Carl Siegismund Bauer
Contributed by Lauren Jodoin
Carl Siegismund Bauer was born on September 14, 1792 in Wiesa, near the city of Annaburg in the kingdom of Saxony, about 100 miles southwest of Berlin in Germany. In 1813, much of Germany was involved with the Napoleonic wars in Europe. Carl was twenty-one years old at the time and his mother was worried that her only child would have to go to war.
His mother thought that if Carl Siegismund were married, he would not have to go fight in the war. She invited a special girl over to the house, fixed a big meal and introduced Christiana Malzer to her son with hopes that he would propose to her. As time went on, Carl's mother saw that he was not proposing so she did it for him. She explained to Christiana that she could not bear to see her son go to war and if he were married he might not have to go. Christiana felt sorry for the mother and she accepted. Christiana and Carl were married three weeks later. They had eight children between the years 1813 and 1830, Charlotte, Carolina, Karl, Augustin, Christliebe, Wilhelmine, Carl Ergott, and Carl Traugott.
By this time, Germany was a country in unrest; there was over population, hunger and sickness. There were also riots and protests in many of the cities, including Dresden, where Carl Siegsmund Bauer and his family are said to have lived. Carl worried that his own sons would have to go to war.
Many of the wealthy German aristocrats at this time began to "advertise" Texas as the promised land that they would form their own German State in the Country of Texas. (Although, by the time most of them arrived, Texas had already become part of the United States.) With the current conditions in Germany, many people decided to sell what they had and come to Texas. In 1847, Augustin Bauer and his wife Emilie left on the ship, Franziska, and traveled to America landing in Galveston, Texas. They settled in Spring Branch, Harris Co.,Texas and began to hold church services with the other settlers from " The Book of Sermons" that Carl Siegsmund had given to his son, Augustin, before he left Germany.
Carl Siegsmund Bauer, his wife Christiana and their three youngest children, Wilhelmine, Carl Ergott, and Carl Traugott arrived in early 1848 on the ship, Neptune, at Galveston, Texas. One of their older daughters, Carolina, who was married to Carl Wilhem Rummel, also immigrated with their children, Carl William, Louis and Emma. Carolina must have been pregnant with Herman Carl on the voyage as he was born in December of 1848.
The two families quickly made their way to Augustin's place in Spring Branch. Christiana died about ten months after her arrival in 1849 and was probably buried on Augustin's or the Rummel family's land in what is referred to as the Bauer Rummel Cemetery.
By 1850, Carl Siegsmund moves to Round Top, Fayette Co., Texas were he lives until his death on January 27,1873. Many people in the Houston and Round Top area will long remember and be grateful to Carl Siegismund Bauer and his family for undertaking the building of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Round Top, Texas, founded in 1868 and his help in establishing the St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Houston founded in 1848.
Willis C. Chandler
contributed by Barbara Chandler Spray
Willis C. Chandler was born to William and Elizabeth Chandler in Wilson County, Tennessee on March 11, 1811. He moved to Jefferson County, Missouri with his family during the 1830s; and it was there that he met and married Maranda Hildebrand on January 1, 1837.
Willis C. Chandler
Maranda, daughter of David and Hannah McCourtney Hildebrand, was born October 14, 1818 at House Springs, Jefferson Co, Missouri. Her grandfather, Peter Hildebrand, had brought his family to Missouri in 1783 from Fort Jefferson, Ohio.
In a general election held in August 1838, Willis Chandler was elected Constable for Meramec Township for a two year term. On August 3, 1840, Willis Chandler was elected Constable of Meramac Township for another term of two years. He was placed under $1000 bond by Duiguice [sp?] Pitzer and
John McGiver. [Marriage Records of Jefferson Co., MO, 1825-1838, Pg. 47 and Commissions and Marriages Book 1838-1849]. Willis was also elected County Tax Assessor on August 3, 1846.
About 1851 Willis and Maranda moved to Texas with their eight children: Ann, Missouri, Caroline, Melinda, Martin, Thomas, Malissa, and Julia. They purchased a farm near Blackjack Springs in Fayette County, situated between Buckner's Creek and the Colorado River. A gristmill was set into operation as the family business. On April 4,1866 an Occupational License was issued to Knight and Chandler for the operation of a ferry for one year.
Four more children were born: William, Robert, Maleta and Mary. It was during the winter of 1856 that sixteen year old Missouri and six year old Julia died within weeks of one another. In June of 1871 nine year old Mary died. [They may be buried in Byler Cemetery at the foot of their mother's grave. There are three small graves marked with worn, small markers at each head and foot.]
In November 1874 Willis sold their farm and mill in Fayette County, valued at over $2000, and bought 225 acres in Bastrop County and a 65 acre tract running along the Bastrop and Caldwell county line for $3000. [Bastrop County Deeds, Book 3, Pg. 165.] On December 22, 1884 Willis deeded one acre of his 225 acres to the Bastrop County Commissioners Court for $10. [Bastrop County Deeds, Book 6, Pg. 600.] This one acre was located in the New Union School District and was to be used for a free school and church building. On December 31, 1884 he sold his remaining 289 acres to the McCall brothers for $3000. [Bastrop County Deeds, Book 10, Pg. 416.]
However, this land had a lien against it filed on August 7, 1888 due to an unpaid bill for construction work on the Chandler home in 1876. No reason for non-payment was given in the suit. On November 10, 1888, three days after Mrs. Maranda Chandler's death, the District Court of Bastrop County awarded ownership of the 289 acres to H.T. Parr and ordered Willis Chandler and the McCall brothers to reimburse the indebtedness of $789.22, plus 10 per cent interest accumulated over a twelve year period, to H.T. Parr. [Bastrop County District Court Records, Book G, Pg. 381-388.]
Willis Chandler died July 3, 1899. The place of his burial is unknown; however, it may be in the area of Yoakum, Lavaca Co., TX since he was visiting his sister, Paralee Chandler Keeper, there in December 1898. His wife, Maranda Hildebrand Chandler, died November 7, 1888 and is buried in Byler Cemetery in Fayette County located near Muldoon. She is interred at the head of the gravesite of her aunt, Marguerite House Hildebrand Null.
The Peregrin and Filomena Fiser Family
by Carolyn Sumbera Heinsohn
Peregrin Fiser (Fisher) was born on May 15, 1836 at Mill #44 in Dolni Dobrouc, Bohemia. His wife, Filomena Vacek was the daughter of Josef and Anna Blazek Vacek. She was born on August 28, 1841 in House #58 in Cermna, a village located near Dolni Dobrouc. Both villages are in Lanskroun County in northeast Bohemia. At one time this area was all part of the Lanskroun estates owned by a nobleman. Records from 1568 indicate that Michael Vacek, an ancestor of Filomena, was a subject of a nobleman owning the estates. She was a member of the eighth generation of Vaceks living in Cermna. Matous Vacek first moved there in 1636 from Bystrec. Peregrin’s ancestors were well-known millers for the Lanskroun estates for generations. Vitus Fiser, born around 1660, operated a mill at the site where Peregrin was born seven generations later.
Both Peregrin and Filomena were baptized in their local Catholic churches, which are still attended by members of the Fiser and Vacek families. Peregrin and his brother inherited Mill #44, which was rebuilt by their grandmother, Barbora Fiser. Peregrin sold his half of the saw mill to his brother, Josef, and bought a grist mill and house #58 from Jan Budis in Vermerovice, a nearby village, prior to his marriage to Filomena on November 19, 1861. He improved this mill with double axle rock wheels with low water movement provided by a water wheel.
Filomena’s older brother, Josef Vacek, emigrated with his family to Texas in 1872. Peregrin and Filomena sold their mill in 1875 to Josef Kunert and made preparations to also emigrate to Texas. The mill was used for many years by several subsequent owners who had a successful business with the newer sifting equipment that was invented about the time that Peregrin sold the mill. During the Communist regime, the mill stream was diverted to help generate electrical power for the village, so the flour mill ceased to operate. The mill with the old sifting equipment and the remodeled adjacent house are still standing.
The Fisers emigrated on the ship Hannover from the port of Bremerhaven, Germany on or about April 12, 1876, arriving in New Orleans on May 10, 1876. From there they traveled by coastal steamer to Galveston, arriving on May 13, 1876. Peregrin was 40 years of age, and Filomena was 34 when they came to America with their four children: Albert (Adelbert) 13; Albina, 10; Anna, 7, and Filomena, 5. Joseph Fiser was born in Texas six months after the family arrived in the vicinity of Hostyn, Texas, where they stayed with relatives temporarily upon their arrival. Andela and Otilia, the youngest daughters, were born in the Ammannsville area.
Peregrin’s name on his passport is spelled “Fisar”; on the Oath of Allegiance, it is spelled “Fiser”, while on the Letter of Citizenship in the Fayette County Courthouse in La Grange, Texas, it is spelled “Fisher”. Some family members called him Pelegrin; however, records in Bohemia and his tombstone state Peregrin. He apparently was named for St. Peregrin, the patron state for persons with cancer.
Peregrin and Filomena settled in the Ammannsville area of Fayette County, where they first purchased a 100-acre farm. They lived there until all of their seven children married and settled on their own. They subsequently purchased four more farms in the area, increasing their land holdings to approximately 500 acres. The large two-story home built at the site of the original home of Peregrin and Filomena by their son Joseph is still standing, but no longer belongs to the Fiser family.
The Fisers donated three acres of land to the St. John the Baptist parish in Ammannsville to be used for the church and cemetery. A parochial school and teachers’ home were also once located on this site. They were also the donors of the main altar in the first church built in 1890. Unfortunately, that church was demolished by an inland hurricane in 1909.
Albert Fiser, their eldest son, married Anna Kadlecek; they had five children: John, Angela, Peregrin, Martha and Annie. The oldest daughter, Albina, married Frank Pfertner. They had three sons: Edmund, Robert and Joe. Anna married Adolph Janacek. They had seven children: Stephanie, Henry, Marcel, Peregrin, Filomena, Christina and Rudolph. Filomena married Frank Janak, a widower with two children: Mary (Adamcik) and Edward. Frank and Filomena had four daughters: Angela, Filomena, Wilhemina and Otillia. Josef married Frances Sumbera. They had nine children: Marie, George, Tillie, Joe, Henry, Vojtech (Vojt), Albert, Henrietta and Johnnie. Andela married Anton Sumbera (brother of Frances). They had six children: George, Joe, Jerome, Jerry, John and Josie. Otilia married Staches (Eustaches) Vacek. They had thirteen children: Robert; Bessie; Wilma; Frances; Peregrin, who died in infancy; Staches; Tillie; Marcella; Louis; Beatrice; Jerome; James and Dorothy, who also died in infancy.
Peregrin died on March 30, 1913 at 76 years of age; Filomena died on July 3, 1922 at 80 years of age. Both are buried in the St. John the Baptist Catholic Cemetery in Ammannsville. However, the birth dates on the tombstones are incorrect. Archival research done in the Czech Republic disproves those dates.Mazema Karinski Zidek Genzer
Contributed by Angelina Genzer Kretzschmar, 130 Navato Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78232-2255, 210-490-1099
Mazema Genzer was also known as Marianna or Marie (on her tombstone). She was born on 12 December 1829 in Brusperk, Frydek-Mistek County, Moravia. Population is now 3,631.
She married Frantisek or Frank or Franz Genzer, Sr. on 10 February 1857. Frank Genzer was born on 21 January 1833 at #89 Frenstat, Moravia. Frank died on 12 June 1878 and is buried in Frenstat, Moravia. It is believe Frank died of lung disease. Mazema was 49 years old when her husband died.
The name Genzer (in former registers written as Genser) can be found in the first registers of Frenstat and Ticha.
Mazema parents were Ignac Zidek and Mariana Tesaf. She probably married in Brusperk. Mazema applied for a passport to America on 20 September 1880 as a widow. Her application was recorded in the District Office in Frydek-Mistek on 23 September 1880. Passport number 7922/1880.
Mazema came to Ammannsville, Fayette County, Texas in 1880 with her children, through Galveston, Texas. Attached is a copy of the New Orleans Passenger List with Marie Genser’s arrival date as 11 November 1880, age 51, port of departure: Bremen, Germany, ship name: Nurnberg and port of arrival: New Orleans, Louisiana.
Their 8 children were all born in Frenstat, Moravia. They came with her on the same ship to Texas.
Their oldest child is Frantisek Genzer, Jr., born on 12 March 1857. He married Mariana Adamcik on 2 August 1880 and both of them are buried in the cemetery in Ammannsville, Texas. They had one son who lived one day and is buried in Ammannsville, Texas. Mariana died in 1905 and Frantisek, Jr. married Aneska Agnes Kabat from Moravia and she is buried in Ammannsville, Texas.
