Civil War. His account of over 100 school boys from age eight years on up was reportedly backed by former State Senator Ferdinand Weinert of Seguin, who also served with the original Boy Scouts. Random fact not pertaining to the story, but cool never-the-less. As scouting grew, the Scouts took on greater responsibility during WWI, including the selling of Liberty War Bonds. Ever notice how Scout uniforms in Norman Rockwell paintings looked like World War I army uniforms? It is no coincidence. The first uniforms were copies of the U.S. Army uniforms of the time complete with knickers, puttees, button-down collar coat and campaign hat. Over the years, shorts became the norm with variations of khaki and olive green changing with the decades, but the tenets of scouting have remained the same.

New Braunfels had several troops throughout the city, mostly sponsored by churches or service organizations. The number of scouts and troops continued to grow until World War II when it was common for troops to fold as their leaders were called to serve. Two such New Braunfels troops, 103 and 104, were combined to form Troop 133. It was in October of 1942 that the First Protestant Evangelical and Reformed Church submitted the charter application for Troop 133. They listed Herbert Adams as their Scout Master. Dr. L.G. Lehmann and Eugene Haas (noted as “in the Army”) were listed as Assistant Scoutmasters. Members of the Troop Committee were George E. Nowotny (Chairman), W. H. Vollmar, A.C. Bremer, Arno Bartels, Edgar J. Reininger and Oscar Haas. Those Scouts listed on the original Charter paperwork were Clarence Alfrey, Jr., Robert M. Billings, Jr., Clarence Dietert, Robert Fischer, Frederick Frueholz, Jr., Billy McClughan, Willie George Ramm, Roger Wegner Reeves, Anthony Reininger, Randolph Reininger, Fred Rothberger, Bobby Schmidt, Marcus Wenzel, Carol Gene Willms, Ellis Wingfield, Wallace Howard, Jr., Edward Summers, Rudy Otto Wesch, Archie H. Heimer, Atwell Scholl, Clinton Scholl, Richard Maroney, Stanley Reinshagen, Jim Bob Belk, James Louis Jonas, Charles Edwin Berger, Elwyn Stobaugh, and James Harold Hingst. The troop was chartered with 28 Scouts ages 12 to 15, which made up four Patrols. There were 16 scouts of Tenderfoot rank; two of Second Class rank; five of First Class rank; four of Star rank, and one at Life. The highest achievement/rank in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America is the Eagle Scout. The requirements to achieve the rank of Eagle take several years to complete. The first Troop 133 Scout to become an Eagle was Clarence Alfrey, Jr., on October 10, 1944. In their 75 years, Troop 133 has awarded 176 Eagles. That does not include the sixteen awarded by Troop 104 and the nine awarded by Troop 103 between 1930 and 1943. You probably know many, as they were or are visible leaders in our community.

Troop 133 usually met at the Seele Parish House on the campus of First Protestant Church. In 1955, the Herald-Zeitung reported that the church and Troop negotiated the lease of the property at the corner of Coll and Market Streets just across the Comal River from Camp Warnecke (now Schlitterbahn). But what about the buildings? Another mystery to be unraveled! There were different stories handed down about origins of the Scout Hut buildings, including once being pieces of the old New Braunfels Academy or possibly being old Air Force barracks moved on to the property. What we found was more convoluted. In 1901 there was a rural school called Lone Star School located two miles west of New Braunfels (now San Antonio Street). In 1953, Lone Star School was annexed by New Braunfels Independent School District, to become Lone Star Elementary. Two buildings were sold to the highest bidder and moved off of the old school site in fall of 1955 to accommodate building the new Lone Star Elementary. One building was moved to the corner of Howard and Fredericksburg Streets and became the Girl Scout Little House. The other-plus year old building(s) were moved to the corner of Coll & Market to become the Troop 133 Scout Hut — where many a Scout has played ‘kick the can’, hidden in the rock pile, run through the storm drains, ‘zip- lined’ over the Comal and climbed the tower. The Troop’s history would not be complete without mentioning some of the former Scoutmasters who have helped to mold adventurous boys into well rounded men, including Mr. A. M. Moellering, Mr. Rochette Reinarz, Mr. Nathan Rheinlander, and Mr. Jack Reinarz. Congratulations to the men, scouts and parents of scouts of Troop 133 in keeping the scouting tradition strong for 75 years! We would all do well to follow the Scout Oath:

On my honor, I will do my best To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; To help other people at all times; To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.

