By Simon V. Simek —

Six score years ago to this very week of January, a story appeared in the English-language New Braunfels Herald, while the German-language paper, Neu-Braunfelser Zeitung, had run the story the previous week. They both detailed an interesting and puzzling report about how a meeting hall dedication party on Christmas night 1905, turned into a murder mystery. It was not a whodunit but a “why did they do it?”

The articles in our town’s papers were not the only ones, as various local outfits picked up the story across Texas, such as the Bryan Morning Eagle and the Galveston Tribune. Despite all of this coverage, there are still many questions left unanswered about why the incident occurred. It seems that in the early hours of Dec. 26, 1905, a heated argument ended with Mrs. Minnie Ramsey shot in the shoulder, Mr. Robert White having fired the gun, Mr. Horace Clark holding the gun after taking it from Robert, and Frank Garrison, a known peace-loving man, gut-shot and dying. Mrs. Ramsey, wife to Willie Ramsey, would survive the ordeal, but Mr. Frank Garrison, the long-time employee of state politician and Sophienburg President Somers. V. Pfueffer, would not recover from his injuries.

Horace Clark, Robert White, and Tom Clark, the father of Horace, were all immediately jailed following the incident. This was not Tom’s first time behind bars, as he and his family were infamous for their reported run-ins with the law and Sheriff Nowotny. He was released, but his son Horace was then charged with the murder of Frank Garrison, and his bond was set at $1,000 (around $35,000 today adjusted for inflation). Meanwhile, Rob White was charged with the assault on Minnie Ramsey and was bonded for $500. Making matters more interesting is the fact that Horace would go on to marry a Louisa “Leah” Ramsey in 1919. Leah Ramsey’s cousin John Branch and his family lived right next door to Minnie Ramsey’s husband, Willie Ramsey, when he was a child. The Herald-dubbed “shooting scrape” was widely reported, and was quite the talk of the town in the first months of 1906 here in New Braunfels, especially as the townsfolk awaited the coming trials in February.

While the shooting leaves many questions unanswered, the trials that followed leave even more answers to be desired. The trials began in February 1906, and despite high public interest, there is almost no official record of what was said, what evidence was presented, or what witnesses were brought forward. No official court documents or transcripts of the trials have been located, and there is no mention of the trials in either the Comal County Law Library or at the State Archives in Austin. The only official records that could be located are from a microfilm roll labeled as District Court Minutes, which provide brief details about the trials, including the defendant’s name, plea, verdict, and sentencing.

While information is limited on the unfolding of the trials, evidence of their results is still very well documented. Horace Clark’s trial ended with his sentencing to five years behind bars in Huntsville for the second-degree murder of Frank Garrison. This may indicate a lenient sentence, because next to the original article covering the shooting incident in the Dec. 28 edition of the Zeitung was the story of 78-year-old Comal County man Mat Porter, who was sentenced to 1,000 years in prison for rustling cattle. Robert White was also found guilty, despite appeal, of assault with intent to murder for the wounding of Mrs. Ramsey in the shoulder, and was sentenced to three years in state prison.

Almost immediately following these trials, Judge L.W. Moore recalled 35 of the witnesses who had testified in the two cases before the grand jury. The San Antonio Daily Light quoted him as declaring “he had never in all his official career listened to so much lying as was displayed.” Tom Clark Sr. was once again under suspicion, as was Horace’s younger brother Ananias Clark. Addie White and Viola White, relatives of Robert, were also investigated for perjury. While the Whites’ charges were dropped, Ananias was found guilty of perjury and sentenced to two years of incarceration, and Tom was sentenced to five years. The Clarks were joined by Charles Jones who was also found guilty of perjury and sentenced to three years. All were to serve their time with Horace and Robert in Huntsville.

They all arrived within a few days of each other and were logged into the state prison’s record book.

The prison noticed that 61-year-old Tom had several scars and had stubs on each hand where a sixth finger once was. In prison, none of the five men would serve their full sentences, as Robert White, Horace Clark, and Charles Jones were discharged early. Ananias Clark was pardoned by Texas Gov. Thomas Mitchell Campbell in October 1907 just a few months before his full sentence would end. Later that year, the governor inquired about Ananias when Comal County Attorney H.G. Henne went for an official visit. Henne was pleased to tell him that Ananias returned well, and was to be married that very day. Ananias’ father, Tom, would not be so lucky, as he would die of pneumonia in June of 1907, serving just over a year of his five-year sentence.

Besides Frank Garrison and Tom Clark, who both in the end fell victim to the shooting and its repercussions, the other involved parties went on to make successful lives for themselves and for their families. The town moved on. The story concluded and labeled old news, pushed to the side, and put away. What was lost, however, is what caused all of this: the argument, the shooting of Mrs. Ramsey, Horace taking the gun, the killing of Frank, the perjury and lying, and ultimately the debate within the courtroom. And while we may all come up with our own ideas and theories about the reasons, the unfortunate reality is we may never know the truth.