Their second child is Mariana or Mary Genzer, born on 9 (23 on tombstone) May 1859 in Frenstat, Moravia. She married Jan Zrubak on 26 May 1879. Her application for a passport was recorded in the District Office in Frydek-Mistek on 4 March 1880, America, passport number 7922/1880. It is possible that she married a Mr. Cizek (Cisak), Mr. Roz and Mr. Frank J. Gonser. Mr. Gonser was born in Ohio in 1871 and they married in 1888. They had one daughter, Mary Ann Gonser born 10 April 1889 in Parsons, Kansas. Mariana died on 30 March 1922 and is buried in St. Martin’s Cemetery, (was Mishak), now Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. On her tombstone is written Mary Cisak Roz Genzer.
Their third child is Karel or Charles Genzer, my great grandfather. He was born on 3 September 1861 in Frenstat, Moravia. His application for emigration was dated on 20 September 1880. He married Sophia or Zofie Hradecny on 5 February 1884 in the Holy Rosary Catholic Church at Bluff in Hostyn, Fayette County, Texas. Both of them are buried in the cemetery in Ammannsville, Texas. The Karel Genzer family came to Ammannsville in 1884. They farmed on the Heller estates and Mr. Genzer was also a shoe repair man. They had 11 children. Their son Otmar is my grandfather who died before I was born. His only son, Ludwig or Louis is my father. He died in 1986 and is buried in Mission Burial Park South, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas.
Their fourth child is Antonin or Anton Genzer. He was born on 17 December 1863 in Frenstat, Moravia. In the Register of Birth and in the Register of Frenstat citizens, the whole family left to America in 1880. His passport number is 7922/1880. His application for emigration was dated on 20 September 1880. He never married. Anton died on 15 March 1925 and is buried in St. Martin’s Catholic Cemetery, was Mishak, now Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Their fifth child is Josef or Fritz or Joe Genzer, Sr. He was born 8 February 1866 in Frenstat, Moravia. His application for emigration was the same one as his mother’s. He married Agnes or Anezka Knopek (Knapek) on 8 August 1888 in Fayette County, Texas. Joe died on 25 May 1925. Both of they are buried in St. Michael’s Catholic Cemetery, Weimer, Texas. They had 11 children. They have a grandson, William Adolf, living in Wharton, TX. A granddaughter, Lorraine Mae Genzer Koenig, lives in Victoria, TX.
Their sixth child is Martin Leopold Genzer. Martin was born on 23 October 1869 in Frenstat, Moravia. His application for emigration was dated on 20 September 1880. He married Mary Ann or Maria or Mariana Slovak on 10 January 1893 in Ammannsville, Texas. Martin and Mary Genzer moved from Ammannsville, Texas in October 1899 to Mishak, Oklahoma. They bought 160 acres of land for $600.00. This land is located at S. E. 74th Street and Douglas Boulevard, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Martin received his citizenship papers on 15 May 1906 in Indian Territory, Oklahoma. Martin donated 2 acres of land to the Catholic Bishop of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and the deed cost was $1.00 to build a church and cemetery. The church was built in 1909 and was named St. Martin. The couple had 6 sons and 2 daughters. Martin died on 12 October 1939, in his daughter’s home from a heart attack. His daughter’s name is Martha Nedbalek. Both of them are buried in St. Martin’s Catholic Cemetery, (was Mishak) now Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mary Ann died 5 November 1948 in the Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She died of pneumonia and leukemia. Father Murphy, St. Philip Neri Catholic Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma has a copy of the deed and an 18 page article on Mishak, OK that was written in 1974. For the last 4 years that church has taken care of the cemetery and has a savings account set up for the maintenance of the cemetery.
Their seventh child is Ferdinand or Fred L. Genzer. He was born on 29 September 1871 in Frenstat, Moravia. His application for emigration was the same as his mother’s. He married Rosalie or Rozalie Turek on 10 October 1893 in the Holy Rosary Catholic Church at Bluff, in Hostyn, Fayette County, Texas. Fred died on 9 April 1966 and both of them are buried in St. Martin’s Cemetery, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The couple came to Ammannsville in 1883. The couple had 10 children. Fred was a charter member of the St. Vaclav Lodge and still belonged to the Ammannsville KJT after moving to Oklahoma. In a trip to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in November 2006, I met James Genzer and his sister Theresa Shaefer (descendants of George and Margaret Genzer). We agreed to write a book on the Genzer family in Moravia, Texas and Oklahoma to preserve the family history and tie us altogether for future generations. Also, I spoke with Kenneth Joseph Genzer, Jr. (descendant of Kenneth Joseph and Judith Genzer) about his family and Genzer history in Oklahoma. In Apr 2007, I spoke with Elizabeth Zaloudik Kolar (descendant of John and Rose Ann Genzer Zaloudik) who grew up in Mishak, Oklahoma.
Their eighth child is Frantiska or Francis Genzer. She was born in Frenstat, Moravia. Her application for emigration was dated on 20 September 1880. She married Joseph or Josef Keclif (Keclick) (Keelik) (Keslik) on 28 October 1895. I found a baby, Ladislav Keclik, lived 12 days and died on 28 Jun 1898 in Ammannsville, Texas. The funeral was conducted by Father Neubert. I believe she may have married a Mr. Adams. I do not know where she is buried either.
MISHAK, OKLAHOMA:
Mazema and 5 of her children moved to Mishak, Oklahoma in 1898. Oklahoma was a territory and became a state in 1907. A family could file a claim and get free land. I believe that Ammannsville was getting “crowded” with many large families needing more and more acres to farm. I believe this may have been one reason Mazema left with her grown children and grandchildren. Also, I was told by Henry Nekvapil, Taos, New Mexico, that a fast talking land developer or salesman from Mishak, Oklahoma talked Czech families into moving to Mishak, Oklahoma for “good farm land”.
St. Martin’s church at Mishak, Oklahoma was built in 1909 by a group of Moravians and Czech settlers. Martin and Mary Genzer had donated the 2 acres of land for the church and St. Martin’s cemetery. It is located west of Douglas Boulevard on SE 74th Street, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Mishak, Oklahoma was a small town with a school, cotton gin, blacksmith shop, grocery store, and a dance hall located over the store building. Two families lived there at that time. Mishak was located on what is now S.W. 59 and Douglas Boulevard, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. This small town was on the Oklahoma map for many years. The settlers received their mail from Marion, Oklahoma. Clear Springs, Mishak Cemetery is located on S.W. 59th. We visited the cemetery but only found the grave of Joe Turek, brother to Rosalie Turek Genzer and Anna Turek Rodesney.
In a telephone conversation with Richard Lee Genzer, Genzer Real Estate Company, he told me his grandfather, Ferdinand or Fred owned a dance hall located over the store building. Also, he delivered milk. Ferdinand owned 1200 acres and his farm is now the runway of Tinker AFB, Oklahoma. The runway lights are next to St. Martin’s Catholic cemetery.
The church that was built on this land was named St. Martin and mass was held once a month for many years. Priests would come from Harrah and Shawnee, Oklahoma to serve mass for the parishioners. St. Martin’s church was destroyed by vandalism and fire in 1950. Two large oak trees still stand in 2006 inside the fenced cemetery where the church once stood.
Katholicy Delnik (Catholic Workman) Lodge #104 was organized at Antone Vrana, Sr.’s home in January 1907. The second meeting was held at Fred Genzer’s home in March 1907. At that time, men were the only people that could belong to the lodge.
AMMANNSVILLE, FAYETTE COUNTY, TEXAS
Three of Mazema’s children and their families stayed in Texas. Josef is buried in Weimer. Charles and Frantisek are buried in Ammannsville. I have visited all three graves. St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Ammannsville has an annual picnic or home coming every year on Father’s Day. Many relatives attend this annual event. There are Czech bands, fried chicken lunch, bingo, live auction, cake wheel and other activities for children.
The only picture I have of Mazema Genzer is in the St. John the Baptist Catholic Church Book, in Ammannsville. She is in a picture with her son, Ferdinand and his family on page 100. She appears to be a small woman with her hair tightly pulled back.
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA
Mazema is buried in the Catholic Section, Block 1, Lot 16S, Fairlawn Cemetery, on the north side of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. On her tombstone is written: Zde Odpociva-Marie Genzer Nar V Brusperku, Na Morave, 12 Pros 1829, Zem it, Zem ji bud lehka. In English: Here is resting/sleeping/Marie Genzer born in Brusperku in Moravia, 2 Dec 1829, land, let the soil be easy to her. I finally found her tombstone on 10 November 2006. She is buried by herself. The Catholic cemetery is well maintained. When I found her grave, the church bells rang and I cried. I finally found my great great grandmother, Marie Genzer.
Charles and Margaret Riser Hill
Contributed by LaVerne Gibson
Charles Hill married Margaret Riser in 1860 and settled in Fayette County on land inherited from his Mother, who was Mary Alley, daughter of William and Sarah Alley who got a Spanish land grant in 1827 which had to be proved by their eldest son John, because William Alley was killed by Indians. The land was divided into fourths, John Alley, William Alley, Sarah Chaplain, and Mary Hill in three separate court documents, in 1840's and 1850's. Thomas and Mary Hill had 4 children William, Charles, Jane and John Wallace Hill. Their father Thomas Hill, had his own land grant in Austin County in 1831, but sold it and moved most of his family back to Missouri in 1838. Evidently his wife Mary had died and he remarried in St. Francois Co. Mo. to Hester League and had another large family there and died in 1892.
Charles Hill and Margaret Riser had 4 children, Alice, Molly, Charles and Bonnie Thomas(AKA Barney). Listed in 1870 at Bluff post office. Martha's mother was Julia Ann Green Mercer, whose Father, Asa Simmons Mercer and her husband Martin Ricer bought land from the 'Heirs of William Alley,' but both men died of influenza in 1850 leaving Julia a widow with 3 small children, one of which was Martha. Julia then married to T. J. Walker, who was guardian to Charles Wallace and Bonnie Hill for a while after Their father Charles Hill, Martha's husband who died in 1877. No record has been found of the burial of either Charles or Martha. We assume they may have buried on the farm. Their daughter Alice married G. C. Harwell, Molly married a Long. Charles married Elizabeth Johnson and had 6 children in Comanche, Texas, Bonnie Thomas married Ada Lea Chambers and settled in Stanton, TX. My mother was the daughter of Wallace LaVerne Hill, who was son of Charles Wallace and Elizabeth Hill.
Johann Hruska
contributed by Lillie Mae Brightwell
Johann ( or Jan) Hruska was born June 20,1831 at Jablunka, Moravia, (today Czech Republic) then Czechoslovakia. He served in the Conferate Army as a teamster.
Jan Hruska
Below from National archives:
In the Confederate army 1861-til end of war Pvt. comm officer: Hillebrand, R. Capt. Organization: Rutersville German Co. Inf. Reserve Co. of 2nd class, TM enlisted July 1, 1861 Remarks; R & F 43, election certificate with roll; Co Comm. Au 21-61 Headquarters at Rutersville, TX, Fayette CO. 1 MR.Johann's son, Thomas S. Hruska, Sr., writes memories of his father:
"My father hauled cotton and was paid in gold. The gold was hoarded in an old coffee pot in our house in Rutersville. When the pot was full we bought a farm in Rutersville.One day a Confederate officer from La Grange came to the house. The sight of the officer frightened my Mother. He stood in the open doorway and asked for her husband. Also demanding to know his age - Without thinking, she replied "fifty years" (he was a lot younger). The officer said "Very good. Have him come to La Grange tomorrow and I will make an affidavit which he will sign before a notary public. The fee will be fifty cents and we will attend to the rest.
Mother pleaded with the officer not to take her husband and as she pleaded she held one of the hoarded sixteen dollar gold pieces in her hand. Reaching out and catching hold of the officer's hand she put the gold piece in it. At first he did not want to take it, but he finally slipped it into his pocket and told her to have father go to Rutersville the next morning. Father was there at the appointed time. He was drafted and given a government pass as a cotton hauler. Before he returned from his last trip for the Confederacy the war was over. After the war, he continued to haul cotton. The country was infested with bands of robbers which made conditions bad for the teamsters. Father bored holes with an auger in the wagon tongue and there in placed the gold pieces. He then effectually covered the holes and in this way was able to bring his earnings safely home."
Johann Hruska died October 2,1894 and was buried at the Brethren Church on Ross Prairie Rd. in Fayetteville, TX the next day. His wife received a Confederate Veteran's pension after his death.
Herman Christoph and Meta Joost Klaevemann
Written in June 1971 by Callie Klaevemann Hertel, who took much of the following from a diary kept by Herman Christoph Klaevemann
Contributed by Jon Todd Koenig
Herman Christoph Klaevemann was born on November 2, 1837, at Oldenbrok Herzogthum, Oldenburg, Germany. Here he lived with his parents till the wanderlust struck him. His father, Johan Herman Dietrick Klaevemann was born in 1809 and was killed by lightening on June 24, 1879. His mother, Anna Adelheid Bruening Klaevemann was born in 1803 and died in December of 1875. On March 23, 1874, he and several of his friends set sail for America, "The land of plenty." They sailed on the steamship Frankfurt, from Bremerhaven, Germany.
He kept a diary of his journey and some of this information was taken from those pages, which were all stuck together and hard to read.