Sources:

• Sophienburg Archives, New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung Collection
• Rural Schools and Teachers in Comal County, Texas 1845-1956 by Alton Rahe
• A Journey in Faith by R.M. Gregory and M.L. Goff

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New Braunfels. Fast-growing Central Texas city. Most likely the only American city founded by a Prince. Settled by Germans. If you live in or near New Braunfels, you probably know this. Here at the Sophienburg Museum and Archives, we tell the story of New Braunfels every day, but did you know our beloved “Beauty Spot of Texas” was a Plan B?

During the 1840’s, Europe was in turmoil both economically and politically. Noblemen from several German states decided to “help relieve” overcrowding by colonizing the new Republic of Texas (as England had done in America). They created the Verein zum Schutz deutscher Einwandrer in Texas (Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas) or simply, Adelsverein (Society of Noblemen). Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels was selected to go ahead to secure the needed lands and provisions. The Adelsverein was able to recruit many countrymen who desired a new life in Texas. The first three ships sailed in October 1844, with one trunk per family (and you thought our airline bag fees were tough!). Many emigrants had sold all they had to pay for the trip which was to include passage, transportation from coast to settlement, 320 acres of land, housing, warehouse of provisions, implements, seeds, farm animals, education and churches in the Fischer-Miller Grant. Prince Carl, arriving in Texas ahead of the group, learned that the Fischer-Miller Grant was out in the middle of Commanche hunting territory and too far from the coast. He seriously needed a Plan B. On March 16, 1845, he purchased a 1265 acre tract nestled on the edge of the Balcones Escarpment between two rivers for the bargain price of $1111. With the ink barely dry on the land deal, the Prince and his entourage met the first immigrants at the Guadalupe River on Good Friday, March 21, 1845. Each immigrant was offered a half-acre town lot and 10 acre farm lot, quite a let down from the promised 320 acres. The Adelsverein’s rating went down from there.

The next wave of German immigrants arrived between the fall of 1845 and April 1846. More than 5200 people landed in Galveston and Indianola and were left to fend for themselves. There were no wagons because they were hired out to haul for the Mexican War. There was no housing, forcing some to camp for more than six months under tents, exposing them to harsh winter weather conditions on the coast. An epidemic broke out, with more than two-thirds of the immigrants falling ill. Of those who decided to travel onward to New Braunfels, proportionately few made it. They brought the epidemic with them, losing family members along the road and infecting their new town. Instead of being greeted by a Prince, the sick and starving immigrants arrived to see the river swollen from floods, unable to cross. They were promised provisions of food, finding instead nothing on hand but cheap “unwholesome beef”.

How do we know these things? Whatever did we do before Ancestry.com? Much like people document their lives in photographs or on social media, people wrote accounts of their travels in diaries, journals and letters back home. And just like today, important actions were recorded in the minutes of meetings of government and social organizations, providing us all a wonderful treasure trove of what early New Braunfels was like. Except, it is all in old German. Enter Oscar Haas and his curiosity.

