Thanks to some early settlers, we have pictures painted with words of what early NB looked like from writers like Roemer, Lindheimer, Brach and the most prolific of all writers, Hermann Seele. Let’s not forget all those personal letters that were saved by families.

One of the best descriptions of the early Mission Valley area was written by Wilhelm (Bill) Adams, the older brother of my grandfather, Louis Adams. In 1937 Bill Adams told his story to his son, Harold Adams, who fortunately for us all, typed Bill’s story as he was speaking.

The paper was copied in its entirety in Alton Rahe’s book, “History of Mission Valley Community”. Excerpts from that paper bear repeating.

Bill Adams and my grandfather Louis were sons of Heinrich and Katarina Doeppenschmidt Adams. Katarina’s father was Jacob Doeppenschmidt, Sr. whose ranch was in the Honey Creek area. Heinrich’s ranch was in the Mission Valley. Both families were ranchers from the beginning. Honey Creek Ranch is now under the care of the Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Heinrich Adams, as a single man, came to Texas and New Braunfels in 1850 from Prussia. A family tradition states that Heinrich was educated in Germany and was in an elite military unit – elite because one had to be over six feet tall to be eligible. That was tall for Europeans in those days. Supposedly he had to leave Germany because he hit an officer. In 1856 he married Katarina Doeppenschmidt, daughter of Jacob and Anna Marie Doeppenschmidt. There were six children; my grandfather was the youngest.

In 1894 after both Heinrich and Katarina had died, second son Bill bought the ranch from his sisters and brothers. My grandfather, Louis, being a minor, went to live with his uncle, Jacob Doeppenschmidt,Jr. Bill was a successful rancher and eventually expanded the ranch to 1100 acres.

Bill was also involved in politics. He served as a Deputy Sheriff and then Comal County Commissioner for eight years and then was elected Sheriff and Tax Collector in 1908-1920. (Source of above by Marilyn Thurman and Jane Brummet, granddaughters of Bill Adams).

Bill’s paints a word picture of the early Mission Valley area. At one time there were no fences and sedge grass was as high as a horse “waving in the wind like waves of the ocean” with no brush and cedar and an occasional live oak. The game was deer, wild hogs, wild turkeys, javelinas, geese, ducks, swans, pelicans, flamingos, wild pigeons (an extinct bird sometimes referred to as the wandering dove because it would drift south in the winter and return in the spring.) There were panthers, various wolves, coyotes, bears, leopards, wild cats, raccoons, opossums, ringtail civet cats, skunks, armadillos and other smaller animals.

Farming in the area started when the settlers arrived and they needed tanks and waterholes. This explains all the types of waterfowl. The most remarkable of all the watering places was the Post Oak Sea, a mile from Adams’ ranch house. It was a large body of water never known to go dry until 1887 and since then held water for only a short time following a series of heavy rains. When all other watering holes were dry and the Guadalupe was down to a trickle, this large body of water was full. If you want to see it, drive out Hwy. 46 and from the intersection of Loop 336, on the right side about four miles, you will see a large tank near the road. That’s not it! Drive a little further and off in the distance you will spot the “Sea” with a small amount of water. Speculations about the “Sea” going dry have gone on for years; some thought there was an earthquake, some felt it had to do with a storm in 1886.

“We young fellows from our neighborhood would get together at the Sea all on horseback with several trained dogs, and waited for the wild hogs to come to the water. The lake was several acres across and a mile in every direction. Good rodeos would take place there between the dogs and hogs.”

Other Bill Adams stories are reprinted in Rahe’s book that can be purchased at the Sophienburg.

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How easy we ladies have life today compared to the old days in the 1850s. “You’ve come a long way, baby” is the understatement of our time.

A woman’s role in society has changed dramatically due to not only modern technology but changes that occurred in society such as the equal rights to all humans, including women’s right to vote. Since World War II, a large percentage of women work outside the home. One hundred sixty years ago, women worked at home starting early in the morning until late at night.

Women in the old days were primarily in charge of the living quarters, food, clothing, and children. The typical woman would start her work day very early working all day to accomplish all that was necessary for survival. The one room log house she lived in with her family was cold in winter and hot in summer, but it was better than the tent the settlers lived in on the coast and while traveling to New Braunfels. Floors were added later to keep bugs from invading the house. Furniture legs were placed in dishes of water or kerosene, like a small moat. Bedbugs were kept out or in, using the same method on the legs of the bed.

As the family expanded, so did the house. A second room was added separated by a dogtrot, a covered, breezeway between the two rooms. Originally cooking was done outside but the two-room house allowed cooking to be indoors. The children typically slept in a loft above the dogtrot. The handmade furniture was made of oak, cypress, cedar or pine. Cedar was the choice wood because it repelled bugs. Trunks held the meager supplies that each immigrant was allowed to bring from Germany.