At 4 o'clock in the afternoon on March 26, 1874, they neared the French coast, and were towed into the Harbor of Havre, where they spent the night. They all got off the ship and went sightseeing. At night they were all back and danced to the tunes of an accordian, drum and waldhorn.
The next morning they sailed bright and early, after picking up more passengers. From then on the trip was slow and monotonous and everybody was glad when the ship arrived at Galveston on April 23 a month later. Galveston was a busy place, being the main trading place in Texas. Buyers came from all over Texas to stock up on their needs.
That same afternoon they took a train to Schulenberg. The train track out of Galveston was under a foot of water due to heavy rains. They landed safely in Schulenberg and then had to find work. He worked in a cotton gin near Freyburg, and several other places. In a year he had saved up enough money to go back to Germany to get his girlfriend, Meta Joost, who had refused to make the trip alone. She was born on January 27, 1849, and was 26 years old.
On March 8, 1875, he left Galveston and boarded a cattle ship which took him to Morgan City, Louisiana. From there he went by train to New Orleans and stayed till March 16, when he went aboard the good ole steamship, Frankfurt. Two cannon shots were fired and away they went down the Mississippi. In his diary he wrote, "It's a beautiful sight to see the town of New Orleans with all the cotton and sugar mills. All around there were hundreds of steamships and sail boats. The country is beautiful with all the plantations."
At 3 o'clock that afternoon they reached the Gulf where they had to cross the sand bar. Of course, they got stuck in it since the water was only 14 feet deep. On the 18th two good sized boats came and tried to tow them out, but the lines broke. The Frankfurt was loaded down pretty heavy with 4,000 bales of cotton, flour and other things. Then, it started to rain and everyone had to get below deck. They passed the time by eating, drinking and sleeping. There were 81 passengers aboard at the time. Finally on the 19th, a big ship stopped by and offered to push them out. They fired up the engines and managed to get out by midnight, after being stuck for three days.
On Monday, March 22, they reached Havana, Cuba. He wrote, "The port is very beautiful with its high cliffs and the entrance is very narrow and has some vicious looking cannons placed on each side, and a few fierce looking battleships stood guard." While they were in Havana they loaded up on coal, tobacco and liquor to take to England, France and Germany. By night everybody was feeling good and dancing on the ship. Cuban boys came on board and sold coconuts, oranges and bananas.
On March 23, they were joined by ten new passengers, two cannon shots were fired again and they drifted out to sea. On the 27th, the sea was very high and the boat really rocked. They were about 24 hours out of New York. On Friday they had made about 330 miles and were now close to the North American shore which was the reason it was so cold. The French and Spaniards almost froze to death and all huddled around the big smoke stack and drank wine, which they had bought by the case in Havana. March 31, it was snowing and they were getting closer to the icebergs. They made it safely past about 100 icebergs which were all sizes. Some were 200 or 300 feet high, some looked white and some a pretty blue.
On April 8, they arrived in the English channel and on April 9, they were in the Port of South Hampton. He stated, "The country along the water is sort of hilly and has wooded sections, just like Texas. Some very pretty villas and castles could be seen."
April 10, it was cold and foggy and they didn't make much headway. In the afternoon it cleared up and they could see hundreds of little fishing boats out close to the ship.
Sunday the 11th, was beautiful weather and not a cloud in the sky. The passengers were all in high spirits and getting dolled up. At 12 o'clock a small Lloyd steamship came to take the passengers aboard because it just happened to be low tide. After an hour they were in the Port of Bremerhaven, Germany and they went by train to Bremen, Germany. They spent the night in "Willie's Gasthaus" and the next morning he went on to Oldenburg to his home and loved ones.
He and his girl friend left Bremerhaven June 14, 1876, landed in New York, came through Cincinatti, Ohio, and spent July 4, in Des Moines, Iowa. Here they first had in mind to settle down because some of their friends had settled here and liked it very much. Iowa was a rich farming country and the price of land was high, which helped them decide to go on to Texas.
The trip from there was very slow due to heavy rains and sometimes they had to stop out in the open country all day for bridge repairs. The people were prepared for all of this and had brought coffee pots and would build fires by the side of the tracks and brewed coffee by the gallons. They finally reached the Texas border July 14, and came to Schulenberg, Texas.
They got married August 16, 1876 by the Justice of the Peace and settled in the Black Jack Springs community where they farmed. On December 21, 1880 they bought a 200 acre farm from A. Bauer for $3,500.00 near Freyburg. They bought 6 cows and as years went by they increased into a nice sized herd. Another 6 yearlings and I cow were added, which they bought for $50.00 and their herd increased to about 40 head. Most of the implements were home made - a harrow was made from pieces of 4 X 4 and he also made corn and cotton planters. They raised a good bunch of chickens, the hard way, by clucks. Between the chicken hawks and snakes there weren't too many left sometimes.
Things were pretty disgusting at times.
They raised good hogs, too. The good home made sausage and ham lasted nearly all year. She planted a large garden and everything grew, as they had no insects then. There was a big peach orchard on the place, so they canned and dried peaches. It took quite a bit of food to feed a family of 8 and everything was raised on the farm except flour, sugar and coffee. The coffee was bought for $0.50 for 10 pounds and that was green coffee.
They raised a family of 5 sons and 3 daughters. When the children were old enough they took over and did the farming. Little by little the children got married so the parents sold half of their farm and rented the rest out to neighbors. The last part of the farm was sold December 28, 1928 for the sum of $4,500.00 for 100 acres of land.
Following below are the names of the children born to Herman Christoph Klaevemann and his wife Meta Joost.
Minna, Henry, (Carl, who died at the age of I month), Willie, Marie, (Adolph, who died at the age of one year), Herman and Cally. Of this family three brothers passed away in 1961, leaving three sisters of the family.
Herman Christoph Klaevemann passed away November 25, 1926 at the age of 89.
His wife passed away January 7, 1928 at the age of 78 years. Both Herman Christoph Klaevemann and Meta Joost Klaevemann are buried at the Methodist cemetery in the Freyburg community near Schulenberg, Texas.
John Henry Koenig
Written and contributed by Jon Todd Koenig
On Tuesday, November 3, 1908, a new baby boy, John Henry Koenig, was born to John August Koenig (then age 31) and his wife Mary Klaevemann Koenig (then age 25), at Black Jack Springs, Texas. The youngster was the fourth child, having been preceeded by brothers Charlie and Bob, as well as sister Helen. He was named for his father, with the Fayette County Clerk, Rudolph Klatt, a one armed man, having helped in the naming process when the birth was registered in the Fayette County Court House in La Grange, Texas. As had been the practice earlier, it is believed that little John Henry was assisted into this world by midwife, Tante "Rika" Boettcher, a sister of little John's grandmother, Dorothea Dinklage Koenig. While young John's mother had been born in Texas, his father, John August Koenig, was a native of Oldenburg, Germany, and hence little John's generation was the first generation of Koenigs to be born in Texas. His mother's parents, Herman Christopher and Meta Joost Klaevemann had come to Texas in 1876 and had raised their children, including John's mother, Mary Klaevemann, at Freyburg, Texas, a few miles southeast of the Koenig Farm where John Henry was born. The Farm on which John Henry was born had at one time belonged to the famous German poet, Johannes C. N. Romberg, who was well known during the early German settlement of the area. The language spoken by the Koenig family was German, both "high German" and the "Oldenburger Platt-Deutsch" or "low German".
John Henry Koenig obviously loved his family, and he recalls greeting the children after him, including Sam, Hattie, Bill, Paul, Walter and Myrtle. When he was old enough to help, he was expected to take care of the younger children, which he did somewhat reluctantly. When he was about 5 years old, he managed to get a hoe of his own and decided he would rather, help in the field than take care of the younger children. So started a life-long career of being a farmer and rancher. Johnny, as he is called by many of his family, worked his way up the table at the Koenig household as the older children left and eventually got to sit next to his Dad, John A. Koenig. Here he stayed, being absent for trips to Vernon, Texas in North Texas and being absent temporarily while working for Hausmann Water Well Drilling Company at about age 17, until he was age 24 and married Elva Marguerite Oeding. He received plenty of training to be a good farmer and rancher from his father and others and he also got plenty of on-the-job training. He even learned how to become a butcher, when his first cousin from Germany, Friedel Koenig, later known as Fred King, lived with the Koenigs for a while. Friedel was a trained butcher from Germany. Friedel was the oldest child of Gerhardt Koenig, the older brother of John August Koenig. Little John's grandfather, also known as Johann Koenig, and the oldest son, Gerhardt Koenig had stayed in Germany when little John's grandmother, Dorothea Dinklage Koenig and her three youngest children, John August, Frieda, and Charles, came to America and Texas in November of 1889, probably on the steamer, Trave. The Koenig family raised chickens, cattle and other livestock. They also had cotton and corn as primary crops. Some of the closest neighbors to the Koenig farm on the headwaters of the West Navidad River had names like Romberg, Stuedler, Narendorf, Otten, Boettcher, Haas, Holtz, Knape, Ullrich, Heinrich, Olle, Koehler, Guettermann, Luck, Frank, and others. The farm was situated on a very nice hill which gave the family a fine view. The farm eventually, after the second purchase from neighbor Ernst Romberg, was composed of 142 acres in the T. 0. Berry League. A clear creek, which later becomes the Navidad River, ran through the Western edge of the farm, as well as along parts of the eastern edge of the farm.
The creek on the eastern edge contains a fairly long clear pond which the Koenig children (and others) used as a swimming hole. On one memorable occasion, several Koenig boys and others (including Ed Hoehne) were swimming in the nude in the old swimming hole when a teenage girl, Millie Olbert, came up on the boys and stole their clothes. Along with Millie were her sisters, Minnie and Mary plus some Roeder girls. Millie later married Charlie Ulrich. Little John Koenig, then about 8 or 9 years old, immediately gave chase in the nude, knowing that the choice was between his modesty or a spanking if he lost his clothes. He managed to retrieve his lost clothes from a surprised teen-aged girl.
With a number of children being born after John, he managed to be the messenger to fetch Mrs. Oehler, the midwife, for some of the subsequent births. The old family horse, Charlie, was the method of transportation for John & Helen and others from time to time. Johnny also had a horse named "Nancy" which he rode for a number of years. In turn "Nancy" had a colt known as "Coalie" by a Shetland pony owned by Fritz Vogt and three mules known as "Kate, "Mollie", and "Mike", all from a "Jack" owned by the Oedings. While Johnny never knew his Grandfather Koenig, who had stayed in Germany, he felt very close to his Grandfather Klaevemann (who was originally from Oldenbrok, Germany). In fact he rode Nancy to see his Grandfather from time to time at the Klaevemann farm about one mile southeast of the Freyburg Store, also known as Grover Gleckler's Store. One interesting story involves a horse, Nancy, which would always tear the reins if she was tied. When Johnny told his Grandfather Klaevemann of this, old Grandad Klaevemann said he could fix that bad habit. He took a chain and tied the horse. The tree to which the horse was tied is still standing, as is the old Klaevemann home at Freyburg, Texas, but the horse, being very sensible, did not try to tear the chain at all.
Grandfather Klaevemann also asked Johnny one day if he would promise him something. Johnny said he would. Then Grandfather Klaevemann said he would give Johnny a $20 gold piece if Johnny would promise to always keep it as a keepsake and family heirloom. Johnny made the promise and has honored his promise to his Grandfather, never parting with the 1854 twenty dollar gold piece. Johnny's grandfather Klaevemann had a knack for burying money as well, and once nearly misplaced a bottle in which he had buried $500, because his son-in-law, John A. Koenig, had inadvertantly pulled a nail out of the side of a barn which had marked the place of the buried money.
Johnny went to school, where he was called "Der Dicke", meaning the thick or fat one, while he was very young. However, he became quite slim later. He attended Romberg School, which was about one and one-half mile south of the Koenig home. Teachers at the Romberg School were Nellie Bruegger for his first year and Isabell Jackson for his second year. Other earlier teachers at the Romberg School were Katie Banks and her sister Mamie Banks Romberg, who was married to Ernest Romberg. He also went to Luck's school, after the Romberg school closed. Luck's school was quite a bit further from the Koenig home, being three miles north east of the Koenig homestead. While at Luck's School, Johnny managed to snitch a love letter which the young woman teacher, Miss Dora Martin, had received from her beau, Ernest Luck. Johnny was given amnesty on the condition he return the love letter. Being a reasonable young teenager, he agreed. Other teachers at Luck's School were Annie Loessin, Susie McGowan, and Viola Meyer. He went through the 7th grade, but continued a lifetime of reading which educated him years beyond his formal education.
