By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

As a child, were you ever told that wanting a special toy or dress or bike would land the whole family on the poor farm? I’m not sure it was said specifically to me, but I have heard it said. I wondered where these farms were and who had to go there, but never really got an answer, until now. Did you know that New Braunfels had a poor farm? I certainly didn’t, and I grew up here.

I think the farm location shocked me the most. A farm. In town. Okay, it was actually located in Comal Town, close to what is now Landa Park, but only a mile and a half from Main Plaza. The area was rural farmland when the county commissioners created it, and Comal Town was not part of New Braunfels. Let’s start over.

As long as people have inhabited the earth, there have been people of lesser means – the indigent or poor people. Many were poor because of unfortunate circumstances, illness or old age. Continental Europe followed Spanish traditions where families and the church charities were responsible for helping the needy. Within English society, responsibility for care of the poor was given to local authorities and families, but with government oversight.

Pauper care in Texas was rooted in Spanish tradition that expected the church, charities and families to care for the needy. The churches did the best they could. With the formation of the Republic of Texas 1836, care for those in need changed to a system rooted in English poor law. The new republic enacted laws that organized courts and defined their duties. One law specified that it was the “duty of said board of commissioners to provide at the expense of the county, for the support of indigent, lame, and blind persons, who are unable to support themselves.” Support came as both outside support (money to help them in their homes) or inside, which meant living in an almshouse or on a poor farm. After Texas gained statehood, the act was modified in 1846 to include a provision for responsibility of pauper burials.

Those who came to Texas from Europe banked all they had to make a new life in this wonderful land. The risk was high and there was no Plan B. If things went wrong, they were in trouble. Illness, snake bites, childbirth, even riding a horse could create a traumatic change of events. Losing a spouse to childbirth or illness often split up families. Those with frailties, no means of support and advanced age were sent to the poor farm and children went to an orphanage. The indigent of early New Braunfels were usually widows or of very advanced age. They were granted support of about $6 monthly.

After the Civil War, there was much suffering that churches and charities could hardly keep up. The Texas Constitution, amended in 1869, provided for the establishment of the county labor poorhouses. It was not until 1897 that Comal County Comissioners voted to establish a poor farm in New Braunfels. They voted to purchase fourteen acres of land from Louis Moeller for $1350. The land was located in the vicinity of the Landa Estates, bordered by Market (now Torrey), LibertyAvenue, Mulberry Avenue and the Comal River. The county authorized the building of three houses of board and batten construction. The houses were located on Lots No. 74 & 82 up front on Market. Mr. George Lang was hired to be the manager of the poor farm. He was allowed to live rent-free in the middle house and was expected to feed all of the paupers sent to the farm on 20 cents per day. Approximately eleven and a half acres of the property was leased back to Mr. Moeller for cultivation.

The poor farm continued to operate over the years in spite the MKT Railroad cutting through the property. Albert Marion was manager for twenty-four years. After his death in 1934, his nephew Milton C. Marion took the job. The poor farm had been very important in helping many people make it through the depression, being able to work and support the families.

In 1934, the Social Security Act changed indigent care forever and the need began to dwindle. I could still find M.C. Marion was listed as poor farm manager in 1940, but not after that. In 1936, Harry Landa sold his park to the City and the Landa Estates developed on property that was once poor farm. People still resided in the old poor farm houses in the ‘40s and ‘50s.

Time moved on and in 1961 the City County Health Department took up residence in one of the white board and batten Torrey Street houses. If you had to get vaccinations or health cards between 1961 and 1974, that is where you went. At the same time, the county warehouse occupied barns on the same poor farm property between the railroad and Torrey Street. After the Health Department moved to the old Naval Reserve building on Comal Street, the County Probation department had some programs there. The two-acre poor farm property changed hands in 1980 when Henk Paving moved in. The last board and batten structure was recently destroyed to make way for parking.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives; https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1467&context=ita

Caption: Map indicating the location of the Comal County Poor Farm

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Margarethe Schertz was only 12 years old when she came to Texas with her parents in 1844. If she were alive today, she could tell us a story and a half about Texas, Comal County, and especially New Braunfels. It’s a unique story of an apparently strong woman.

Just like the Germans that left their homeland for a better life in Texas, another group from Riedisheim, the Alsatian Providence of France, emigrated. Both groups were looking for opportunities in Texas after facing economic problems. Conditions were even worse in Alsacian France, and allegiance to the monarchy was foremost to any idea of freedom.

A book called Schertz compiled by the Schertz Historical Preservation Committee stated that the Industrial Revolution brought wealth to the French upper class but extreme poverty to farmers. Between 1842 and 1869 thousands left the area and came to Texas. Opening new markets was one of the goals that the immigrants hoped would happen as a result of colonization.