Electricity didn’t appear on the scene until the beginning of the 20^th century. Wood-burning stoves were not only used for cooking but also for heating. Most early houses had no window panes but had openings that were covered with animal hide. With no electricity, homemade candles and oil lamps took the place of lights but the “early to bed” philosophy made light unnecessary.

There is a reason that settlements sprang up around water sources. New Braunfels had two large rivers, the Guadalupe and the Comal. Drinking water was plentiful as a necessity for human survival. A very early water source in New Braunfels was the Comal River from which water was hauled by individuals in wooden buckets. At one time there was a path from Seguin Ave. crossing over to Comal Ave. and down the hill to the river. Piped water was a long time coming.

Clothes were washed outside in large iron pots heated on coals. Homemade soap was made by mixing ash and lard and then slicing it into chunks. The clothes cleaning process took up a lot of a woman’s time. People had very few clothes and tending to animals and the garden was dirty business.

At the Sophienburg Museum, there are many examples of clothing, some even brought over from Germany in the 1840s. Clothing was made of linen woven from flax. Cotton was available for making thread and yarn with a spinning wheel. Notice the picture of the thread or yarn measuring machine called the weasel. When the desired length was obtained, the machine made a popping noise, hence the children’s rhyme “Pop Goes the Weasel.” Sewing was a skill most women learned in Germany.

Growing and preparing food was the job of women. Gardens were mostly tended by women, using the very popular modern concept of growing food called “organic.” How? There were no chemicals and animals supplied the fertilizer.

Raising corn was a matter of life or death. Cornbread was made every day and took the place of the black bread that the Germans were used to. Nut trees, mulberry trees, blackberries and grapes were abundant. The Adelsverein provided coffee, salt, vinegar, and sugar.

Letters were sent home from Texas requesting that immigrants bring plows, axes, scythes, rakes, sewing needles and seeds of all kinds.

Most immigrants had small amounts of cattle. A small pen that was attached to the house held the milk cows and their calves. The calves were left in the pens and the cows were released to graze out on the open land since there was no fencing. At night the cows would come back to their calves and so it wasn’t necessary to round them up. Milk, butter and cheese of all kinds were made from cow’s milk. Another important food came from chickens mainly because of eggs but also meat. They scratched around the yard eating bugs not realizing that they were performing a service.

Spoilage of food was a big problem in the Texas weather. Meat had to be smoked or packed in lard for preservation. Crockery was important for this purpose but oak barrels were cheaper and larger than pottery. The barrels were constructed from large tree trunks and the crocks made from local clays.

Dr. Ferdinand Roemer told the story of the Shawnee Indians that would bring bear meat and bear oil for sale to New Braunfels. Supposedly bear meat was very tasty and contained a lot of fat right under the skin. The Indians brought the bear oil in skins and this oil was preferred in place of lard or other oil. Roemer said that when the Indians came to sell their bear oil they would each bring about 60 gallons. Bear oil needed no refrigeration.

Isn’t it interesting that the latest concept of food production is called “farm to table?”

Child bearing and care were primarily a woman’s job. In old New Braunfels, a sign of a woman’s worth had to do with how many children she had. There was another side effect of multiple children and that was that they helped men in the fields and women in the home.

At the Heritage Village with the Museum of Handmade Furniture there is an authentic kitchen from the 1800s. This free-standing rock kitchen was originally on the Breustedt house property. Most of the contents of this kitchen were donated to the museum by David Hartman. An icebox dates around the 1880s after the first railroad came to town and ice was available by rail. This kitchen and its contents can be viewed when the Heritage Society holds its annual Folkfest on April 9&10. Many of the old methods of survival and living are demonstrated at the festival like sausage making, open hearth cooking, sauerkraut making, quilt making, hand washing of clothes and many other exhibits.

Social changes involving women were a result of technological changes. Of one thing we can be certain: Technological advancements now will have a direct effect on the role of women in society in the future just as in the past. “How’re you going to keep them down on the farm, after they’ve seen Paree?” This song was written about men in WWI but I think the idea is appropriate for women as well.

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I walked into Henne Hardware and the bell rang above the door alerting the clerk that someone had entered. I was immediately greeted by two cats named Clifford and Eugene, so named by owner of the store, Paul Martinka. These cats, or at least their names, will bring back memories to those of you who remember the Henne family. Clifford and Eugene were the last of that family to own the business and that was years ago. Perhaps Paul named the cats after the Hennes to remind him of the roots of that store. Cliffy and Gene certainly brought memories to me and it will to a lot of you that were hanging around in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s.