Oscar Haas was born in October of 1885, at Cranes Mill, a third- generation descendant of German colonists in Texas. His ancestors were among the 5000 immigrants landing in Indianola in the fall of 1845. He moved with his family to Blanco County and then in 1897 to New Braunfels at age 12. He attended the old New Braunfels Academy for third through sixth grade before going to work in a grocery store. He worked his way to a dry goods business partnership. In 1934, at age 49, Haas was elected Comal County treasurer. For twenty-eight years he served the county. It was during his time in the courthouse that he discovered the original Commissioners Court minutes book of 1846. His discovery immediately sparked a lifelong interest in our history and sharing it with others. He began writing articles about the details of the court minutes for the Neu Braunfelser Zeitung (German) and the New Braunfels Herald. Now remember, the minutes were in old German script. He actually copied and hand wrote the full translations of the documents on whatever scraps of paper he had – the backs of calendars, old election ballots, etc. before writing the articles. In 1944-45, he wrote the columns “99 years ago” and “100 years ago” before the city celebrated its Centennial. He continued to write articles until his retirement in 1962, when he focused his energies on writing a book, History of New Braunfels and Comal County, Texas 1844-1946. Published in 1968, it was the most comprehensive book written about the founding of New Braunfels, becoming the bible of local historians and genealogists. 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the book. It is still in print (fourth printing) and can be found at Sophie’s Shop inside the Sophienburg Museum and Archives. Here’s to Oscar Haas, successful businessman and public servant, and most notably a “history geek” extraordenaire.

Sources:

• History of New Braunfels and Comal County, Texas, 1844-1946 by Oscar Haas
• Sophienburg Archives

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Well before the Civil War, circus troupes had made their way to Texas. The earliest mention of a circus in our local newspaper was on Jan. 7, 1859. My interest in the NB circus scene began with an early 1900s photograph featuring a circus parade of camels on Seguin Street. A quick search led to three other photos of camels and elephants marching around Main Plaza in 1932. My curiosity was piqued.

I clearly remember going to the circus as a child. It was magical, scary, exciting and wild. I had seen “lions and tigers and bears, oh my!” on trips to the San Antonio Zoo. We even got to ride the elephants back then. But at the circus, the animals were not all in cages and they were interacting with people. The color, glitter and lights of “The Big Show” mesmerized me.

I cannot imagine what Circus Day was like for a child in the 1860s. Back in an age when travel consisted of going in to town or to the county seat, the circus would be so much more than entertainment. It would have been a travelling world of wonders and marvel — a magical world populated by creatures and people from storybooks. The newspaper advertisements alone conjured up images of exotic places and animals. They were filled with detailed descriptions and woodcuts of the most amazing acts and performers.

Those advertisements still illicit a reaction today. When I had two Sophienburg volunteers, Dennis Schwab and Rose Emich, translate the NB Zeitung German print, we still reacted with, “What!” “Oh my goodness!” “Really?” and “Can you imagine?” These outbursts were followed by laughter as the flowery prose of the early circus “advance men” was turned into English.

The first circus to make the Zeitung was Maybie’s Menagerie & Circus in 1859. The troupe—which included 30 people, 80 horses, two elephants, one camel, five lions, and numerous smaller animals and birds—paraded through town in brightly painted wagons and costumes of rainbow-colored satins. The sight, smell and sound alone would have been spectacular. It gets better. The elephants drank water from the Comal River!

After 1865, more and more circuses found their way to New Braunfels. The Stone, Roston & Murray Circus had organized and traveled for 5 years in England, Germany, France and Spain before coming to the United States. Their full one-column advertisement featured woodcuts of circus wagons, daring trick-riders and amazing performing dogs. (We get the phrase, “dog and pony show” from these early circuses.) The advert goes on to say that special seating — secured by delegated men — would be available to women accompanied by a gentleman. Personally, I don’t get the need for such an upgrade, but apparently the 1860s women did.

A small, but well-attended Mexican circus was reported in July 1869. It featured balancing acts and feats of strength. What was interesting was the breakdown of performer ethnicity: Mexicans, Spaniards, Americans, one German and one Chinese juggler. Apparently, this circus was politically correct way before its time.