When Texas became a republic in 1836, money and people to settle were scarce. Gen. James Hamilton, land commissioner for the republic, appointed Henri Castro to handle land sales. Castro, a successful French businessman managed a land grant sale. Castro’s ethical business reputation was in question in Texas and France. He recruited all over France but was not successful. Eventually, he signed up the number of colonists to make the trip to Texas from Alsace and Germany. In 1843, the 129 Castro recruits left Antwerp, Belgium on their way to Texas.

Margarethe Schertz, with her father Joseph Schertz and his wife Anna Marie, plus six of her unmarried siblings boarded the ship to Texas. The Schertz family left four of their children in France, to join them later. Margarethe was the youngest child brought along. After a very difficult trip across the seas to Galveston, they were expecting to be met by Henri Castro. He was a no show and they realized they were on their own. They headed for the area of Castro’s land grant west of San Antonio. Many abandoned the group or settled near San Antonio but by spring of 1844, most were living in poverty at the San Antonio mission grounds. Seven members of the group died, including the mother and two children of the Schertz family. They remained camped at the old Alamo site for nearly a year.

Giving up hope of being rescued by Castro, the family decided to return to France. On the way back to the coast, they fatefully ran into Prince Carl, leader of the German Adelsverein group. He had just left San Antonio after purchasing the Comal Tract and he was on his way to the coast to be with the first group of immigrants. The prince was sympathetic to the Castro group and invited two of the families to join him. One of the families was that of Joseph Schertz.

When the Schertz family joined the first group of German immigrants, they were led to the site of New Braunfels by Adelsverein Treasurer Jean Jacques von Coll. He becomes significant in the life of Margarethe Schertz later in the story.

The first founding families that arrived in New Braunfels prompted the drawing of lots. The Schertz family was part of this drawing and the family also bought land in Comal County and at the Cibolo Creek where the creeks separate the county of Bexar from the county of Guadalupe. The word Cibolo means buffalo. The area was a favorite hunting ground of Native American tribes. Eventually the settlement at the Cibolo was called Schertz after the older brother of Margarethe Schertz, Sebastian Schertz. Other family members stayed in NB and the hill country.

How does Jean Jacques von Coll fit into this puzzle? He was chosen to lead the immigrants on their inland trek because he had been trained as a lieutenant in the Duchy of Nassau military before he decided to immigrate to Texas. His military background would help protect the immigrants against Indians. He was singled out by Prince Carl for this leadership role and he was put in charge of the safety of the immigrants. When he crossed the Guadalupe with the founders of the colony, he was considered a founder and given lot #25 on the Main Plaza. Here he built one of only two saloons in the colony. Saloons were very lucrative business. One of the lots he purchased later was an acre lot (30.9 acres) running from San Antonio St. to present Coll St.

I’m guessing that von Coll didn’t pay too much attention to 12-year-old Margarethe Schertz on the trip up from the coast, but five years later he must have noticed her. In 1849, they were married in the German Protestant Church. Two girls were born to the couple, Kathinka and Elizabeth. In 1852, von Coll was elected mayor of NB when tragedy occurred. A disturbed settler came into the saloon complaining about the Adelsverein. In true military fashion, von Coll challenged the man to a dual. When von Coll turned his back to get his weapons, the man grabbed von Coll’s gun and shot him in the back. The settler was tried but not convicted. Margarethe was left with the two girls to raise alone.

A new chapter enters her life in the form of Carl Heinrich Guenther, known as Heinrich Guenther. He was a well-known, established citizen of New Braunfels. Guenther had received a higher education at the University of Halls in Germany. Records say that he came to Texas following some trouble with the church for playing secular music. Heinrich Guenther’s education afforded him the opportunity to teach at the New Braunfels Academy. His love of music prompted him to be one of the early directors of the local singing society, the Germania which was established in 1850. He was very active in the state Saengerbund.

Heinrich Guenther married the widow Margarethe Schertz von Coll. They had six children of their own for a total of eight with her two. The family lived in the house at 624 Coll St. which still stands across the street from Carl Schurz Elementary School.

Heinrich began a brewery at the foot of Bridge St. on the Comal River. Some of the remains are still there today. When he died in 1870, Margarethe took over running the brewery. It is believed that she was the only female brewer in Texas. Both Margarethe and Heinrich are buried in the old New Braunfels Cemetery. On his headstone is a Latin phrase meaning “He was fond of children and a cultivator of the Muses.” A Texas Historical Marker commemorates Carl Heinrich Guenther in the New Braunfels cemetery.

Margarethe Schertz von Coll Guenther was a survivor and a true pioneer woman.

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