(Encore presentation — Originally appeared February 8, 2011)

By Myra Lee Adams Goff

Waggoners or Teamsters were important to early New Braunfels. They not only led the wagon trains of the early German settlers but they hauled freight to and from the frontier, especially the Gulf coast.

G. Fred Oheim, editor of the Zeitung’s Jahrbuch in 1943, named 340 teamsters who “transported merchandise to New Braunfels from Indianola, Lavaca, Victoria, Cuero, Kingsbury, Luling, Marion, Austin and San Antonio from 1860 to1877 for Ernst Sherff alone.”

Sherff was owner of a large merchandise business in New Braunfels that he purchased from Ferguson and Hessler in 1858. By that time, Waggoners were using mules to pull wagons. Sherff’s store later became Eiband and Fischer.

Oheim related that when there were no factories in Texas providing necessities of life and the state’s wealth consisted solely of produce off the land, transportation was an indispensable part of daily living.

Early Texas transportation consisted of ox-drawn wagons, then stagecoaches and finally railroads. One group started to build a railroad from San Antonio to Lavaca but the tracks were destroyed at Victoria during the Civil War.

In 1865-66, the U.S. Army placed that stretch in operation again. Before and after the Civil War and up until a hurricane wiped out Indianola in 1886, oxen and mule wagons hauled imported wares and food up to New Braunfels from the coast.

From the Southwestern Historical Quarterly, July 1955: The wagons had bodies shaped like sled runners drawn by four, five, or six oxen. “The Germans west of the Colorado had a better wagon and drove better mules. Like the desert caravans of old, they wound in long lines over the rolling plains.”

Poets like Fritz Goldbeck glamorized the Waggoner’s life. Mrs. Ernst Kapp in a letter written in 1850 and translated by Oscar Haas described the trip from Indianola to New Braunfels in glowing terms, like “green undulating prairies shimmering in the bright sun” and “from out of the distance slowly papering into view, long rows of heavy laden prairie schooners come rolling on”.

She describes wonderful food, and the men smoking short pipes engaged in conversation around the campfires. “Someone strikes up a song”. Then finally there is the sound of the whippoorwill.

Mrs. Kapp’s description sounds a lot more appealing than the other stories that I have read relating to the trek inland just five years earlier.

The first Waggoner of note in New Braunfels was George Ullrich who accompanied the first group of emigrants to New Braunfels and was named wagonmaster by Prince Carl. The Ullrich family was one of the few families that was already in Texas by the time the emigrants arrived.

Ullrich was born in Lindenau Meiningen in 1813. Family sources say he and Margaretha nee Decker were married in 1839 in New York City. Their first child was born in Frelsberg, Texas in 1842 and this is where they were living when Prince Carl was making arrangements to move the emigrants inland.

George Ullrich was consequently hired by the Adelsverein as the wagon master. He, along with his wife and 3-year-old child, guided the first group of emigrants from the coast to the interior. He subsequently guided the second group as well.

Oscar Haas has an interesting story in his History of New Braunfels and Comal County, Texas, 1844-1946. He states that “The story has it” that the first two women to cross the Guadalupe were Mrs. George Ullrich and Mrs. Frederick George Holekamp. Mrs. Ullrich crossed on the first wagon with her husband and Mrs. Holekamp crossed on horseback with Prince Carl.

The Ullrich family stayed in NB where he was elected a city alderman and sometime after 1850 was elected sheriff. Ullrich and his wife are both buried in the Adelsverein Cemetery.

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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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As far as New Braunfels history is concerned, the most important historic place is and always has been the Sophienburg Museum and Archives. This organization is now working on historic designations for the site of the Sophienburg Hill.

Here’s a thumbnail history of the place: In 1842 a group of German counts and princes met at Biebrich on the Rhine and formed the Adelsverein, or the Society for the Protection of German Immigration in Texas and later known as the German Emigration Company. Their purpose was to relieve over-population in Germany and establish a market for German goods. Besides, the newly established Republic of Texas was very generous in awarding land to immigrant agents.

A member of the Adelsverein, Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels, was chosen as commissioner-general to go to Texas to buy land. He was born in 1812 near Braunfels in Hanover, Germany. He was definitely an aristocrat trained in the military. After several failed attempts at purchasing suitable land, he bought the Comal Tract from the Juan Veramendi heirs, sight unseen for $1,111. By this time, the emigration movement back in Germany was well on its way and the first emigrants from Germany had arrived on the Texas coast.

On March 21, 1845, Prince Carl and the first group of immigrants to Texas crossed the Guadalupe River. He helped the settlers set up their temporary location on the cliffs overlooking the Dry Comal Creek where the Sts. Peter and Paul Church property is now located.

