By Myra Lee Adams Goff

Shortly after the immigrants arrived in New Braunfels in 1845, small communities sprang up in the outer reaches of Comal County. Settlers were interested in good farmland which was available in the area. One of these small communities was called Ufnau, located in the western area of Comal County off of present Hwy 46. The community began in 1858.

By 1872, the settlement found a need for a school for their children. Several families purchased a four acre plot from Ludewig Moeglin for $1.00. That sort of thing was possible in those days. Those that negotiated with Moeglin were Henry Wehe, Charles Georg, Louis Beuche, Phillip Wagner, Christian Hanz, William Haas, Frank Ahrens, and Fredrick Foerster.

A small rock one room school building was built of coursed limestone. A fireplace with chimney heated the room. Shortly after this room was built, a cedar log room with caliche chinking was added to the west side. The attic above was floored and probably used for storage. Kerosene lamps were used for light. Nearby a log teacherage was built for the school’s first teacher, Phillip Stroeck. Outside a storm cellar was built east of the schoolhouse. A large bell called the students to school in the morning.

Fast forward to 1931 when a well-known New Braunfels educator, Werner Rahe, taught at Ufnau. In 1936 he transferred to New Braunfels Schools and eventually became principal of Lone Star School. Interestingly, Rahe’s father, William Rahe, took his son’s place at Ufnau after his son left. William taught there until 1940, at which time his brother, Ernest Rahe, began teaching there. Many Rahes lived in the teacherage.

As with many other one room schoolhouses, Ufnau along with other small schools was consolidated into the Bulverde Rural High School District in 1945 and was no longer used after that year.

The property was sold to Mrs. Reuben Bagby in 1952 and she sold it to Mr. and Mrs. Buddy Wolfe in 1966. They were devoted to the restoration of both buildings. Also salvaged at that time was a back gate through which children rode their horses to school and the large bell which still stands in the shade of an old oak tree.

Time once again took its toll on the property and in 2003 the present owners became Wallace and Margaret Brumley. A massive restoration project began. The bell, the gate leading to the school and the double doors were intact. Inside the school, a 1910 wood stove was converted to electric and in the teacherage a 1932 cast iron General Electric refrigerator was restored. In the school house, the Brumleys began collecting furnishings typical of the old one room school house. An old teacher’s desk and old student’s desks fill the room along with a collection of old books, one dating back to the 1700s.

One question remains: Where did the name Ufnau come from? One thing that is known is that Ufnau (Ufenau) is an island in the middle of Lake Zurich in Switzerland. It is also known that many of the original inhabitants of the Texas Ufnau were of German-Swiss origin. Did they decide to name the area after a well-known landmark in Switzerland? Did they decide like so many immigrant groups to name the area after the area in which they lived? Remember the Prince Carl named New Braunfels after Braunfels, Germany.

Here’s what we know about Ufnau Island in the middle of Lake Zurich: By the second century A.D. a Roman temple was built on the island. Then by the eighth century the first Christian church was built. Two centuries later, a Swiss duchess named Reginlinde, suffering from leprosy, retired to the island. Isolation was a common practice for lepers.

In 965 A.D. Emperor Otto the Great gave the island to the Benedictine Abbey of Einsiedeln. It was Otto’s wife who was the grandchild of Reginlinde. Reginlinde had built a larger sacred building (St. Martin’s) next to the original abbey. Reginlinde died there on the island of Ufnau and is buried on the grounds of the abbey. Her son, Monk Adalrich, was named the parish priest. By 970 A.D. there were two churches on the island, the church of Sts. Peter and Paul and the Chapel St. Martins.

As time went by, other churches sprang up on the shores of Lake Zurich and the parish of Ufnau lost its importance. Historically, every year a pilgrimage of people on barges go to the island. The island has become a popular tourist destination.

The concept of the one-room schoolhouse worked for the time it existed. All students and all subjects were taught by one teacher. My 1938 through 1950 school experience was totally different. In elementary school, there was one room and one teacher for each grade and in high school, there was a specialized teacher for each subject in different rooms. We don’t even know what the school of tomorrow will bring. Technology has entered the classroom. Changes are inevitable.

The Brumley’s property is not open to the public but they have hosted groups from Switzerland and groups of individuals that have a connection to the old school. They are to be complimented on their historic restoration and teaching us all about the days of the little one-room schoolhouse.