As a young person, he was very interested in baseball and played on the Abbotts Grove team, playing third base, while his brother Sam played pitcher. Other pastime activities included going to dances at the O'Quinn Hall (near the Julius Oeding farm), the Freyburg Hall (near the Freyburg Methodist Church), the Plum Dance Hall, the Ammannsville Dance Hall, and the Swiss Alp Hall, as well as Play-Parties at homes such as the Raabe home. Johnny and Sam also learned how to borrow the family car to go to dances. Sam would ask their Dad if he wanted to go with them to a dance, to which question Pop Koenig replied, "What do I want at a dance?", whereupon the boys got to go to the dance with the family car. Johnny also learned several musical instruments, including the alto saxaphone, the violin, and the accordian (button type) which were all fun to play and which were played at some of the Parties. He took weekly music lessons for $5 a month on the saxaphone from Professor Striethoff in La Grange when he was about 20. He learned to play the violin and accordian on his own, being able to play by ear very well. Johnny's brother, Charlie, took violin lessons from Jim Bell, an old time fiddler from near Muldoon. Johnny learned to play violin from listening to Charlie. Johnny bought a used violin at the Hilcher Book Store on the West side of the Square in La Grange, which had the name Stratavarius inside the violin. Sam and Johnny played violin duets and also played duets on the sax (Johnny) and clarinet (Sam).
When he was dating Elva Oeding, he often rode his horse to the Paul Oeding farm near Freyburg to see Elva. One very foggy night as he was riding home to the Koenig farm, with his horse, Nancy, traveling on her own in the very dark fog, he heard a loud "CLANG" and realized his stirrup had hit the stirrup on another horse, and looking quickly, could see a horse's tail disappearing in the other direction. Several weeks later in talking to Gussie Sommer, he finally determined who the other rider had been since Gussie was telling a similar story.
In addition to riding his horse, Johnny also eventually got a Model A Sport Roadster which he had at the time of his marriage to Elva. Prior to getting married, Johnny loved to tell stories of his spending many a night in the Fayette County jail. However, the facts reflect that, Johnny's older brother, Bob, was the jailer and later Deputy Sheriff, and lived in the jail. Hence his younger brother could stay with him from time to time and legitimately stay in jail, although he could leave at any time while the regular inmates were not so lucky. About this time Johnny found an old one-spring wall clock, at the Vogt livery stable, which he was helping tear down, which was given to him by Fritz Vogt since it did not work. Fritz Vogt was the father of Johnny Vogt and Harry Vogt. Johnny Koenig cleaned up the clock and it still runs well in 1989 in the John Koenig home. [See wedding story below.]
John Koenig also started being involved in Democratic politics very early. His father, John A. Koenig, was an election judge. Johnny followed suit, commencing work as an election clerk at age 19 with his father and continuing every year thereafter as an active election Judge (except the one year Brother Bob Koenig ran for Sheriff of Fayette County) up to 1984, for over 57 years.
The work for Hausmann's Well Drilling concern taught young Johnny how to pull pipes and fix water well problems, a skill he was to use on his own wells many times in years to come. His sons and grandchildren watched and helped pull water well pipes on many an occasion. He also traveled to Vernon, Texas to pick cotton on the Henry and Frieda Frank farm. Frieda was his Dad's sister. Their farm was in North Texas in Wilbarger County, near the very large Wagner Ranch. Some interesting stories were told of the auto trips to Vernon, including one trip in a 1917 Model T Ford belonging to Pop Koenig, which was involved in a minor wreck in downtown Ft. Worth (in which the Model T lost its headlights). Johnny possessed many interesting abilities, being a Jack-of-all-trades. He was a superb farmer, rancher, plumber, carpenter,butcher, auto repair mechanic, combiner, water well driller, barber, cow-doctor, appraiser, musician, singer, and best of all, storyteller.
After the marriage to Elva, he and Elva moved to a place owned by Johnny's dad, which had earlier belonged to the Loessin family. It was located near O'Quinn several miles east and north of the old Koenig place. Johnny and Elva rented this farm, as had his older brother Charlie and also older sister Helen (two years) before him. However, Johnny and Elva decided they would try to buy the place if possible, which they did over a period of time. They raised cotton and corn, and fought cockleburs on the west side of the 99 acre farm. On September 26, 1935, the first little Koenig arrived. John Weldon Koenig was born at home in the frame house at O'Quinn with Dr. E. Schoffield in attendance. ) The doctor was picked up at Melcher's store at about 11 a.m. He was born at 12:10 p.m. with Mary Koenig also there. The Oedings came in their surrey the next day. While Weldon was fine, Elva developed a high fever, became severely ill, and was taken by ambulance to the Hospital in Hallettsville, Duffner Hospital, where she stayed from October 5 through October 13, 1935. Later, in December, Elva's brother, Felix died of complications of appendicitis. Thereafter the young couple's life changed dramatically. The baby went with them everywhere, including the field, dances and on visits to the Oedings or Koenigs. The account book of the young family reflects months where the total income was $30 per month. Income came from eggs, cotton, corn, cattle, hogs, sale of lard, and even from Johnny's giving haircuts to neighbors such as Charlie Bretting or Irene Owen for 10 cents a haircut. Johnny also occasionally did work for Elva's Uncle Walter Oeding (who had married Florence Gleckler), who owned the old Julius Oeding farm nearby to the south. Three months after Weldon was born, Elva lost her older brother Felix (who died of appendicitis), and three years later also lost her father, Paul Oeding as a result of a heart attack. Paul Oeding loved to hunt and enjoyed target practice with his son-in-law Johnny. The young couple's life was changed after Elva became the oldest living child in her family and then also lost her father in 1938. Johnny had lost his grandmother Koenig and the Klaevemann grandparents sometime earlier.
On November 21, 1940, a second little Koenig arrived. Rodney Curtis Koenig was also born at home at O'Quinn in the northwest bedroom with the old Dr. John Guenther in attendance. Johnny had earlier checked to see that the young Dr. J. C. Guenther would be available when the time for delivery came and was assured that no problem would exist, however, when he tried to fetch the doctor, he found that the doctor had gone deer hunting and only the nearly 80 year old retired doctor was available. The doctor's nurse, Annie Brum, who was at the movie in La Grange when Johnny called, finally got old Dr. John Guenther to come out. Elva went into labor at about sundown on November 21. Grandma Oeding was at her daughter, Mae Carby's house at Swiss Alp and was fetched by Johnny. Headnurse Annie Brum, Dr. John Guenther, Grandma Oeding, Johnny Koenig, especially Elva Koenig and lastly Rodney Koenig were present at 9:00 p.m. when Rodney was born. Little Weldon was also near by, having been sent to bed before the birth occurred. In any event, little Rodney arrived without any unusual difficulty. However, about a year later, about the time of Pearl Harbor, Elva went to the hospital for appendicitis and was a very sick woman. Weldon and Rodney stayed with Elva's mother, Margaret Oeding, during part of that time.
John H. and Elva Oeding Koenig Wedding
Written and contributed by Jon Todd Koenig
On Tuesday, January 24, 1933, Elva Marguerite Oeding married John Henry Koenig at Philadelphia Lutheran Church, Swiss Alp, Texas. Pastor Dodzeweit(sp) was the preacher who performed the service. The marriage was at 6:00 p.m. The of ficial witnesses were Robert (Bob) Koenig and Herman (Sam) Koenig, brothers of the groom. Elva was 20 and Johnny was 24. Elva's older brother, Felix Oeding, had just married Lillie Kainer in October of 1932. Elva's younger sister, Mae Oeding and her younger brother, Archie (then age 13) were also there. In addition to the two Koenig brothers, Bob and Sam, who were witnesses, so far as is known, all of the other Koenig brothers and sisters were also there. Elva remembers her Grandmother Louise Mueller Oeding being at the wedding as well as Tante Elise Oeding, Uncle Louis Oeding and other aunts and uncles. The parents of the groom, John August Koenig and Mary Klaevemann Koenig, as well as parents of the bride, Paul Edwin Oeding and Margaret Munke Oeding were present. Elva had a very pretty wedding dress which she and her mother Gretchen Oeding bought from Hilda Brossman. One humorous problem was discovered later. The dress had a V-Back, which Mrs. Brossman somehow thought belonged in front, So Elva was fitted with the dress with the V-Back in front She wore the dress backwards – but modestly had the seamstress put lace in the V. Some years later Mrs. Brossman redeemed her mistake by finding baby Rodney (who had left the safety of sleeping under a dance hall bench in Grandmother Gretchen Oeding's care and then wandering out on the Freyburg Dance Hall floor when his Grandmother wasn't watching) among the Freyburg dancers and bringing him back to his parents.
After the wedding at the Swiss Alp Lutheran Church, the wedding party went to the bride's parents' home, the Paul E. Oeding home, at Freyburg for a wedding dinner. A Shivaree was performed for Johnny & Elva at the Paul Oeding house after the wedding. Noise from hitting plows, sweeps, washtubs, pots, bells and other noise was merrily started by many, including Marguerite Grasshoff (later to marry Reynold Krischke), Rudolph Misch and others. A Norther blew in after the wedding so a taste of winter was very evident that night.
Prior to a wedding, a bride would work on her hope chest, and Elva Oeding was no exception. She had towels, pillow cases, (embroidered and crocheted) and other linens in the hope chest. It apparently was customary for the bride's parents to provide furniture for the couple. The Paul Oedings went to the furniture store known as Reichert & Kneip and bought a bedroom vanity, chest of drawers and bed, as well as a table and six chairs, all of which Elva & John Koenig are still using fifty years later. Furthermore Paul Oeding's brother, Louis "2 J" Oeding made a kitchen cabinet for pies and other items. This cabinet is still located in the garage today. A wood cook stove was donated by the sister of the groom's mother, by Aunt Callie Klaevemann Hertel. The stove had a small hole, which was covered to keep it from smoking but which worked well. A green pitcher still seen on Elva Koenig's table was probably in the hope chest. Since the young couple would begin farming at O'Quinn, they each received one dozen chickens from each set of parents. The Oeding family contributed a dozen Rhode Island Red chickens with the Koenig family giving a dozen white chickens. The couple also probably had two cows and one little mule named "Molly."
John H. Koenig also had his 1929 Ford Model A Sport Roadster, which had a Rumble Seat, which he brought into the marriage. The Roadster had a small airplane propeller which a neighbor of the elder Koenig's, namely Ernest Romberg (a descendant of the famous poet), had whittled and which was put on the radiator of the Model A.
The young couple moved on a farm at O'Quinn which was owned by the groom's parents Mr. & Mrs. John A. Koenig, purchased from a Loessin estate, and which was rented to the young couple on a sharecrop basis. While they spent the first night at the Paul Oeding place, they soon moved to their own home, and on Thursday, January 26, 1933, they were introduced to a second dose of Shivaree at O'Quinn, with Arthur Haas, a neighbor leading the merry noisemaking for the embarrassed newlyweds. The O'Quinn house was a three room house, having a kitchen, living room and bedroom. A small pantry was on the southwest corner of the kitchen. The bathroom was a "one-holer" way out back of the cottonseed house a good ways from the main house. In winter when Northers came, trips to the out-house were infrequent. In fact, one Sears catalogue would last all year. Many of the implements used initially were borrowed from family and neighbors.
The first crop was cotton and corn (with plenty of cockleburs thrown in on the southwest field next to Luck's place and the Bretting place), with some chickens and cows to raise. The first dog was probably Ranger, which came from Ed Russeh in about 1934. Old Ranger turned rabid and caused Bill Koenig to have to take rabies shots. The water was quite a chore itself. The O'Quinn well was about 133 feet deep and had to be pumped by hand. The windmill wasn't bought until 1937 (and put up the year Grandpa Paul Oeding died in 1938) from old Squire Vogt for $65 for a cistern, windmill, pump and all. The first asking price on the windmill was $100, but John H. Koenig said that was too high. Then Squire Vogt offered it for $75 but Johnny Koenig said it was still high, but Johnny offered $65, with the Squire hollering "Sold!" immediately.
Another interesting sidelight to the wedding of Johnny and Elva is the honeymoon. Since they were farmers, they had to get the crops taken care of first. So the Honeymoon didn't happen until the fall of 1933, after all of the crops were in. Then a young sister of the groom, a good-looking blond girl, Hattie Koenig, got to go on the honeymoon (which was a number of months late) with Johnny and Elva, on their trip to Galveston, Texas The trip to Galveston was made in the 1929 Model A Sport Roadster with the Rumble seat. Whether or not Hattie had to sit in the Rumble seat all the way to Galveston is a question we should ask her.
Franz Mühr
Written by Mark Schumann on November 20, 2004, based on facts garnered from other documents. Franz Mühr was the patriarch of the Muehr family, which has a long history in Fayette County, Texas and the surrounding counties. Franz is buried at the Catholic Cemetery in Ammannsville and his wife, Theresia Pauler Muehr is buried at St. Michael’s Cemetery in Weimar
Franz Mühr, 63, passed away at Swiss Alp on Oct. 7, 1902. He was buried at the Catholic Cemetery in Ammannsville.
Mr. Mühr, a farmer all his life, was born on August 25, 1839, in Schlesisch-Wolfsdorf, Austria, the son of Georg and Theresia Fischer Mühr. On January 14, 1862, he was united in marriage in the parish of Dörfel, Austria to the former Theresia Pauler of Gross-Hermsdorf, Austria.