Several circuses came through around Christmas time. The Hight & Chambers Circus & Menagerie was in town for Weihnachts Feiertag (Dec 26^th or Boxing Day). Woodcuts of lions and elephants accompany the list of performers: 10 trick riders, 11 acrobats and wire walkers and 20 musicians and minstrels. The menagerie had a 500 lb. baby elephant, polar bear, Bengal tiger, monkeys, meerkats and baboons.

In the 1870s, the shows got bigger — the word “mammoth” was often used in the descriptions. The Crescent City Texas Circus was first owned by H. M. Smith and then NOLA-born Charles Noyes. Each, in turn, set the Big Top up in NB. Smith brought 33 performers, 24 trained horses, two American and one German clown, and a band so good that “they didn’t want to sound like they were bragging, but.” They not only gave a discount to large families, but they also advertised positions for two new brass musicians. There is no report of any young New Braunfelsers running away to the circus…but who knows?

The Noyes-owned version came with Jenny Lind the Elephant, white 2-humped camels, dromedaries, lions, leopards, tigers, hyenas, kangaroos, Japanese pigs, llamas, African deer, Nile zebras, bears, sacred cows, Dutch ostriches, white peacocks, Brazilian parrots, silver pheasants, cockatiels, African grey parrots, anteaters, badgers, monkeys, baboons and over 100 “colored and feathered” birds. The menagerie part of the circus had become a veritable traveling zoo.

There were many, many more “big shows” mentioned in the Zeitung throughout the end of the 19^th Century and into the 20^th Century. But the advertisement of the Cole Circus in December 1872 blew us all away. It promised a mile-long parade of 300 men and horses, 350 wild and trained animals, birds, snakes, and other curiosities that cost $1,600 a day to maintain. There would be 20 decorated golden cages full of animals “worth seeing,” the only genuine hippopotamus in the country, a herd of camels, Bengal tigers, leopards, lions, hyenas, capybaras, a horned horse (A UNICORN!), tapirs and monkeys. And if that didn’t whet the appetite of even the most jaded circus attendee, there was also a 20 ton, 26-foot long, 18-foot diameter black whale on an enormous horse-drawn wagon! I looked it up. Circuses actually embalmed whales and took them on the road. It doesn’t end here. This two tent, gas-lit show could accommodate 5,000 people, and included a wax museum with notables such as Sleeping Beauty, Prince Alexis of Russia and Col. James Fish. One ticket bought it all.

Truly, this was pretty close to being “The Greatest Show on Earth.”

Sources:

• Sophienburg photo collection
• Neu Braunfelser Zeitung
• History of New Braunfels and Comal County, Haas, Oscar
• www.circushistory.org

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Almost 70 years ago (1947), local historian Oscar Haas was asked by the Texas State Historical Association to compile the origin and history of all name-places in Comal County. Haas’ histories and thousands of others are what make up the Handbook of Texas that can be accessed online. One of these places was the small settlement of Neighborsville across the Guadalupe River from New Braunfels. This settlement was founded by Jacob deCordova, who called himself “The Wanderer.” You will know why when you read his story his story.

Jacob Raphael de Cordova was born in Spanish Town on the island of Jamaica in 1808 to Raphael and Judith deCordova. His father was a coffee grower and exporter. During the Spanish Inquisition, many Jewish people were forced out of Spain if they did not convert to Catholicism. The Jewish deCordova family moved to Jamaica. Jacob’s mother died when he was born and he was reared in England by an aunt. In the 1820s, Jacob and his father moved to Philadelphia. Jacob was well educated and learned English, French, Spanish, German, Hebrew and several Indian dialects. He, no doubt, had a “gift of gab.” In Philadelphia, Jacob married Rebecca Sterling and they eventually had five children.

