True Crime Series: ”Latro & Homicida” — The Joseph Wersdoerfer Incident
By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — Let me tell you the story of First Founder Joseph Wersdoerfer. He came to Texas with the Adelsverein on board the brig Ferdinand in 1844. He travelled from Hahn, Nassau, with his wife, Anna nee Schmidt and two children. Joseph received Town Lot #8 on West San Antonio Street just […]
New Braunfels has seen several daring jailbreaks
By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — I recently found a note in Oscar Haas’s archive collection, “Zeitung, Thursday, July 6, 1899. Use story some time concerning a jailbreak.” He never published the story. I felt like he was “speaking from the grave” and I should look into it. The first purpose-built Comal County Jail was a […]
True Crime Series: The Sam King Story
By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — The cool-headed, businesslike determination of the mob which killed King; the fact that the assault, for which he paid the penalty, was attempted within 100 yards of where the little girl’s father and mother were seated on their front lawn; the confession of King to the Sheriff and to a […]
Early jails in New Braunfels
By Myra Lee Adams Goff — According to stories of the Old West, suspected criminals were shot or hung. No jail was necessary. Then as people became more civilized, there arose a doubt as to whether the person accused was actually guilty. Could we possibly say that “those were the good old days?” I think […]