To this union and while living in Austria, ten children were born. Josef (Feb. 11, 1864), Anna (Oct. 22, 1865), Ferdinand (August 20, 1867), Franz (June 7, 1869), Wilhelm (May 24, 1871), Charles (Aug. 21, 1873) and Theresia (Oct. 24, 1875) were all born in Schlesisch-Wolfsdorf. Anton (Nov. 9, 1878), Rudolph (Feb. 29, 1884) and Richard (Aug. 1, 1888) were all born in Kunzendorf.
In 1891 at the age of 51, he moved his wife and four youngest children from their home in Kunzendorf, Austria. On Feb. 25, 1891 they boarded the ship Werra in Bremen, Germany, bound for Texas. He first settled in Bastrop County, near Rosanky, where two of his older sons, Franz and Wilhelm were already living. He later moved his family to Fayette County.
Mr. Mühr was survived by his wife Theresia, of Swiss Alp; sons Josef and Charles Mühr of Vienna, Austria; Ferdinand Mühr of Abazzia, Italy; Franz, Anton, Rudolf and Richard Muehr of Swiss Alp; Wilhelm, of Bastrop County; daughters, Mrs. John (Annie) Woellert of Hallettsville; and Theresia Muehr of Swiss Alp.
Christian and Margaretha Munke
Liberally copied by Jon Todd Koenig, from the history written by his father, Rodney C. Koenig, as told to him by his grandmother, Margaret Nancy “Gretchen” Munke Oeding in 1970.
The first of the family that later was known as the Christian Munke family came to America during the time that Texas was a Republic. In about 1839, Margaretha Laux, at the young age of about 15, came across the Atlantic with her parents Peter Laux (born October 14, 1804) and Rosina Pauli Laux (born November 22, 1797), and settled near La Grange, Texas, at what was then known as Bluff, Texas. The Laux family came to Texas from Elz, in the Duchy of Nassau, which is located in the present-day state of Hesse, Germany, where Margaretha was born on October 4, 1824. Margaretha had one brother, John Laux who married a bride name Margaretha, and two sisters, Catherine who married Joseph George Fietsam and Anna who married Theodore Merrem. Margaretha had dark hair and was a short and somewhat chubby woman.A few years later Christina Munke, a tall, lean bearded young man whose build was somewhat rugged like Abe Lincoln’s, decided that America was the place for him too. Christina was born on March 25, 1825 in the little town of Dunkelbeck bei Peine, in the Kingdom of Hanover; which is located in the present-day state of Lower Saxony, Germany near the city of Hanover. His father was the owner of an implement manufacturing plant in or near the city of Hanover, and Christian came to America after his oldest brother inherited the factory. Christian came over to Texas and settled in Fayette County when he was 21 years old. That was about the time that Texas became a state of the United States. Christian has gone to school in Europe and was baptized as a Lutheran there. Young Margaretha had also gone to school in Europe and was baptized as a Roman Catholic there.
Christian Munke and Margaretha Laux were married in Fayette County, Texas, in about 1848, the year there first child was born, and made there home in a log house that they built at Bluff, Texas, which was near La Grange, Texas, and which is now known as the Hostyn Community. They had both come from German speaking lands in central Europe, what is today Germany, to Fayette County, Texas, and did not live anywhere else in the United States or Texas before coming to Fayette County. Christian worked as a farmer on his farm and also had his blacksmith shop at home on his farm at Bluff, Texas. Since Christian’s father owned an implement manufacturing plant back in his homeland, he knew how to make farming tools. He made wagons and other tools in his shop. Implements were then hand-wrought and were made to order only. Christian was essentially a farmer, making tools and implements when someone needed something. Although he made a number of tools, the whereabouts of the tools he made are not known today.
When the Civil War hit the United States, Christian Munke was one of the soldiers that were called from Texas, notwithstanding the fact that he had several children and a wife to care for. Christian Munke survived the Civil War and his exact company or unit is listed in the Texas Archives in Austin, Texas, along with all of the other Confederate soldiers and companies or units.
Christian and Margaretha Munke had seven children, five boys and two girls. The children were Charles Peter Munke, Joseph Julius Munke, John Ludvik Munke, Frederick “Fritz” Munke, Hermann C. Munke, Bertha P. Munke, and Anna Munke. About the end of the Civil War, Margaretha Laux Munke’s father, Peter Laux, passed away on April 18, 1864, at the age of 59. her mother, Rosina Pauli Laux passed away on January 12, 1870, at the age of 72, during the Reconstruction days following the Civil War. Both Peter and Rosina Laux were buried at what was then Bluff Cemetery, but what is now known as the Williams Creek Cemetery, which is located out in the country about 8 miles southeast of La Grange.
Christian Munke lived to be 71 years old, passing away on June 21, 1896 when his granddaughter Margaret Nancy “Gretchen” Munke, the author of this history, was only six years old.
Margaretha Laux Munke often told her children and grandchildren stories for entertainment, stories which were usually bible stories. One of the stories the children always loved to hear and were amazed at was that of Lot and the salt pillar.
Margaretha Laux Munke lived to be 88 years old, passing away on October 8, 1912, a month after her granddaughter Gretchen Munke Oeding’s own daughter, Margaretha’s great-granddaughter, Elva Marguerite Oeding was born.
Both Christian and Margaretha were buried at the Bluff Cemetery as well, next to Margaretha’s parents, Peter and Rosina Laux.
Although Margaretha’s family came over to Texas with her, so far as is known, none of Christian’s brothers or sisters came over to the United States from the homeland.
Joseph Julius and Marie Louise Munke
Liberally copied by Jon Todd Koenig, from the history written by his father, Rodney C. Koenig, as told to him by his grandmother, Margaret Nancy “Gretchen” Munke Oeding in 1970.
One of the sons of Christian and Margaretha Munke, namely Joseph Julius “JJ” was born September 20, 1852, at Ross Prairie near Ellinger, Fayette County, Texas. This was just seven years after Texas became a state within the United States. Millard Fillmore was President of the United States at that time. When he was about 8 years old the Civil War started and his father was called as a Confederate soldier. JJ Munke learned blacksmithing from his father, Christian Munke and from Mr. Nordhausen at Old High Hill, near Schulenburg, Texas. JJ was a tall man, as was most of the Munke family. He had dark hair, dark eyes and wore a mustache and was considered quite handsome. After he reached his twenties and was married, he wore a beard as well. He was neither lean nor fat, but was of a medium build. Since there were no public schools available, parents were required to pay for any schooling. JJ attended school in La Grange, Texas. He did not serve in any military unit inasmuch as the Army was a volunteer army and no draft was involved when he was of military age.
Joseph J. Munke
Marie Albrecht Munke
A tall and slender young woman who was destined to be JJ’s wife, Marie Louise Albrecht, was born at Bluff, Texas near La Grange, on November 15m 1856, at which time Franklin Pierce was president of the United States. She went to school at Bluff. Marie’s parents, Friedrich Albrecht and Christine Suhren Albrecht had come to Texas from Schwerin, in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, after their marriage. Friedrich Albrecht was born on August 19, 1818 in Qualitz, in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, which is in the present-day state of Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania, Germany, and was overseer on a large estate and was head of the male servants. Christine was born March 26, 1825 at Schwerin, in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and was governess and head of the female servants on the same estate. After their marriage, they could no longer work on the estate and emigrated to Texas. Their daughter, Marie Louise Albrecht, who was later to marry JJ Munke, had black hair and grey eyes and was considered very beautiful as a young woman by all who saw her. Friedrich Albrecht also served in the Confederate army during the Civil War as did the father of his son-in-law, Christian Munke.
JJ Munke was baptized and confirmed Roman Catholic, as was his mother, Margaretha Laux Munke, while Marie Louise Albrecht was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran Church. The couple married on January 27, 1876, when JJ was 24 years old and his bride was 20. They were married by a Judge at the Albrecht home. After being married they bought and lived on a farm about one mile east of Ammansville, Texas towards Holman, in an area then called Pecan, Texas. JJ and Marie lived on this farm the rest of their days. JJ was also a butcher and later bought a cotton gin, grist mill and saw mill. The gin was purchased from Koenig and Mewes and was located in Ammansville itself. Approximately six men were employed by the gin every day. Some immigrants who helped work at the gin included men named Melcher (engineer), Buehring, and Ganzer. Additionally some negroes helped work the press and also helped haul cottonseed to Weimar and Schulenburg. The only son that survived infancy, Frederick Christian “FC” Munke helped in the gin but JJ did not like for him to get too near the machinery. The two other boys, Alfred and Hermann had died as toddlers. Marie Louise Munke had the enormous task of preparing meals for all of the gin hands during the cotton ginning season. The Munke daughters, Marie, Ella, Margaret and Emilie, helped in this chore and an “awful” lot of food was prepared for the hard-working gin hands. One of the jobs of the Munke daughters was to hitch up the horse and haul the meals into Ammansville to the gin hands. Margaret remembers driving the horse with the meal for the gin hands when she was eight years old in 1898.
The home in which JJ and Marie Munke lived was at first rather modest. They first built a two room house on their farm. Later the house was expanded to encompass three bedrooms, a parlor, a large kitchen and dining room combined, a long hall about 10 by 24 feet and two large porches. All of the seven children of the couple wee born on the farm. The children were as follows; Marie Louise, Frederick Christian, Hermann, Ella Christina, Alfred, Margaret Nancy, and Emilie Anna. Of these children, little Alfred and Hermann died from diphtheria and were buried in Williams Creek Cemetery. All of the children were baptized and those who survived were confirmed at Swiss Alp, Texas at the Philadelphia Lutheran Church by the Reverend Karl Kern. Marie Louise enjoyed doing a lot of knitting, doing crochet and embroidery work. She also enjoyed reading German papers and books. Papers and magazines were in good supply in the JJ Munke household. Among others, the family received the Houston Chronicle daily, the Galveston Semi-weekly News, the La Grange Deutsche Zeitung, the Lincoln Freier Presse (from Lincoln, Nebraska), the Farm Journal and Fashion Magazine. The family always had plenty to read.
The farm on which JJ and Marie raised their family was east of Ammansville. The nearest neighbors included JJ’s brother Fritz Munke, Joe Fietsam (Marie’s uncle), Theophilus Heller (JJ’s brother-in-law), and an Adamcik. The crops raised on the farm included the money crop of cotton, corn, hay, and cane for feed and for home-made molasses. There were also peas and a large vegetable garden as well as fruit trees such as apples, plums, peaches, and pears. Livestock on the farm at one time included 8 mules, 2 horses, numerous cattle, hogs, geese, ducks, turkeys, guinea fowl as well as others.
JJ Munke sometimes talked about his cousin Wilhelm Munke who was in Germany. One of his cousins, Henry Feldmann came to the United States and Fayette County in about 1896 and then went to San Antonio, Texas. Marie Louise Munke had several aunts and an uncle in Germany of whom she spoke.
During most of their lives, women were not allowed to vote so Marie was not able to be active politically. JJ however, was strictly a Republican and voted the Republican ticket regularly. JJ served as an Election Judge, as a school trustee and also served on the jury and the grand jury most every year.
The parents-in-law of JJ Munke, Friederich and Christine Albrecht lived to be 76 years and 59 years old respectively. Friedrich Albrecht died January 27, 1895 and Christine died August 10, 1884. Both are buried at Williams Creek Cemetery.
The JJ Munke farm was sold to his nephew Moritz Heller, the son of his sister Anna Munke and Theophilus Heller, after JJ passed away at the age of 78 in 1930 and after Marie passed away at the age of 77 in 1933. Moritz Heller’s wife later sold the farm to a Mr. Tumis who owns the farm at the present time (1970).
The living descendants of JJ and Marie Louise Albrecht Munke as of June 1970 include the following; one child, Margaret Nancy “Gretchen” Munke Oeding, sixteen grandchildren, forty-one great-grandchildren and thirty great-great-grandchildren for a total of eighty-eight living descendants.
Dr. William Primm was descended from one of the old, aristocratic and wealthy families of Virginia. Several members of the family became professional and noted men. William Primm moved to the then Territory of Missouri, where he remained until 1830, and in that year located in Mississippi. He then moved to Louisiana, and in 1835 made a prospecting tour into Texas, where he purchased from Wm. Barton the headright of a league of land which was located in the Colorado Valley and was among the best plantations in the state. After the Texas revolution, Dr. Primm returned to Louisiana for his slaves and personal effects, and after coming again to the state obtained a headright from the Republic of Texas for one third of a league of land. He remained on his farm the remainder of his days, dying 1865. He did not desire to practice his profession here, but as good physicians were scarce, the people for miles around called on him for his services, and he always attended. He would never accept pay for his services, and his kindness was appreciated by his many friends. contributed by Harold Mitchell
In the probate records of May, 1865, the will by William Primm states that all of his children were born to him by Celia, a free woman of color, whom he had set free and manumitted in the State of Ohio in the year 1817, and that all of his children were born free and had the right to inherit his estate. His will further states that many persons condemned him for having children born of a woman of African descent, and that he regrets that their mother was not a free white woman, but that no condemnations or regrets could undo what had been done, and that it was imperative for him to provide for his children, and that he hoped that "charity which is long suffering and kind will prompt others to approve this course". He also directed that Celia and his son St. John should move to Mexico upon his death and that sufficient funds would be provided for their expenses.