At age 25, he moved back to Jamaica and founded a newspaper, the Kingston Daily Gleaner. He and his wife left there after three years and traveled to New Orleans where he became a merchant, shipping goods to Texas during and following the Texas Revolution. His next “wandering” took him to Galveston, and then to Houston. Here he was elected a representative for Harris County to the Legislature of the State of Texas. After losing the election for his second term, he moved to Austin and then began traveling all over Texas acquiring land to sell. He had a land agency with his brother that surveyed and performed land transactions. It was one of the largest to operate in the Southwest. DeCordova was hired to lay out the town of Waco in 1848-1849. He was also an expert map maker and compiled a map of Texas in 1849 with cartographer Robert Creuzbaur. He was an avid writer of immigrant guides and travel books, and also published newspapers, the Texas Herald out of Houston and the Southwestern American out of Austin. He became well-known by giving lectures all over the United States and even Europe, to attract settlers.

In the 1850s the family moved five miles outside of Seguin where he built a large house for his wife and children. He named it “Wanderer’s Retreat.” A retreat became necessary during the Civil War when he experienced financial issues. The land business slowed and he had overextended himself. He died in 1868 and was buried in Kimball on his land near the Brazos River.

There are many places in Texas named for or by deCordova. There is the De Cordova Bend on the Brazos (south of Fort Worth), the De Cordova Bend Dam (Lake Granbury), Cordova Road (Guadalupe County), Jacobs Creek (Comal County), Cordova Creek (Comal County), Jacobs Well (Hays County) and then there is Rebecca Creek (Comal County) named after deCordova’s wife, Rebecca, Wanderer’s Creek (north Texas running into the Red River), and Phineas Creek, named for his brother (Brazos tributary). He was known as the “Texas Champion Creek-Namer.”

Neighborsville

By 1846, when the legislature formed Comal County, immigrants arriving looked for land. Besides New Braunfels and Comaltown, many settlements emerged in the county outside of New Braunfels. Because of the good farm land on the east side of the Guadalupe River from New Braunfels, settlements developed such as Hortontown (Horton’s League). On the same side of the Guadalupe River as Hortontown but to the south, Neighborsville was established.

In the early years, if you were traveling up from the coast to New Braunfels, you would travel on the east side of the Guadalupe River, crossing into New Braunfels at the Nacogdoches Road crossing or you would use the ferry a little farther up river at the confluence of the Comal and Guadalupe Rivers. Seguin Street (avenue now) was the main street in New Braunfels but you had to cross the Guadalupe first to get there.

Now let’s look at DeCordova’s connection to Neighborsville. In 1851, the land that became Neighborsville was surveyed and a map made by J. Groos for Jacob deCordova. The location was across the Guadalupe River from New Braunfels and deCordova was considered the founder. The land was actually laid out into acreage plots. There were five streets originally laid out that included Benner, Broadway (still there), Rusk (still there), Shaw (changed to Churchill) and Jacobs (changed to Wright). There was also a Seguin Street that changed to Horton Avenue but I drove over to the area and could not find it. The Nacogdoches Road or Camino Real ran right through the middle of the area and the Guadalupe River with the river crossing was one of the boundaries. DeCordova thought the settlement would be ideal right on the Guadalupe River near the Camino Real crossing. If you drive on Churchill Drive, you will see the El Camino Real de las Tejas National Historic Trail signs showing the road as an original route where the first immigrants crossed the river. (You can see the signs also on Nacogdoches Road.)

In order to imagine the area as deCordova saw it, you have to remove the old Mission Valley Mill Plant, the railroad, Loop 337, and the US 81 and IH 35 north to south highways.

The land was situated in the northwest end of the Esnaurizer Eleven Leagues grant and was bound on the north by the Horton League. Hortontown was the next-door-neighbor. In 1830, General Antonio Esnaurizer petitioned the Governor of Coahuila and Texas for a grant of land. He wanted to establish farming and ranching between the San Marcos River and the Guadalupe River. Someone had to take possession of the land to survey and administer the grant. First, Juan Martin de Veramendi was appointed, then James Bowie and finally Jacob deCordova. The Esnaurizer grant begins in Seguin, follows the San Marcos-Austin Road almost to San Marcos, then follows the Austin-New Braunfels Road to the Guadalupe River. It then goes to a mile below McQueeney and then back up around the Clements and Branch leagues to Seguin. DeCordova received land as payment for his services.