The roots of Henne Hardware, as were so many of the stores that have local roots, began in Germany. Johann Henne, his wife, Henrietta Deppen, and their five children boarded the ship Hercules with 152 other passengers from Germany and arrived in Galveston in August of 1845. From there they were taken by schooner to Indianola where they engaged wagons to move inland to New Braunfels. They were fortunate to have survived the first Texas winter that took so many lives on the coast, on the inland trek, and in New Braunfels.

Johann was a tinsmith and in 1846 he bought a lot on San Antonio St. for which he paid $120. He opened a tinsmith shop and had a thriving business. Electricity wasn’t in homes and streets until after the 1900s, two years after Harry Landa introduced electricity to NB. Until that time there was a big demand for tin oil lanterns inside and outside. Just imagine San Antonio St. without any electric lights or lights from the inside of buildings. Repairs on the Austin, San Antonio Stage Co. coach lamps were made at Hennes. Tin roofing was made a necessity in 1893 after a city ordinance was passed requiring tin roofing in the city.

In 1857 Johann died and when he did, his son, Louis Henne, took over the tinsmith business. He was only 17 years old at the time, but it became his responsibility to take over the business and support his mother and siblings. He was the only child of Johann and Henrietta that married. Louis then named the business Louis Henne Co., Tin and Sheet Iron Ware, Stoves, House Furnishing Goods and Mitchell Wagons.

With time, Louis Henne began other businesses such as a lumberyard on the corner of Castell and Coll Sts. and a plumbing business. In 1893, right next to where the tinsmith shop was located, Louis built a beautiful Victorian-style business building sitting right in the middle of the business district where it remains today. It was built by contractor Christian Herry. Herry came from Germany to New York after serving two years in the German army during the Franco-Prussian war. He had the reputation of being a master at building trusses of cathedrals, building them on the ground and raising them completed into place. He came to New Braunfels in 1881 and one of the first projects was the addition of frame wings to the limestone New Braunfels Academy.

The building still retains much of its original décor, inside and outside. The walls are brick, the flooring is oak and the ceiling is pressed tin. The inside of the store is ornate, as the Victorian architecture called for. Still on hand are some original display cases and nail bins. There are revolving cabinets for small articles. The shelves containing merchandise reach from floor to ceiling. Way up at the top, next to the ceiling, the original old shelves hold antique items and then under those shelves are newer items. The sliding ladders are still there in order to reach the top shelves. The ladders slide on steel runners. Near the cast-iron cookware section, you can look up and you can also see some wooden water pipes used in early New Braunfels. Now where else can you see that?

Before banks were well established, mercantile stores provided those services. The office area at the back of the building with its large built-in safe is a reminder of this practice. Cash registers were not used. Still visible are the remnants of the money trolleys.

There is also an elevator going upstairs and downstairs into the basement. Many of the immediate downtown buildings have basements. I had heard that the basement at Hennes was a favorite spot for card-playing men. Going down a steep set of stairs into the basement, I can see how a secluded area, half the size of the building, would be an intriguing place to get together to socialize. Glass tiles from the sidewalk let in a small bit of light. In the basement is a well about 25 feet deep that fills with water according to the amount of rain. Paul Matinka pointed out it reflects the water table and when there was lots of rain, the well would fill up and even spill over. The well was dug before the building was built.

Over the years, Louis Henne acquired more property on the block where the store is located. His family’s two story home was built at the back of the property on Mill St. He also maintained a camp yard for customers who came into town on weekends by wagon. They would camp there and return home the next day. It was one of several such campgrounds complete with wagons and campfires and of course, lit by tin oil lanterns. The large barn-like building behind the store was the lumber storage.

Louis Henne was the only one of his seven brothers and sisters that married. He married Emilie vom Stein and they had five children. He was active in the formation of the Volunteer Firemen’s association. One of Louis’ sons, Adolf, succeeded his father as head of the store when Louis died in 1912. Adolph remodeled the store, adding the show windows and adding interior shelving and display cases. He carried on his father’s interest in fire prevention. When he died in 1945, the business went to his three sons: Clifford, Eugene, and Norman. Clifford and Eugene took over the store and they were the last Hennes to own the store. Clifford became the sole owner in 1962.Ten years later the business was sold to Donald Stott and James Goodbread and then to the Bob Schima family. The present owner bought the business in 1996 and the property in 2000.

Paul Martinka has managed to have merchandise that you can’t find anywhere else and even some that is no longer available. Look for well-made unusual toys for Christmas. There is a very large collection of cast- iron cookware and pottery from Marshall, Texas. Martinka has devoted his time to maintaining historic Henne Hardware.

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