Needing a separate area for a fort and headquarters of the Adelsverein, he chose a plot of land on a slightly elevated hill south of the township. “South” in the 1840s referred to the area that we now describe as the land on the south side of Academy Street. This plot of land was known as the Vereinsberg. In German, Verein means “organization” and “berg” means “hill”. Nicholas Zink, an engineer, was chosen by Prince Carl to plat the land of the town and set up land for the headquarters of the Adelsverein.

Prince Carl named the proposed building that was to be on this property “Sophienburg.” Notice the spelling. Since “berg” in Vereinsberg means hill and “burg” means castle, a confusion was born about the property being berg or burg. Obviously the prince had a dream of a castle for his intended back in Germany, Princess Sophia of Salm-Salm.

Prince Carl wanted to build a burg on a berg. She rejected the berg and the burg because she never came to Texas. Enough already!

On the Vereinsberg, the Prince resided in a hut of woven branches until a double block house could be built by the Smith brothers of Seguin.

Dr. Ferdinand Roemer described these first buildings this way: “All the houses of the Verein officers lay on a hill which arose to a height of eighty feet in the immediate rear of the city. The most prominent house was a one-story wooden building about fifty feet long, whose shingle-covered roof supported the pillars projecting on both sides, thus forming a gallery. It contained three rooms, a large middle room or hall and a small room on each side.” He further stated that the middle room was the assembly hall and dining room and furnished as a pleasant resort.

Two large folding doors opened to the north and south, allowing a gentle wind to circulate freely through the building. The view from the north side looked out over the scattered houses in the town and the forested hills in the background. The view from the south was uninhabited prairieland. This first building was located on the property where the present Sophienburg Museum is located.

In back of this main building was another house containing a kitchen and the dwellings of several petty officers of the Verein. Close by was another log house for the men who had charge of the Verein’s mules and horses. There was a pen made of strong posts for the animals. Across the pen another log house served as a magazine and warehouse.

Magazine Street as we know it, was named after the Verein’s magazine which housed the ammunition.

Immediately behind the buildings was a gentle open pasture which served as a common pasture for horses and cattle of the residents of New Braunfels.

Prince Carl left to go back home to Germany on May 15, 1845. Before he left, he celebrated a lavish dedication for the Sophienburg. He supposedly laid a cornerstone, which, incidentally has never been found. He drew a furrow in the earth where he felt the headquarters building should be built. It never was. During the ceremony, salutes were fired from the four cannons and in the absence of a German flag, the flag of Austria was raised. Meanwhile, down on the Plaza, settlers assembled and raised the Republic of Texas flag. They then organized two companies for the purpose of protecting the settlers against Indian raids. Was this an indication that the settlers were really rejecting the aristocracy? The Austrian flag flew where the aristocrats were partying on the hill and the Republic of Texas flag was flown by the settlers on the plaza.

Prince Carl was only in New Braunfels during this trip from March 21 to May15, 1845, a little over two months. Did he want to get back to Princess Sophia or get away from the financial woes that were building in the colony? The Verein had heavy expenditures which resulted from advancing money to a great number of immigrants in New Braunfels, the transport from the coast, and salaries for the officers and officials.

John O. Meusebach was chosen to take the place of Prince Carl and when he arrived, the Prince had already left. When Meusebach looked for a castle (burg) he found instead a double log cabin on a hill (berg). You see, even Meusebach was confused about the berg or burg.

Meusebach discovered that the Verein had a $19,000 debt. He inherited a great financial problem and the settlers were not happy with the situation. An insurrection in New Braunfels took place where a mob armed with clubs and pistols came up the Vereinsberg to Meusebach’s headquarters and demanded him to fulfill the promises made to the colonists. Resolutions were made but financial problems continued.

The Adelsverein eventually declared bankruptcy and various lands were liquidated including the Hill property.

Over the years the property known as the Hill underwent many owners, many mortgages and litigations. Eventually the property belonged to Johanna Runge of Travis County who sold it to the Sophienburg Memorial Association in 1926. S.V. Pfeuffer, president of the association, bought the property from Mrs. Runge for $5,000. And what happened to the main building? Christian Klinger, an original settler, lived there selling small goods and telling stories until the building collapsed in 1886 as a result of the storm that destroyed Indianola.

These excerpts are from Fritz Goldbeck’s poem, “The Sophienburg” was translated by Ingrid M. Ingle:

The prince was not a business man
He wanted the best for his people
That was unusual
The upper class is not always like that

For that he was not forgotten
Even so he rests long since in his grave.
His monument can still be seen
Here in the prairie country.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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