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

Have you ever tugged at a loose thread only to find that the thread was not really loose, resulting in an irritating unraveling of sorts? I recently pulled at said “loose thread,” but the odd “thread” that I pulled exposed a beautiful tapestry with a surprising outcome. Last month, I wrote about the beautiful cut limestone house in Comaltown built by Johann Georg Moeller (spelled with an OE) that was finished in 1866. The home was purchased in 1881 by Johannes Mueller (spelled with a UE). When I checked it out to make sure that it wasn’t just a mix up of vowels, I found a whole lot more.

Who was Johannes Mueller spelled with a “UE”? Johann or Johannes, the German form of John, was a common name. There are a ton of Johns in the world, and so it was with Johannes. This particular Johannes Mueller was born November 22, 1823, in Welsch-Neudorf, Nassau (Germany). He, along with who may have been his maternal uncle and family (Stendebach), set sail for a new life in September 1845 aboard the Ship Auguste Meline. At the ripe old age of 22, he arrived in Galveston on December 9, 1845, and made his way to New Braunfels, in what were the waning days of the Republic of Texas.

About that same time, a young woman by the name of Maria Magdelena Rheinlander arrived in Galveston on the Barque B. Bohen, December 22, 1845, with a man destined to become her husband. She wed Gottlieb Heldberg in New Braunfels in May of 1846, but her “happily-ever-after” was short-lived. Gottlieb was killed by Indians in August 1847 when Magdelena was pregnant with their daughter, Anna. Johannes and Magdelena met in 1847 and married in December 1848.

Johannes appeared to be an ambitious soul. In his first years in Texas, Johannes engaged in the freight hauling business. Freight by wagon was the only way to get goods into and out of New Braunfels for a number of years since the railroads did not arrive until 1880. Johannes was in business with Mr. John Halm until 1869 before dissolving the partnership. Besides the freight business, Johannes had opened a store, which was known as the Hannes Mueller Store selling dry goods, groceries, shoes, boots, and cutlery to name a few things.

The store, located on the corner of Main Plaza and San Antonio Street, was a two-story structure which later became the Streuer Brothers. When I was young, it was the site of the United Gas Company (now Entex) and eventually a bank building (Guaranty State Bank, Mbank and Moody Bank). Like many store owners in 19th-century New Braunfels, the Hannes Mueller family lived on the second floor above the Hannes Mueller Store (and there were a lot of people in that family).

Hannes really had his fingers in a bit of everything. While still involved with the freight company, he also served as both town Marshall and County Treasurer from September 1863 to July of 1865. In his later years, he was elected city Alderman (precursor to our city council members) from April 1881 to October 1883.

He somehow earned the nickname “MuellerHannes”. Literally translated it would be “MuellerJohnny”. MuellerHannes was said to be a very humorous man. His friends told many anecdotes about him. One of his friends was Anselm Eiband, editor and publisher of the New-Braunfelser Zeitung. He printed his anecdotes about MuellerHannes in the newspaper. Nice friends.

Johannes had developed quite the business acumen and accrued quite a bit of land in their lifetimes. In 1881, they bought the beautiful rock home in Comaltown and six adjacent lots. In 1882, their son, Henry, joined the family business. They also sold two acres of land west of town to the trustees of Three Mile School. It later became Lone Star School in 1901.

Johannes and Magdelena shared 62 anniversaries (62!) together. He died in 1908 at the age of 85 and she, the following year at 82. Their lives and the lives of their thirteen children, 59 grandchildren, and 26 great-grandchildren played out in the newspapers: births, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, deaths, funerals. It was the long listing of their family members at each gathering that caught my eye. I know those names. I know those people. In the story about the Moeller House, I told how the youngest Mueller daughter, Emma, married a grandson of Georg Moeller. What I did not tell you was that Johannes and Magdelena’s third child, daughter Marie, born 1853, who married Theodor Meckel, is my great, great grandmother. Little did I know I was writing my own family history when I first started the Moeller House story. Pulling the thread that leads to another branch of your family tree is pretty cool. And very addicting.

The Sophienburg Archives is an absolute gold mine for finding things like this. Even if you use Ancestry.com, there are things found in the Red Family Surname Books and the hanging files that most people don’t know about. And if you are working on a family history, I would strongly recommend giving a copy to the Archives, both for safe-keeping and as a resource for others. Digital records/photos may be great, but paper documents are priceless.

Sources: Sophienburg Archives: Red Family Surname Books; Rural Schools and Teachers of Comal County, Texas, 1854-1956; Alton J. Rahe.

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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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