Sources: New Braunfels Herald, New Braunfels Zeitung, San Antonio Daily Express, Bryan Morning Eagle, Austin Statesman, San Antonio Daily Light, Galveston Tribune, District Court Minutes, Federal Census Records (1880, 1890, 1900, 1910), Huntsville Prison Records.

“Around the Sophienburg” is published every other weekend in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

Researching your family? Maybe you want to know about who lived in/owned your home? The Sophienburg Museum and Archives has resources to help you!

Research, of any subject, is basically detective work — analyzing the available records, searching through assembled stories and examining photographs and maps. The Sophienburg has been collecting these kinds of resources for more than 92 years and our staff can assist you in your quest.

So how do we begin the process? At the Sophienburg, we usually start with a surname or a location. If you are researching a property, we look for clues in the phonebooks and city directories. Our telephone book collection goes back to 1906. That’s pretty early in the telephone age. New Braunfels had 7,008 citizens in the 1900 U.S. Census; only 101 phone numbers appear in the 1906 telephone book and many of these are business numbers.

To use a phonebook, you look things up by name or subject. A city directory adds to our chances of finding facts because it also lists by street. For instance, you can look up your home by its address. The directory, depending on the year, can tell you who lives there, what they do, what race they are, if they are renting or own, and other information. The city directory is a little like the census and phone book combined only it is published more than once every 10 years.

City directories were first printed for large cities in Europe in the 16th century. Philadelphia was the first US city to have a directory (1785), followed by New York. The early directories were published by independent publishers who relied on advertisements to fund them. Consequently, most of the listings are from tradesmen and businesses instead of people.

The Sophienburg’s earliest New Braunfels City Directory is 1931 followed by 1940 and 1952-53. Directories from the 1960s-1990s are also available. With the directories, we can trace who lived at a specific address and when residency changed. Each resident change gives us new names to follow for more information. We also find out who their neighbors were, and can sometimes trace the demographic changes in the neighborhood. More property information from the Comal County Clerk’s office is available online.

Following names is how we find out the stories that are associated with your family or your property. As an example, we are currently researching some ranch property for a family who have a log-built structure on their place. By using the resources available to both them and the Sophienburg, we can take their property all the way back to Republic of Texas days (1836-1846). We can find this information by using the Texas General Land Office records, also online. Their property is located on land granted to men who fought in the Texas Revolution. I have a New Braunfels First Founder in my family and on the TxGLO website I found scans of the original German immigrant land granted to my family — if only we still had it!

The Sophienburg has over 500 genealogies of New Braunfels and Comal County names. These are bound volumes of family genealogy that were generated by museum personnel and family members before Ancestry, Family Search and other databases. These volumes contain wonderful anecdotal information which is really what makes your ancestors come alive.

Along with the family histories, the Sophienburg Archives has an almost complete collection of the German-language newspaper Neu-Braunfelser Zeitung (1852-1957), the New Braunfels Herald (1895-1957) and the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung (1957 to present day). These are all on microfilm and can be referenced at the Sophienburg by appointment.

The German Zeitung was painstakingly indexed by volunteers prior to 2000. It can be searched by name or by subject. Of course, the articles will be in German. But that’s okay, because some of us can still read German and, if necessary, you can Google translate it. Newspaper articles will include birth, marriage and death information, as well as everyday occurrences in local, state, national and world news. We are unique in having an overlap in two languages — news is reported with different perspectives. The New Braunfels Herald and the Herald- Zeitung can also be accessed online at the New Braunfels Public Library’s digital newspaper archive.

The Sophienburg Photograph Collection has over half a million images of New Braunfels and the surrounding area. These images (prints, negatives and slides) span the history of New Braunfels and Comal County from the early 1860s to present day. The Photograph Collection illustrates people, homes, city streets, businesses, and farms. It immortalizes city and cultural events and celebrations like parades, festivals and weddings. The collection includes most of the negatives of the Seidel/Braunfels Studio which photographed city and citizens from the 1920s thru the 1970s. The collection is widely used by people searching for old family members, authors needing illustrations, homeowners wanting views of their property and businesses looking for images of New Braunfels in the old days. Copies can be purchased for use and display.

The Sophienburg’s Archive Collection includes early hand-drawn maps and later printed maps of the city, certain neighborhoods, and the county. We have several Sanborn Fire Insurance maps which wonderfully show the evolution of buildings and homes as they rise, are renovated and then replaced. These are my favorite because they include details of building construction, materials and even where the outhouses and wells were located. Other maps in the collection show topographical information which, when it rains again, will show why your street tends to flood after an inch or two.

