By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

Who invented the cotton gin?

Many of you learned the answer to this question in elementary school. If you said “Eli Whitney” you are correct, but like me, back then you really didn’t understand that the invention of the cotton gin revolutionized the American economy and made cotton a major industry.

Thanks to Whitney’s invention in 1793, cotton no longer had to be “ginned” by hand although cotton was still picked by hand well into the 1940s. There are 15–20 bolls on each cotton plant and 27–45 seeds in each boll. That’s a lot of seeds that need to be separated from the cotton fiber. The cotton gin mechanically separated the seeds and fiber by rolling the cotton through wooden rollers covered with metal hooks that caught at the fiber and pulled it through a mesh. Cotton seeds were too big to go through the mesh and fell into a hopper below. A person could hand-gin one pound of cotton in one day; Whitney’s technology processed 50 pounds of cotton in a day.

Cotton was first grown in Comal County by German immigrants in 1852. The non-slave-holding Mittendorf brothers planted and harvested cotton enough for nine bales. William H. Meriwhether had built a water-powered grist and sawmill using the Comal Springs in 1847. He later added a flour mill and cotton gin. Meriwhether ginned the Mittendorf boys’ cotton for 1½ cents per pound. Francis Moreau shipped the nine bales through Indianola to New Orleans for an additional 1½ cents per pound. The bales were graded “middling fair” and sold for 10½ cents per pound. Cotton proved a profitable undertaking for the Mittendorfs who got 7½ cents per pound for their efforts.

In 1857, F. B. Hoffmann set up the first horse-powered cotton gin in the county out at Four Mile Creek/Solms. Later in 1870, Hoffmann was also the first to convert his gin to steam power; he advertised that he could “gin 6 bales a day” with the new technology.

In 1863, Erhard Mittendorf built a gin near the Austin Hill Community, and in 1875, George Webber operated his cotton gin and oil mill in downtown New Braunfels just one block off Main Plaza on North Seguin Street. And you thought the silos of the Co-op looked rural.

By the 1880s and 1890s, cotton gins were features in many of the small communities and settlements that peppered Comal County. They were usually known by the owner’s name:

• H. D. Gruene – Goodwin
• Gus Reinarz (formerly Hoffmann’s) – Solms
• John Marbach – Bracken
• August G. Startz – Smithson Valley
• Reinarz & Marbach – Danville
• Charles Knibbe – Spring Branch
• Hunter Gin Co. – Hunter
• Fischer’s – Fischer’s Store
• Hermann Guenther – Sattler
• Frank Guenther – Hancock
• Ludwig Haag and Gustav Schmidt gins – Bulverde
• Farmers Union – Hortontown
• Oberkampf’s and Flugrath’s gins – Cranes Mill
• Reinarz & Knoke, Landa Milling and Faust & Co. gins – New Braunfels

This is a partial list, but it shows the importance of having area gins for the many farmers who grew cotton across the county.

Sadly, only a few of the cotton gin structures or ruins still exist today. However, a notable example is still visible at Eight Mile Creek/Comal Settlement off Old Nacogdoches Road. From the road you can see the beautiful brick Friesenhahn Cotton Gin and Corn Sheller building with its stately, very tall smoke stack which signified it was steam-powered. The gin was constructed by Andreas Friesenhahn in the early 1890s, but it was not the first gin constructed by Friesenhahns. An earlier gin was built by Andreas and his two brothers, Jacob and Nicholas, in the 1880s. This building included the first commercial corn sheller in the area as well. The gin was located on a site near the sharp corner of Old Nacogdoches Road just north of the old Kneupper Store. It burned down in 1899 causing Jacob and Nicholas to get out of the ginning business. FYI: Cotton is very flammable and can spontaneously combust. Trailers full of rain-wet cotton and stored piles of unginned cotton can ignite in the center and burn inside-out setting fire to other trailers and the cotton gin itself.

Andreas Friesenhahn continued on and built a new gin and corn sheller soon after the fire. This is the structure we can see today. He ran the business through the early 1900s and then deeded the gin, corn sheller, seed house and cotton yard to his three sons Gregor, Jacob and Ferdinand. They operated the place under the “Friesenhahn Brothers Gin” name. Gregor left the company in 1923. The cotton market nose-dived in the 1940s, and the gin closed. After the death of Jacob in 1946, Ferdinand’s wife Mathilda and son Roman bought the structure and continued to run the corn shelling operation until 1959.

In a 1986 oral history recording in the Sopheinburg Museum collections, Vivian Zipp, a native of the Solms/Comal Settlement area, reflected on the Friesenhahn Brothers Gin:

The Friesenhahn Brothers Cotton Gin and Corn Sheller was owned by Jacob, Gregor and Ferdinand Friesenhahn. It was located close to the Katy railroad. A spur line was laid from the main tracks to the cotton gin and corn sheller…you could see box cars loaded with shelled corn, ginned cotton bales and bales of corn shucks. The farmers would use the shucks to feed their cattle. They had a warehouse close to the spur where bales of corn shucks were stored when boxcars were filled or not available for shipping…. At the peak of the season [August through December] the wagons of cotton and wagons of corn were lined up from each direction — from the west on the San Antonio–Austin highway, from the east on the San Antonio-Austin highway and to the south on Friesenhahn Lane — with waiting wagons taking cotton to be ginned and corn to be shelled [There was no IH-35 back then, so the San Antonio–Austin Road went straight through the middle of Solms]. There were many nights that you could hear the cotton gin and corn sheller running into the wee hours of the morning until every farmer had unloaded. Sometimes as many as 50 wagons from each direction were waiting in line.