The doctor's eldest son, James B.L., the only survivor of the family by 1893, was born in Missouri in 1820, and remained with his father until the latter located in Texas. He then traveled in different states and in Mexico, and finally engaged in business in Mexico, where he remained until the close of the Civil War. After his father's death, he was the executor and manager of the large estate and resided at the old homestead. The inventory of Dr. Primm's property states that his estate included more than 8000 acres in Fayette County and an additional 5000 acres in Bexar, Matagorda, and Live Oak Counties. The value of all of his lands was listed as $51,000. William Primm's oldest daughter, Sophronia, married D.L. Wood. His second son, Galen, died in 1852. The next daughter, Mary A., married Frank Reese. The third and youngest son, St. John, by will inherited his father's entire estate, because the will states that the others had already been provided for. He was born in Louisiana in 1834 and received his education in Ohio. He made many improvements on the old estate, and had he lived would have been very wealthy. He married Mrs. Frances M. Inge, who was a daughter of Arthur J. Faust and Elizabeth Speirs Faust, natives respectively of South Carolina and Georgia. Elizabeth Speirs was a daughter of John Speir. Elizabeth's first husband was Jones Weatherford, then Arthur Faust and then James Manning. After her father's death, Francis came with her mother to Texas in 1855, where she married Vinson Inge who owned a store at Kirtley. They had four children, two of whom, Newton H. and Franklin engaged in farming in Bastrop County. She married St. John Primm in 1870 and they had five children; Julian B., Volney, H., Albert L., Theodosia H., and Estell (Stella). During his lifetime, St. John Primm contributed liberally to the education of his children. His three sons were graduates of a college in Ohio and were engaged in merchandising in Smithville. The daughters attended colleges in San Antonio and Austin. He died in 1880.
In 1881, Mrs. Primm married James Primm, the eldest brother of her husband. Together they had one son, William A. Primm. They resided at the old homestead at Kirtley, where they had about 2200 acres under cultivation. Eighty tenants were employed on the place, and they made from 600 to 900 bales of cotton annually. The family residence, a two story frame residence was situated on an elevated plat, overlooking the entire plantation. Volney H. married Minnie Ehlers, a cousin of Alfred Ehlers; Albert L. married Katherine--. They had two daughters; Helen married to E.L. Fondren, and --- married to Leslie Baumgarner. Both lived in OK. Julian B.'s spouse's name is unknown. Stella was married twice, first to C.F. Haynie and then to T.C. Woods. Theodosia was married to M.R. Cook. It is believed that he either died or she divorced him and that she married again.
From HERITAGE ARCHIVES...FREYTAG FILES
Corrected information above regarding Frances Faust Inge from Brenda.
Benjamin Franklin Rose, M.D.
contributed by Iris Rose Guertin
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN3 ROSE, M.D. son of ROBERT AND ELIZABETH ROSE of Washington, D.C. He was born Aug 1809 in Washington, D.C., and died Nov 28, 1889 in Schulenburg, Texas. He is buried in Navidad Baptist Cemetery outside of Schulenburg, Texas. He married (1) REBECCA GIDEON Jul 09, 1832 in Georgetown, D.C. (Dumbarton United Methodist Church), daughter of JACOB GIDEON and MARY COONS. She was born Mar 03, 1813 in Washington, D.C., and died Feb 09, 1838 in Centreville, Virginia. He married (2) ELIZABETH FORD HIGGS Sep 02, 1838 in Centreville, Virginia (Oak Hill Plantation), daughter of BENJAMIN HIGGS and SARAH LANE. She was born Jan 03, 1819 in Fairfax County, Virginia, and died Feb 04, 1865 in Lyons, Texas. He married (3) MARY ANNA KNIGHT Aug 23, 1866 in Fayette County, Texas, daughter of William and Mary A. Knight of Prince William County, Virginia. She was born 1837 in Washington Co., Virginia, and died Feb 27, 1906 in Schulenburg, Texas.
Dr. Benjamin F. Rose
Benjamin F. Rose graduated from Columbian Medical College (now part of George Washington University, Washington, D.C.) along with his brother-in-law Dr. Peterson T. Richardson in 1833. They were in the same graduating class as famous physician Dr. William Beaumont that discovered how gastric juice plays role in digestion. Graduation was held at Unitarian Church on Wednesday March 6, 1833. Columbian College was the home of the city's first medical school that opened in 1825.
“For entrance to the Classical Dept. an applicant was required "to sustain a reputable examination in English Grammar, Geography, Arithmetic, Latin Grammar, Greek Grammar, Virgil, Sallust, Caesar's commentaries, Cicero's select orations, Latin and Greek Testament, etc.... and produce satisfactory evidence of a good moral character." In addition, those attending had to maintain proper conduct—"Honorable and gentlemanly deportment to be maintained in all respects...playing dice, cards, billiards, backgammon, contentious falsehood, intemperance, injustice, profaneness , immodesty, uncleanliness, any kind of immorality would be punished." --from the Rules of Columbian College, c.1825.
He practiced medicine in Fairfax County, Virginia and later in Fayette County, Texas from 1833 to 1889. Dr. Rose also was commissioned September 28, 1841 as a magistrate (*gentleman justice) of Fairfax County, Virginia and qualified as magistrate on November 15, 1841. He served as a magistrate from 1835 through 1858. He is listed as a magistrate and "escheator" in the Register of Justices and County Officers, Fairfax County, Virginia.
*Gentleman Justice of Virginia - Highest in the hierarchy of the officers of the county and the court were the justices. Originally designated as "commissioners", and, by the 1850's referred to as "magistrates". Popular usage in Virginia fostered the custom of speaking of the members of the court as "Gentleman Justices". They were both the products and caretakers of a system that placed control of public affairs in the hands of an aristocratic class, and at any time in the County's history up to mid-nineteenth century a list of the County's justices was certain to include the best leadership the County had. Appointments were for life, and lacked any provision for compensation. Service on the court was considered an honorable obligation of those whose position and means permitted them to perform it. Justices were appointed by the governor. Appointments to the county court in some instances seemed almost hereditary, for when a justice of one of the prominent local families died or retired to attend to other interests it frequently occurred that his place was taken by a younger relative.”
Dr. Rose and his family resided in Lyons, Texas. It is believed that their home was a short distance from Navidad Baptist Cemetery, located either on what is now known as Vacek Loop or Jahn Road. Dr. Rose liked to play fiddle at local dances. He was fluent in several languages, including German.
Children of BENJAMIN ROSE and REBECCA GIDEON are:
MARY GIDEON4 ROSE, b. Oct 25, 1833, Washington, D.C.; m. WILLIAM GEORGE MOORE (Private Secretary to President Andrew Johnson, Private Secretary to the Secretary of War, Paymaster of the Army, Adjutant General of Volunteers, and other prestigious positions), on Oct 15, 1853, Washington, DC.; b. Jan 28, 1803, Somerset, Maryland; d. Jul 12, 1898, Washington, D.C..
REBECCA ELIZABETH ROSE, b. Mar 31, 1835, Washington, D.C.; d. Aug 05, 1915, San Francisco, California; m. ALEXANDER THOMAS LANGTON (established the first Pony Express Company in Downieville, California), on Oct 15, 1853, Washington, D.C.; b. Mar 15, 1826, Loudoun Co., Virginia; d. Jul 05, 1894, Napa City, California.
Children of BENJAMIN ROSE and ELIZABETH HIGGS are:
ROBERT SAULS4 ROSE, b. Jan 22, 1840, Centreville, Virginia (Oak Hill Plantation); d. Oct 31, 1905, Stockdale, Texas; m. SARAH ELLEN AESQUE, Oct 09, 1874, Schulenburg, Texas; b. Jul 10, 1856, Richmond, Virginia; d. Aug 23, 1943, Seguin, Texas.
LAURA C. ROSE, b. 1843, Centreville, Virginia (Oak Hill Plantation); d. Aft. 1880, Travis Co., TX; m. ALBERT W. EDGE, Dec 14, 1862, Colorado Co., Texas; d. Abt. 1868, Virginia.
BENJAMIN F. ROSE, County Judge of Coleman, Texas, b. 1845, Centreville, Virginia (Oak Hill Plantation); d. Apr 04, 1905, Coleman, Texas; m. ELLA ABERNATHY; d. Abt. 1916.
JOHN FORD ROSE, b. 1847, Centreville, Virginia (Oak Hill Plantation); d. 1889, Columbus, Texas; m. JENNIE OR NETTIE R. BROOKS, Apr 13, 1875, Colorado Co., Texas; b. 1858, Tennessee; d. Abt. 1910, Columbus, Texas.
“Universal regret was expressed in this city upon the reception of the news of the death, last Sunday, of Mr. John F. Rose, express agent at Schulenburg. Mr. Rose resided many years in this city, was married here, and had a host of friends, who loved him for his affable, courteous bearing, his strict integrity of character and honesty of purpose. He died of complicaton of diseases, la grippe being succeeded by a virulent attack of pneumonia, from which the best medical skill and good nursing failed to relieve him. His remains were removed to this place, and buried from the residence of Mrs. M.A.Brooks, at the Odd Fellows' Rest at 4 o'clock last Monday, under the auspices of the Knights of Honor, the Rev. G. H. Collins officiating at the residence and the grave. A good man has gone from us, and the bereaved widow and children have universal sympathy. [Married Nettie R. Brooks Apr 13, 1875]. Colorado Citizen, February 12, 1891.
CHARLES HIGGS ROSE, b. Oct 11, 1848, Centreville, Virginia (Oak Hill Plantation); d. Mar 13, 1917, Schulenburg, Texas; m. ADELIA BERTHA COOKSEY, Jun 12, 1873, Fayette Co., Texas; b. Mar 13, 1856, Montgomery Co., Texas; d. May 27, 1928, Waxahachie, Texas.
HENRY (HARRY) CLAYTON ROSE, b. Feb 1855, Fairfax, Virginia; d. Jun 13, 1929, Austin, Texas; m. (1) Eliza J. (Jennie) Halsey; b. 1861 Wythe Co., VA, d. after 1910 in Texas; ; m. (2) KATHERINE SHARP, Abt. 1892; b. Abt. 1854; (3) SARAH ELIZABETH PARKER; b. Apr 20, 1859, Louisiana; d. Dec 20, 1934, Temple, Texas.
WILLIAM LANE ROSE, b. 1856; d. 1930, bachelor, for many years was superintendent of The Oil Mill in Coleman Co, TX. He helped organized Runnels County and established the county seat at Old Runnels, the location of the first court of justice in Runnels County.
SARAH "SALLIE" LANE ROSE, b. 1859, Virginia; d. Jan 02, 1906, Dublin, Texas; m. JOHN W. GIBSON, Nov 22, 1882, Colorado Co., Texas; b. Abt. 1859, Manassas, Prince William Co., Virginia; d. 1916, Coleman, Texas.
Children of BENJAMIN ROSE and MARY KNIGHT are:
WALTER THOMAS4 BURNS, b. 1857, Texas; foster child (son of J. R. Burns and Adeline Thomas Burns).
SARAH GRAY (SALLIE) MCINTEER, b. 1862, Fayette Co., Texas; d. Abt. 1885, San Felipe, Austin Co., TX; Stepchild; m. THOMAS A. HINSLEY, Oct 30, 1880, Fayette Co., Texas; b. 1856, Mississippi; d. Aft. 1880. (daughter of Capt. John P. Thomas and Mary Anna Knight Thomas).
LUCIEN KNIGHT ROSE, b. 1868, Fayette Co., Texas; d. Aft. 1880.
JACOB GIDEON ROSE, b. Mar 07, 1870, Schulenburg, Fayette Co., Texas; d. Sep 29, 1928, Boling, Texas; m. WILAMETH LUCRETIA (LOU) CLEVELAND, Mar 16, 1902, Colorado County, Texas; b. Jul 11, 1884, Fayette Co., ?, Texas; d. Mar 04, 1931, Boling, Texas. Died running back into an industrial fire to save his brother-in-law Garland McClung. Both perished.
NORVILLE ROSE, b. 1874, Texas; d. Aft. 1880, Texas.
JAMES ROSE, b. 1878, Fayette Co., Texas; d. Possibly California.
(LOUIS) MARK BROOCKE POMEROY ROSE, b. Jul 30, 1879, Schulenburg, Texas; d. Dec 24, 1948, Galveston Texas; m. SUSIE DORRIS, Jun 22, 1905, Texas; b. Feb 15, 1884, McDade, Bastrop Co., Texas; d. Jun 28, 1946, Houston, Harris Co., Texas.
ALEXANDER THOMAS LANGTON ROSE, b. Sep 06, 1881, Fayette Co., Texas; d. Mar 15, 1969, Edna, Jackson Co., Texas; m. DORA EVALINE CLEVELAND, Oct 08, 1903, Fayette Co., Texas; b. 1889; d. May 15, 1973, Edna, Jackson Co., Texas.