Guadalupe County once extended north-east of the Guadalupe River right up to the Nacogdoches Road crossing but in 1853, thirty-one settlers from Neighborsville and Hortontown petitioned the legislature to be a part of Comal County. If you are looking for records between 1845 and 1853 for this area, you might try the Guadalupe County Courthouse.

“For $1 and in consideration for advancement of Religion and Education,” Jacob deCordova conveyed two acres of land for the St. Martin’s Evengelical Lutheran Church and Churchill School. This beautiful quaint little church can be seen as you drive down Loop 337 and at one time was located next to the Churchill School that is part of the New Braunfels Conservation Society campus. The church was moved to its current location in the Hortontown Cemetery in 1968.

In 1935, after seventy years, the bodies of Jacob and Rebecca deCordova were moved to the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, an honor afforded only to those who made an outstanding contribution to the state. Jacob deCordova was one of those citizens.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pastor August Engel

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Have you ever watched animals communicate with each other? No words, just bark, growl and whine. They get their point across. If they didn’t, they would have invented words. That’s what humans did. Some still bark, growl, and whine, but these sounds are usually accompanied by words.

Early human communication consisted of a system called “tell-a-woman”. Now, don’t get mad at me, ladies, because there was also “tell-a-man” and by the number of saloons in early New Braunfels, I’m guessing that men won out. This ancient form of communication was around long before the telegraph, telephone and tell-a-SKYPE, where you see the person anywhere in the world.

Depending on where you lived and who you associated with, different languages developed. Time went on and there was a need to communicate with people far away.

Someone (or two) developed a system of communicating from hill to hill. Smoke signals. It was too far to yell or growl from one place to another. The English developed the semaphore, a signaling device using flags or lights. On top of the hill was built a contraption with shutters where men could flash signals from one tower to another tower. A message could be relayed as far as 85 miles. This system was obsolete by the middle of the 19^th century with the invention of the telegraph. Several systems were invented before the invention of the telegraph.

Samuel F.B. Morse is given most of the credit for inventing the telegraph. This may not be entirely true but Morse did prove that signals could be transmitted by wire. Several inventions led up to the invention of the electric telegraph all over the world. The Morse Code, a series of dots and dashes, was used. Western Union built its first transcontinental line in 1861 following the railroad tracks.

Morse received funds from Congress to install a line between Washington D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland. His idea was to bury wires. This idea failed so he had the idea to hang wires from trees and this also failed. Finally he had the idea to hang the wires from poles. In 1844 Morse stationed himself in the Supreme Court Chamber in the Capitol in Washington D.C. He sent the famous message “What hath God wrought” to his assistant, Alfred Vail, in Baltimore. Vail got the message.

By 1846 a new business, the Associated Press, took full advantage of the telegraph to send messages to newspaper offices. What a boom for rapid communication! The national election results of 1848 were sent via wire to newspapers for the first time.

Abraham Lincoln’s State of the Union address was transmitted over telegraph wires to all “loyal states”. Obviously Confederates didn’t get the speech. Lincoln was supposedly fascinated by the technology of the telegraph and would spend hours, even overnight, in the War Department building, keeping track of what was going on during the Civil War. Messages were easily sent to newspapers across the United States but it seemed impossible to send a message by wire to Europe.

An American businessman named Cyrus Field organized a new company called the New York Newfoundland and London Telegraph Co. Field began laying 2,500 miles of cable from Ireland’s Dingle Peninsula. After several failed attempts of the use of the wire, Queen Victoria in England successfully sent a letter of congratulations to newly elected president, James Buchanan, on the advent of his election.