The Friesenhahn gin and corn sheller stands empty and quiet now. I love the big old yellowish brick building whose smoke stack still towers over the landscape. What stories can it tell of those first farming families who lived there for generations, working the land, gathering with friends, going to church and pitching in when disaster hit one of their friends or family? What can it tell us about the character of the people and times it shadowed in its heyday? Drive by, take a moment —and listen.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum: Neu Braunfelser Zeitung collection; Oscar Haas collection; Reflections Oral History collection; and “Comal Texas”, a research project of the Comal Settlement Association and Schertz Historical Preservation Committee.

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The words “Keep your eye on the grand old flag” by George M. Cohan comes from Cohan’s song, “It’s a Grand Old Flag,” a stage musical he wrote over 100 years ago. It was 1906 to be exact. The song is second in popularity only to the National Anthem, particularly with children.

The stars and stripes flag is an icon of our democracy and the message is important to all who believe in freedom and bravery. On Tuesday, July 4^th , there will be plenty of flags waving on the Plaza because the Sophienburg Museum and Archives is once again holding a July 4^th Celebration on that day. A large crowd is expected, so get to the Plaza to find a place to watch the parade that starts at 9:15 am. You will also be entertained by the Community Band and a fly-over is expected.

Now, please allow me to repeat a July 4^th article that first appeared in the Herald-Zeitung in 1907.

Patriotic celebration part of NB lore

“Stars and Stripes Forever.” Thirty-seven stars, that is, for in 1876 when the United States commemorated the 100th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, New Braunfels celebrated a glorious old-fashioned 4^th of July. There is an article in the Sophienburg archives translated from German by historian Oscar Haas from the Neu Braunfelser Zeitung describing that centennial celebration. Here’s how New Braunfels celebrated in the “old days:”

Citizens went all out to show their patriotism. (German Texans have been doing that ever since, which was a little difficult during the two world wars with Germany). Houses and businesses were decorated for the two-day celebration with flags and wreaths of cedar and mountain laurel. The New Braunfels Academy (Mill Street) displayed a giant slate over its door on which was written in German: “Public schools cultivate loyal citizens.”

There were four triumphal arches downtown close to the plaza and a giant picture of George Washington displayed at the Zeitung printing shop.

The spot chosen for the festive events was in Comaltown where Eagles Hall is now located. A dance platform had been constructed as well as tables and chairs shaded by the beautiful graceful oak trees.

On the eve of the celebration, a cannon on Sophienburg Hill was fired 13 times in commemoration of the 13 original colonies. At the break of day on the 4^th, people were awakened by the rapid firing of the cannon, followed by trumpets heralding the beginning of the festivities (no sleeping in on that 4^th).

Soon thereafter, the Hortontown Germania Singing Society on saddled horses, and the Clear Springs Band on a decorated wagon, entered the town and were escorted up Seguin Avenue and San Antonio Street by the New Braunfels Band.

And now began a history parade of unprecedented magnitude. Headed by parade marshal F.B. Hoffmann, the pageant played itself out. In Spanish costume came Columbus (Valentin Pfeuffer) and his faithful Fernando (Bruno Voelcker). Then came George Washington (Johann Merz), followed next by a company of National Militia and finally prisoners of war in red uniforms representing English soldiers. At their side marched the boy drummer, one arm bandaged and a bullet riddled drum slung over his back.

Next, came the Liberty Bell float drawn by four beautiful white horses. There sat John Hancock, surrounded by John Adams, Robert Livingston, Robert Sherman, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin who presented the Declaration of Independence.

Then came floats of early New Braunfels pioneer years; Indians crouched in bushes spying on Prince Carl and next to him guards von Coll and von Wrede. Under a tree sat a pioneer mother and her family. Four Adelsverein soldiers hired by the Prince to protect the immigrants were played by sons of four men who were actually the original soldiers.

Miss Anna Rennert, as the Goddess of Liberty, was seated on a pedestal with 37 young ladies seated at her feet clad in white with blue sashes representing each US state.

The next two sections in the parade were from various organizations in town, followed by business floats, two of which were particularly interesting. The New Braunfels Woolen Factory had a loom powered from a wheel on the wagon demonstrating weaving and the Zeitung had a printing press with editor Anselm Eiband printing out “Song of 1776” to be distributed later.

Halting at the Plaza for photographs, the procession crossed the low water bridge and up the hill to Comaltown. After an opening speech by Hermann Seele, the festivities began and in the evening George Washington led the Grand March. Dancing on both days didn’t end until sunup. What stamina they had!

Stay tuned

On Sunday, July 2^nd at 9 am, Tara Kohlenberg, Linda Dietert and Joanna Lewis will speak on the Sophienburg’s Reflection Program about the July 4^th Celebration. They will fill you in on history and give you personal stories of what they remember about that date here in New Braunfels.

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