LUCRETIA ROSE, b. 1876, Texas; d. Jan 12, 1958, Galveston, Texas; m. JOHN PARK FRAZER, Nov 15, 1899, Fayette Co., Texas; b. Mar 24, 1877, Texas; d. Mar 29, 1914, Texas.
Sources:
"Battle of Chantilly." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 6 Jan 2007, 01:35 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 4 Feb 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Chantilly&oldid=98777577
The Fairfax County Courthouse, Ross D. Netherton and Ruby Waldeck, Fairfax Compr.Planning, July 1977, pg. 18-19.
Gamble, Robert S., “Sully”, Sully Foundation, Limited, Chantilly, VA, 1973, pg. 90.
Guertin, Iris Rose, “Rose Famly Research”, 1982 – 2007 and DNA Research 2004.
Hearon, Eloise Rose, Rose Family Information and Photographs, Austin, Texas, 1982.
Lewis, Marian Lewis, Rose, Higgs and Lane Information, Copies of Documents from 1700’s Pertaining to the Higgs and Lane Families, B. F. Rose’s textbook, several family heirlooms from Oak Hill Plantation and Rosemont Plantation, Manassas, Virginia, 1984.
Breitzke, Margaret “Peggy”, Rose and Gideon Information and Photographs, Sandwich, Massachusetts, 1986.
Watson, Mary Frazer, Rose and Frazer Information and Photographs, Galveston, Texas, 1987.
Lewis, Percival Ashby, Rose Letters in Higgs Family Files, Manassas, Virginia, 2000, 2006.
Obituaries of Sallie L. Rose Gibson, Judge B. F. Rose, Dr. Benjamin F. Rose, William L. Rose,
Fairfax County, Virginia “Register of Justices and County Officers, 1793-1850”, No. 7 in 1905 Calendar of Transcripts, pg. 81.
Lavaca County, Texas Census Records, 1850-1930.
Fayette County, Texas Census Records, 1850-1930.
Colorado County, Texas Census Records, 1850-1930.
Rose, Martin A., “The Rose Family and Descendants”, written record, Fort Worth, Texas, 1968.
Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, records for Henry Rose, Robert Rose, John F. Rose, http://www.ltd.nps.gov/cwss/Personz_Detail.cfm
Fayette County, Texas Brands.Johann Ludwig Karl Heinrich von Struve
Written and contributed by Jon Todd Koenig
The man who was the progenitor of the Texas Struve family lines, Heinrich von Struve, was born Johann Ludwig Karl Heinrich von Struve on August 9, 1812 in the city of Stuttgart, then the capital of the Kingdom of Württemberg, as the eleventh and youngest child of the eleven children of Johann Christoph Gustav von Struve and Sibilla Christiane Friederike von Hochstetter, themselves both descended from noble families. Heinrich was a Russian subject, since although he was of German heritage and was born in a German land his father was a subject and an officer of the Russian Court.
Heinrich Struve
As a boy, Heinrich studied with tutors in Stuttgart, and attended “Gymnasium” in Karlsruhe, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Baden, where his father was the Royal Russian Ambassador to the Badonian Court. Here he also attended the “Polytechnicum”. As he grew older, his experiences began to expand, as in 1825, at the age of thirteen he traveled to Bern, Switzerland to live with his uncle Konrad von Hochstetter and his family and where the young Heinrich attended the Bern Riding Academy and learned his horse riding skills. It was during this stay that in 1828, Heinrich’s father suddenly died, and his mother and young sisters came to stay with Heinrich and his Uncle’s family in Bern.
Shortly after this time, in the fall of 1828, Heinrich entered into military service with the Russian Army, upon the advice of is brother Karl Anton von Struve, who was engaged at that time as the Russian Legation Secretary in Dresden, the capital of the Kingdom of Saxony. In this service, Heinrich traveled to what was then the Kingdom of Poland (also known as Congress Poland), although it was actually a puppet state administered by the Russian Tsar. He trained and exercised throughout the region around Warsaw and then upon request was honorably released from service on 11/28/1830, the day before the Warsaw Revolt against Russia began, and thus he escaped what would have been certain death.
After his release from Russian military service, he lived for time with his brother, Georg von Struve in Kolo, and then went to live with his brother Gustav von Struve in Göttingen, in the Kingdom of Hanover, where he studied law. After his law studies, he returned to the now defeated former Kingdom of Poland, at the suggestion of his bortehr Georg, where we worked as an overseer of the domain (akin to a plantation) of Prince Maximilian Karl of Thurn and Taxis in the then Grand Duchy of Posen, in present-day Poland. He later transferred to another domain in the same region, where he become acquainted with the local “Landrat” or head civil servant, J. von Borowsky, whose daughter, Stephanie von Borowsky would become Heinrich’s first wife.
Heinirch could not at first marry Stephanie, as he did not own any land, however his future father-in-law, sold him a small domain (or estate) in the Prussian controlled region of the Kingdom of Poland, called Schlesian (Silesia), where Stephanie has been born. Thus, Heinrich and Stephanie were married on September 19th, 1836 at the home of Stephanie’s parents, and they then retired to Heinrich’s Estate where four children were born to them; a stillborn boy, Amand, Louis, and “Silly”. Of these latter three chidlren, only Amand and Louis are belived to have survived, as no mention or reference to “Silly” von Struve can be found today.
Heinrich determined in 1842 that the family had outgrown the small estate and sold it, notwithstanding the Von Borworsky links to it, and purchased a larger estate in Congress Poland, which was controlled by the Russian Tsar. Two years after moving to the larger etsate, Stephanie died of a fever and Heinrich was a widower for two more years until he married his cousin Wilhelmine Charlotte Margarete “Minna” Von Hochstetter, to whom a young girl was born to them in 1847, Stephanie von Struve, named for Heinrich’s beloved first wife. In Heinrich’s own words, “everythig went along fine until the year 1848”.
In 1848, the Revolutions of the German States occurred, where liberal republican uprisings shook numerous German cities and where the monarchies were denounced, which caused great anxiety among the crwoned heads of Europe, not the least of which was the Russian Tsar. Despite not being polictical (unlike his brother Gustav von Struve), Heinrich was blacklisted by the Russian authorities in control of the Kingdom of Poland and thus Heinrich feared arrest. On May 10, 1848, Heinrich received word from contacts in Warsaw that he should flee the Kingdom, which he did with his family via a daring cross-river middle-of-the-night escapade, leaving his estate behind to be confiscated and him penniless but free. After his escape the small family traveled to Berlin to stay with Uncle Konrad von Hochstetter (and father-in-law as well now), where Heinrich contemplated his future.
It was in this climate that Heinrich decided to emigrate to the United States, and specifically to Texas, as it was a country where with diligence and energy everyone could make his way. Thus, on September 19th, 1848, Heinrich, his wife Minna, and their then three children, Amand, Louis and Stephanie, sailed from the free Hanseatic City of Hamburg, aboard the Bark Colonist via Copenhagen and Havana, and after ten weeks at sea arrived in Galveston, Texas on November 22, 1848.
Leaving his family in Galveston, Heinrich and a group of fellow immigrants made their way traveling overland for eight days to Cedar near La Grange, in Fayette County on the Colorado River. Here Heinrich heard of land for sale in the vicinity of Rutersville, thus he traveled back to La Grange and on to Rutersville where he met a local farmer who negotiated a sale of a 400 acre farm to Heinrich, who quickly closed the deal, procured his family from Galveston and started his new life in Texas.
The new life in Texas found Heinrich pursuing a number of vocations in addition to the obligatory farming and ranching, among them hunting, fishing, owner of Fayette County’s first cigar factory, owner and operator of a carrier business, peach-brandy shop owner, and father of four more children with wife Minna; third son Konrad born 1849, and daughters Fanny born 1853, Sophie born 1857 and Amy born 1858.
Life in Texas was hard but rewarding. Heinrich and his older boys, Amand and Louis worked the soil planting corn, sweet potatoes, and tobacco and numerous fruits including apples, pears, plums and peaches. They also raised cattle, horses, swine and fowl, using the brand ISI for their cattle. Early on the family found the going harder than they had anticipated, however through the assistance of John Robert Baylor (whose name was given to Baylor University) and his family, the Struves managed to make a success of the farm and the various businesses Heinrich ran.
Socially, Heinrich and his family mixed with numerous other settlers, Anglo and German alike. The Struve family was one of the members of the “Latin Settlement” which was a group of the better-educated German immigrant families who annually congressed together in Bluff to socialize, talk politics and generally expose themselves and their families to some high culture in the then Texas wilderness.
Thus it was until the spring of 1860, which marked the end of the third year of an extended period of little to no rain in Fayette County. It was at this time, that Heinrich’s wife, Minna, who had come from a well-off noble family, had had enough and asked that the family be allowed to return to Europe, which Heinrich agreed to. Minna and the younger children left for the homeland in March of 1860; however Heinrich, Amand and Louis remained behind. The boys had become young men and more importantly had become Texans, and Heinrich stayed to wrap up his business affairs. He conveyed the farm to his two boys, and then traveled north to New York, via steamship from New Orleans to Cincinnati and from there by train to New York to visit his brother Gustav Struve, who like Heinrich had emigrated to the U.S. in 1848, although in his case, for good reason, as he was a bona-fide revolutionary.
In New York, Heinrich met up with Gustav who as always was “stirring” the political pot with his somewhat slanted tome “World History”, however, for all Gustav’s bluster, he did have friends in high places. Among these friends was Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, with whom Gustav had become acquainted during the presidential election of 1860. Being an ardent republican, Gustav had successfully persuaded a great number of other German immigrants to vote Republican and thus helped sway New York into Lincoln’s camp which in turn help Lincoln win the election. As a result, Lincoln always counted Gustav Struve (who had dropped the von due to his republican ideals) as a friend and even was going to appoint Gustav as consul general to the Royal Court of Baden, except that by that time, Gustav like Heinrich before him had traveled back to Europe and was fomenting more revolution and thus was considered unacceptable by the Royal Court.
After visiting with Gustav in New York, Heinrich traveled back to Europe and joined his family in Rheinfelden on the German / Swiss border where he operated a “cure house” for sixteen years, which was in essence a hostelry with curative mineral baths.
But again, Heinrich’s “wanderlust” took hold and he decided to sell out to his son, Konrad so that he could return to Texas to see his sons. This he did in 1876 and it was then that he first met his sons’ brides; Amand’s being Christiane Pfeisler and Louis’s being Clementine de Lassaulx. Heinrich stayed mainly with his eldest son, Amand, who had by then moved on to western Texas in and around Hale County. He stayed with Amand and his family for three years, but this was not to last, as Heinrich again longed for the family he left behind, who had by that time migrated themselves from Europe to Brazil!
So Heinrich then traveled from Texas to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1879 where his son, Konrad had emigrated with his wife and family as well as his younger sister, Sophie von Struve. Additionally, Stephanie von Struve, Hienrich’s eldest daughter and full sister to Amand and Louis, had married a Paul Larcher who had immigrated to Brazil to pursue a career as a railroad engineer.
Heinrich stayed in Brazil with Stephanie and her husband and his daughter Sophie, who by that time was living with them and generally was simply a houseguest, keeping his daughters company as Paul Larcher was often gone fro months on his railroad job, and it was during this time that he had a very interesting encounter one day near to the Larcher hoe in Petropolis, Brazil, which just so happened to be the summer residence of the Brazilian monarch, Dom Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil. The Emperor was fond of travel stories and had heard of Heinrich von Struve’s times in Texas, and thus was summoned to tell these tales to the monarch. This Heinrich did and he evidently made a grand impression on the royal leader.
Sophie evidently was not well in Brazil and thus, Heinrich took her out of Brazil to Texas for a third time to visit Amand and Louis in 1882 and stayed for two years during which time he served as a United States Postmaster and a Justice of the Peace..
In 1884 Sophie again became unwell, and Heinrich resolved to take her to Scotland, where his daughter Fanny was living with her husband and where his wife Minna and daughter Amy were also then living. Heinrich lived here for six years, though 1886 when Amy and her husband Julius Betzler, a missionary traveled to India to proselytize to the Kols, a native tribe there, and on until March 15, 1890 when Heinrich, Minna, Sophie and Fanny moved back to the Continent to Eisenach in the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (present-day German state of Thuringia) where they loved for two years, and where his youngest daughter Amy and her family rejoined them after their return from India.
Julius Betzler was summoned to serve a congregation in the vicinity of the Odenwald in Bavaria, and in 1893 Heinrich and his wife went there to be with them. It was in Rothenberg in der Odenwald where Heinrich and Minna lived out the remainder of their years, celebrating their golden wedding anniversary, with Heinrich passing away on March 3rd, 1898 at the age of eighty-five.
Louis Joseph Struve
Written and contributed by Jon Todd Koenig
Louis Joseph Struve, as he was known since like his older brother Amand he too dropped the aristocratic von from his surname, was born the second surviving son of Heinrich von Struve and Stephanie von Borowsky on November 21, 1839 in the province of Silesia in the Kingdom of Prussia. Louis, like his older brother was born in Silesia on the land where his mother, Stephanie von Borowsky had been born. However, as the von Struve family grew, Heinrich sold the old homestead and moved east to greener pastures.