By the end of the 19^th century, most of the world was connected by the telegraph.

What was happening in New Braunfels as far as communication? When the emigrants first came to the Republic of Texas, the fastest and slowest form of communication was by mail. It took about three months for letters to arrive from Germany on a ship and then had to be transported overland.

Letters and penny postcards were delivered to stations by stagecoach. The stagecoach stopped at the Schmitz Hotel located on Main Plaza. Throughout the Civil War (ending in 1865), news about the war reached New Braunfels by stagecoach. Then there was the Pony Express. In 1880 the International and Great Northern Railroad came to New Braunfels and mail was sent by rail.

At a special meeting of the NB City Council on May 12, 1865, the mayor gave permission to the Western Union to fix the places for posts with the agent in such a manner that the free passage and use of the streets of the city would not be obstructed. The operator that worked the telegraph had to learn Morse Code. When the message arrived over the wire, it was written down and then hand-delivered to the person it was meant for. In1871 the telegraph office moved from the Schmitz Hotel to August Schmitz’s home on 267 Mill St. It is confusing, but unknown, the relationship of August to Schmitz Hotel owner Jacob Schmitz. In 1876 Charles Schmitz took his father’s place as telegraph operator at the Mill St. home. In 1879 the telegraph office was moved back to the hotel and then moved to the train depot in 1887.

Eventually the telegraph and telephone offices merged. City Council passed an ordinance Dec. 10,1895, granting Southwestern Telephone and Telegraph permission to erect and maintain on the streets, alleys and public ways, poles, fixtures and wires necessary to supply NB citizens with communication by telephone.

The house at 267 E. Mill St. still stands today at the same address where August Schmitz once operated the early telegraph office. The land on which this house sits was originally conveyed to Francis Gilbeau by the German Emigration Company in 1847. The third owner was August Schmitz, the telegraph operator. Until recently the property belonged to the Fuhrmann-Ludwig family and last year the property was bought by Danny and Anna Lisa Tamez. The building actually has two complete rental units. The fachwerk walls are still standing, as are the original floors. The story is that the bricks that line the walls were put together with mud and water from the Comal River a block away. They also bought the Ludwig house directly behind the E. Mill St. property facing E. Bridge St. which they have also restored.

The early home housing the telegraph office and the Ludwig house on Bridge St. downtown have been restored for vacationers to be able to enjoy a little bit of the past in the present. Danny and Anna Lisa Tamez also own the Gruene Estate on Rock Street. This 15-acre B&B was built in 1857 and is the original homestead of Ernst and Antoinette Gruene.

Since change is inevitable, what changes will take place in communication in the future? Will we be communicating only mentally as science fiction suggests?

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The banner year in the history of Texas was 1836, the year that the Republic of Texas declared its independence from Mexico, drew up its first constitution and declared itself independent. This constitution with its generous land policy would be the driving force leading to the German immigration movement. What happened at that convention determined that estimated 7,000 Germans would emigrate to Texas. Many settled in Comal County.

Republic of Texas Declaration of Independence

The Texas Declaration of Independence stated that Mexico, under the presidency of Santa Anna, had violated the liberties that had been guaranteed Mexican citizens according to the Mexican Constitution of 1821. It stated that Texicans (Mexicans in the Texas part of Mexico) had been deprived of freedom of religion, right to trial by jury, the right to bear arms, and the provision of public education for its children.

Spanish explorers had made claim to most of the land called Texas since the 1500s. Texas was the northern area of Mexico called Coahuila that had been controlled by Spain until they were defeated by Mexico in 1821.

Texas was not the “pick of the crop” by either Mexicans or Americans. The Comanche of the plains and in the hill country were a big problem for the settlers. Few people ventured into the area, much less settled there. When the Texicans complained to Mexican authorities about their problems, they were met with force on the part of the Santa Anna, president of Mexico. With a large army, determined to drive the Texicans out, Santa Anna’s entry into Texas would lead to the Battle of the Alamo, of Goliad, and then eventually to the Battle of San Jacinto.