The Sophienburg welcomes you to come and research in our spacious reading room. There will always be a friendly staff member available to help you find what you are looking for. Well, you might not find ALL you want to know. Research, like detective work, seldom finds all the answers to all our questions. However, it is really fun to try!

To do research, please contact The Sophienburg at 830-629-1572 during office hours (Tuesday–Saturday, 9 a.m,–4 p.m.) to make an appointment. Daily fee for the Archives is $25 and includes our helpful personnel and admission to the Exhibit Floor. If you need more time, your fee can easily be rolled into an individual membership that allows you unlimited entry to the archives for just $50 per year.

See you in the stacks!

“Around the Sophienburg” is published every other weekend in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

After months of media hoopla over presidential candidates and elections results, I thought it might be nice to share a fun old news story. As often happens, I found a photo. It was of three men and a shot-up old car. What? The search for answers was on.

I pulled the original Seidel negative records and found my first clues. Scratched in pencil were three names: Ed Schleyer, C. Marion, A. Knetsch, and the words “3 bandits”. I knew that Knetsch had been the Sheriff around these parts back in the 30s, and that Schleyer was a deputy and C. Marion had been Comal County Jailor. I headed straight for the newspaper microfilm collection. If you don’t know about this resource, you need to come by and check it out. Nestled among the more than 200 boxes of microfilm reels I located roll 20 of the Neu Braunfelser Zeitung and roll 11 of the New Braunfels Herald; these rolls included the January 1933 editions that should tell me the story.

You would think that I would start with the English edition of the Herald, but as it turned out I put the German Zeitung in the reader first. My technique for reading the German language is to scan for key words — in this case, the names of the three men and the words drei and auto — this pretty much works for me every time. By the 1930s, the Zeitung is carrying “front page” news like most newspapers as well as the Locales (local news) section. I always try these pages first and sure enough, there in column one of page one under Texanisches (Texas news) I found an article taken from the Austin Wochenblatt which recounted a robbery. Here is the translation.

Long before daybreak, three men barged into the room of Julian Rankins apartment in Austin, shackled him with strips of his bedsheet and robbed him of $350 in cash and a valuable diamond ring. After the men left, he made his way over to the window and pulled the tassels of the curtain cord with his teeth. With the drapes opened, he saw the bandits get into a car which had a “big white stripe” on the back. Mr. Rankins freed himself, called the police, and then took off after them in his own car.

When he arrived in New Braunfels and came to the square, he ran into Sheriff Knetsch who smiled and informed him that he already had Mr. Rankins money, ring AND the bandits. As soon as Knetsch had received word of the robbery he and his assistants were on the highway to Austin. A car with a “big white stripe” sped past them. They turned and gave chase through New Braunfels and proceeded southwest to Seguin. They followed it, and one of the flying bullets hit the gas tank and another one perforated the hip of Joe Hobrecht from San Antonio He and his cronies surrendered.

Well, as exciting as this German account of the robbery was, I wondered if the English Herald had picked up the story. Putting the next reel of microfilm in the reader I was pleasantly surprised to find the story also on the front page — this time, it included my bullet-ridden car photo! The Herald, not quite as stoic in its recounting of the story (not surprising), concentrated on the previous records of the felons and the thrilling apprehension of them by Sheriff Knetsch. Just listen to this wonderful example of journalistic fervor.

“…after a spectacular running gun battle early Friday…the officers, Sheriff Knetsch, Schleyer and Marion had chased them about six miles. The chase started when the officers attempted to stop the three men about three miles north of New Braunfels on the Austin highway … after following the men at a mile-a-minute clip through Milltown and out on the Seguin highway almost to the Guadalupe County line with bullets from the pursued men’s revolvers whizzing by the officers at various intervals, the chase came to an abrupt end after the bandits’ car had been riddled with buckshot and rifle bullets and the gas tank perforated. About $350 in cash taken from the victim, Julius Rankins, was recovered together with several valuable diamonds amounting to about $2000.”

Sounds like a scene right out of a vintage gangster film, right? I can so see the robbers hanging out of the roll-down windows, revolvers in hand, bullets flying through the space between the two speeding vehicles. The lawmen, wielding

a rifle and shotguns, spraying the car in front of them with lead. Then, the hit in the gas tank and the bad guy’s car swerving and skidding to a stop in a ditch at the roadside. Talk about an adrenaline rush!

Thank you, New Braunfels Herald, for describing the scene in such vivid detail. Now, my random photo makes sense. If you look closely, you will find our three heroes, Sheriff August Knetsch, Deputy Ed Schleyer and Jailor Charles Marion, standing beside the bullet-ridden gangster car — with a long scratch above the back bumper. Yes, people, there it is — the “big white stripe” that solved the case!

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives: Neu Braunfelser Zeitung and New Braunfels Herald newspaper collections; Seidel negative collection (S331-016)

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