These battles resulted from the formation of the Declaration of Independence. The convention to make that decision took place at Washington-on the-Brazos. This small town had enough housing for the delegates and other towns did not.

Fifty-nine delegates met and adopted a constitution unanimously on March 2, 1836. Can you guess how many of these delegates were Texans? Now count: Twelve from Virginia, 10 from North Carolina, nine from Tennessee, six from Kentucky, four from Georgia, three from South Carolina, three from Pennsylvania, three from Mexico (two of which were native Texans, Jose Antonio Navarro and Jose Francisco Ruiz), two from New York, one from Massachusetts, one from Mississippi, one from New Jersey, one from England, one from Ireland, one from Scotland and one from Canada.

After the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, Texas was a free Republic and remained independent from 1836 to 1845.The constitution went into effect immediately and its generous land policy eventually became the reason for the German emigration.

Adelsverein

Now the Adelsverein in Germany enters the picture. A group of German counts and princes met at Biebrich on the Rhine to establish a colony in Texas. Wanting to relieve overpopulation and establish overseas markets to help Germany pay for the Napoleonic War was the main reason for this organization. Besides, the Texas Republic had awarded land to immigrant agents in the form of colonization contracts.

The “Society for the Protection of German Immigrants” was organized and Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels was sent to Texas to purchase land for the colonists.

New Braunfels was never intended to be the final destination of the colony. The original destination of the emigration project was the Bourgeois/Ducos grant on the Medina River. Bourgeois’ contract with the Republic of Texas was not renewed. Then Solms considered another tract of land. Two men, Fischer and Miller, acquired large plots of land on the San Saba and Llano Rivers. The Prince decided that because it was so far away from the coast, he would have to have a waystation. Just six days before the emigrants crossed the Guadalupe the Prince purchased the Comal Tract from the Veramendi heirs as a waystation.

The original immigrant contract with the Adelsverein stated that each head of family would receive 320 acres and single men would receive 160 acres. Only after they crossed the Guadalupe into New Braunfels were they told that they would receive one-half acre lot and one 10-acre plot. They were not happy campers. A few went on their own to claim land on the San Saba, but not many. New Braunfels became the home for most of them.

Veramendi’s Comal Tract

When Texas was still under Spanish control in 1807, a land speculator named Baron de Bastrop purchased four leagues of land on the Guadalupe which included the Comal Springs (later called the Comal Tract). When the Mexican flag flew over Texas, the vice-governor of Texas and Coahuila in 1825, Juan de Veramendi, petitioned the Mexican government for 11 leagues of land which also included the Comal Tract. When Veramendi died, his daughter Maria Veramendi and husband Rafael Garza, inherited the tract of land and sold it to Prince Carl for $1,111.

In Comal County there were three Mexican Land Grants from 1831 before the Republic, two for Veramendi and one for Antonio Maria Esnaurizer. There were eventually many different types of grants available in the Republic of Texas and State of Texas for citizenship, military service, colonization and public improvement, such as schools and railroads. Looking at the Land Grant Map of Comal County, one can find such grantees as Samuel Millett who fought at San Jacinto, Gordon Jennings (heirs), David Crockett (heirs) and Toribio Lasoya (heirs), who died at the Alamo.

Texas became a state of the United States in 1845 and between 1845 and 1898 Texans were issued preemption grants for 160 to 320 acres with the stipulation that the grantee must live on and improve the land for three years. This happened to hundreds of Comal County land owners. These grants were acquired by many German settlers in Comal County.

Without the formation of the Republic of Texas and the Declaration of Independence, the future of Comal County would have been quite different. On March 2^nd, drive around our Main Plaza and salute the many Texas flags put up by the Ferdinand Lindheimer Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.

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