Louis & Monica Struve
At the young age of eight years old, Louis immigrated to Texas with his father and step-mother, Minna von Hochstetter Struve, whom his father had married after Louis’s mother’s death in 1843, as well as his brother Amand and half-sister, Stephanie. He and his family sailed to Texas from the free city of Hamburg aboard the Bark Colonist on September 19, 1848, arriving in Galveston on November 22, ten long weeks later.
Like his brother, young Louis amused himself with the other children aboard ship playing games and listening to stories about what the Texas frontier held in store for the young man from Europe.
Upon arriving in Texas, Louis traveled with his family from Galveston to Fayette County to a small farm his father had purchased in the vicinity of Rutersville, where he soon learned that along with the adventure came a great deal of hard work which had to be done.
As all children did in those days, Louis helped out on the farm with the usual chores including tending the livestock and the crops, as well as helping his step-mother with her household duties. However, despite the toil of the frontier life, Louis found time to study alongside his brothers and sisters, which by 1860 counted seven, including himself, his brother Amand and his half-siblings; Stephanie, Konrad, Fanny, Sophie and Amy von Struve.
In 1860, after a three year drought, his step-mother Minna had had enough of the frontier life and had asked Louis’s father to return with the family to Europe. By this time, Louis had become an able-bodied independent young man of twenty-one and more importantly, Louis had become a Texan. Therefore, when his father and step-mother and younger siblings left for the homeland, Louis stayed behind along with his brother Amand and managed the farm which his father had left to them.
Not two years later, on May 1st, 1862, Louis like so many other Texan men, enlisted in the Army of the Confederate State of America, specifically Creuzbauer’s Battery which later became Charles B. Welhausen’s Battery (also known as the 5th Texas Battery), 5th Company, Field Artillery. Louis held the rank of Bugler and is believed to have served primarily in Texas, and is known to have served in Montgomery County, Texas. He served through the duration of the War and was discharged at the end of it. He later received a pension for his service upon his application for such in 1911, when he was sixty-three years of age and penniless.
On May 29th, 1866, after his service in the War, Louis returned home to Fayette County and married Miss Clementine de Lassaulx, who was born the daughter of Otto de Lassaulx and Margaretha Fassbender de Lassaulx on June 22, 1846 in the city of Koblenz, the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia at that time. The de Lassaulxs (also known as von Lassaulx), like the von Struves were a semi-noble family as Otto’s father and grandfather were well-renowned architects who served the Prussian Court over many years, much like Heinrich von Struve’s forebears had served the Russian Court. Thus, these two middle-children of middle-children of semi-noble families were well-matched.
By 1876, when Heinrich von Struve returned to Texas to visit his two Texan sons, Louis and Clementine’s family had grown to five children, and by the time grandfather Heinrich returned for his third and final visit to Texas in 1882, the family had grown to seven children, and by the turn of the century, the family had grown to a whopping eleven living children among them Eliza/Elise, Leo, Sophie Agnes, Julius, Clemens Amand, Jean Claude “Shanklo”, Otto Guido, Paul Joseph, Monica Agnes, Liane Marie and Felix Louis.
When grandfather Heinrich visited in 1876, Louis and his brother, Amand had sold the old farm, as Amand had by then moved west to Hale County, Texas, and Louis and Clementine and their family were living with the de Lassaulxs some 20 miles from the City of Columbus in Colorado County, Texas, near to where the railroad had then been built between Columbus and La Grange, in the vicinity of the village of Biegel, Fayette County, Texas (which at the time of this writing lies submerged at the bottom of the Fayette Power Plant Lake).
It is evident from the fact that Otto de Lassaulx’s will leaves his entire estate to Clementine (in lieu of her six sisters and one brother) for the care she had provided him and her mother prior to their deaths whilst they resided with her family, as well as from the fact that Louis Struve’s Civil War Pension application was approved due to his financial hardship, that Louis and Clementine were not wealthy landowners. This hardship on Louis was worsened when his bride passed away at the relatively young age of fifty-nine on February 21st, 1905 and Louis followed her in death some sixteen years later on Christmas Day, 1921, at the age of eighty-five in La Grange, Texas in the home of his daughter and son-in-law, Liane and George Weber.
Both Louis and Clementine were life-long Catholics, having attended both Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Frelsburg, as well as St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Fayetteville. They are buried in the Catholic Cemetery in Fayetteville, next to Clementine’s parents, Otto and Margaretha in an unmarked plot surrounded by a concrete border labeled STRUVE and DE LASSAULX.
Anton Sumbera Family
by Carolyn Sumbera Heinsohn
Anton Sumbera, the fifth child of John and Marie Blahacek, was born on July 17, 1875 in House #37 in Velke Kuncice, Silesia. His village of origin was razed in 1949 and replaced by the Nova Hut steel mill near present-day Ostrava in northern Moravia, Czech Republic. Anton was baptized at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Vratimov, a neighboring village. In 1879, at the age of four, he emigrated with his family on the Nurnberg from Bremen to New Orleans, where the family boarded a train and traveled as far as Schulenburg. Within three weeks, his parents purchased a 130-acre farm approximately six miles south of La Grange on William’s Creek. Anton had three brothers, Josef, John and Alois, and three sisters, Marie (Lidiak), Frantiska (Fisher) and Agnes (Walla).
Young Anton went to the Radhost School located across William’s Creek toward present-day Highway 77 south between La Grange and Schulenburg. His teacher was Jan Hilscher. On February 1, 1904, Anton married Andela Fiser (Fisher), the daughter of Peregrin and Filomena Vacek Fiser of Ammannsville, Texas.
Anton’s father died of tuberculosis in 1894, so Anton continued to live on the farm to help his mother, even after his marriage. In 1908, he bought the farm from his mother, who then went to live with her oldest daughter, Marie Lidiak, who lived in Ammannsville. Anton lived on this farm with his family until his untimely death at 57 years of age on December 23, 1932, following thoracic surgery for pleuritis secondary to pneumonia and influenza. Andela continued to live on their farm until 1946, when she sold it to her son Jerry and his wife, Antonia Mazoch Sumbera. Andela then went to live with her only daughter and son-in-law, Josie and George Kallus in Ammannsville. Andela died of a heart attack on February 3, 1963, at the age of 80. She and Anton are buried in the Ammannsville Catholic Cemetery.
Anton and Andela had six children; they also attended Radhost School and or a school in Ammannsville. (1) George (Jiri), born 7/39/1905, married Rosie Dusek of Ammannsville, who was born 3/30/1905. They had three children - Robert, born 8/30/1929, died 5/28/2007, buried in the La Grange City Cemetery; Adolph, born 10/5/1932, died 1/25/1940; and Bernice, born 7/9/1935. George died 8/10/1971, and Rosie died 3/ /1998; both are buried in the Weimar Catholic Cemetery. (2) Josef, born on 3/4/1908, married Betty Vasek of Plum, Texas, who was born 12/24/1912; they had one daughter, Dorothy, born 12/23/1932. Betty died 10/3/1981, and Joe died 10/10/1997. Both are buried in the La Grange City Cemetery. (3) Jerome, born 6/18/1909, married Mary Dusek of the Bluff community, who was born 12/17/1920. They had three sons – John, born 3/2/1948; Daniel, born 4/24/1949; and James, born 6/8/1951. Jerome died 7/1/1980, and Mary died 11/18/2001; both are buried in the Granger Catholic Cemetery. (4) Jerry (Jaroslav), born 4/2/1912, married Antonia Mazoch of Ammannsville, born 4/6/1915. They had two children – Leonard, born 5/10/1940 and Virginia, born 12/22/1944. Jerry died 6/16/1998 and is buried in the Ammannsville Catholic Cemetery. (5) John, born 10/12/1915, married Minnie Hoelscher of Ellinger, born 7/19/1924; they had three daughters – Carolyn, born 3/14/1944, Jane, born 1/16/1951 and Marlene, born 1/17/1955. John died 7/6/1981, and Minnie died 8/29/1985; both are buried in the La Grange City Cemetery. (6) Josephine (Josie), born 2/27/1920, married George Kallus of Hostyn, born 2/22/1915; they had four children – Bernard, born 9/19/1941; Marcus, born 2/14/1944; Valerie, born 2/14/1945; and Angeline, born 3/26/1951. Josie died 6/29/2007, and George died 7/16/2004; both are buried in the Ammannsville Catholic Cemetery.
Besides being a farmer, Anton was a carpenter and a blacksmith. He did blacksmithing for his neighbors, in addition to making all of his own farm equipment and tools. Two items that his descendants remember his making were a planter that was pulled by mules and a hand-operated bellows used in his smithy. In addition to those talents, Anton was a musician who made stringed instruments such as violins, violas, cellos and string basses. He made his instruments out of cedar, box elder and ebony, glued together with homemade wood glue made of resin and chinaberries. One of his violins is still in the possession of his granddaughter, Carolyn Heinsohn. Anton played in the Ammannsville Oldtime Band founded by his father and the Sumbera Family Band. His brothers, John and Alois, were also musicians who played stringed instruments. Anton instilled his love of music in his youngest son, John, who played the string bass and then drums for a number of bands all of his adult life, including the Ray Baca Orchestra.
Anton’s obituary written by his friend, John Dusek, who was also the father-in-law of his son, George, describes Anton as “being a quiet man with a peaceful nature, tending to his affairs tiredlessly and working with a lot of effort. He saved so that his family would be assured a respectable livelihood and have property. He stood by his church and the school. He was not an objector.”
Andela is remembered by her granddaughter as a tiny woman, also of a quiet nature, with a sweet smile and disposition. She too was a hard worker and excellent cook. The smell and taste of her pastries, cookies and homemade wine were vividly imprinted in the memories of her children and grandchildren. She raised her own poppies for poppy seed for her kolaches and had a greenhouse filled with flowers. She only spoke Czech, although she probably understood more English that she would admit.
Her parents and older siblings had immigrated from Vermerovice, Bohemia in 1875 and settled in the Ammannsville area, where she was born. Her father had purchased 500 acres of land and donated part of the eleven acres for the Catholic church and cemetery, as well as the main altar for the first church.
Andela attended the first Czech school in Ammannsville and never ventured very far from Fayette County, except for one time when her son, John, took her to visit her sister-in-law, Agnes Walla, who was living in Caddo, Oklahoma. Andela had never seen mountains, so when she was taken up Mount Locke, which is not a very large mountain, she had to be coaxed out of the car. She was afraid to look down from that elevation.
Anton and Andela instilled a love of family, a love of music, and a strong work ethic into their children, which has been passed down to their descendants. Anton’s creativity and mechanical skills, and Andela’s skills in the kitchen and garden have continued through subsequent generations.
John Sumbera Family
by Carolyn Sumbera Heinsohn
On October 19, 1879, John Sumbera and his wife, Marie, set sail with their six children on the steamship Nurnberg from Bremen, Germany. Their village of origin was Velke Kuncice, Silesia near Ostrava (presently the Moravian area of the Czech Republic). This village was razed during the Communist regime to make room for a large steel mill. After twenty-two days at sea, the Sumbera family arrived in New Orleans on November 9, 1879. From there, they traveled by train to Schulenberg, Texas, and then on to the Bluff community south of La Grange, where some of their acquaintances had already settled.
John was born on January 22, 1844, in Velke Kuncice in house #37. His father, Josef Sumbera, was also born there. His mother, Anna Kreczmarska, was the daughter of Josef Krecmarsky of nearby Bartovice. John was twenty-two when he married Marie Blahacek Speczikova, age twenty-seven, on July 10, 1866 in St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Vratimov. She was born on July 5, 1839 in Kuncice, the daughter of Jiri and Marina Slivy Blahacek. She was the widow of Johan Speczik and had no children from her first marriage.
John had four brothers: Josef (b. 1845), Anton (b. 1847), Ludvik (b. 1852), and Frantisek (b. 1863); and three sisters: Frantiska (b. 1840), Agnes (b. 1849) and Jenovefa (b. 1850). Apparently Josef died at an early age, since no other records have been located on him. Agnes died in 1851 at three years of age and is buried at Vratimov; Frantisek died at ten months of age of “stomach cramps”.
Three weeks after arriving in Fayette County, John purchased a 120-acre farm in the Arthur Powell League, approximately five miles south of La Grange, for $2600. This farm with additional acreage is still owned by the family of Jerry Sumbera, a grandson of John and Marie. In early 1880, John built a simple wooden frame home that was torn down in 1906 by his son, Anton, who bought the farm from his mother, Marie. A new larger home was built nearby; a second story was added later. This home was torn down in 1956 by Jerry Sumbera, who purchased the farm from his mother in 1946. He used the lumber from the old home to construct a new home.
John and Marie’s oldest child was Josef, born on June 11, 1867. He married Maria Hanus on January 23, 1894 in Ammannsville. They eventually moved to Baylor County in 1906, where Josef and his brother, John, bought a 360-acre farm. Josef was killed in a tragic accident on November 10, 1907 by a fall from a hay wagon, leaving his widow and six children, who continued operating their farm until the children were all grown. Marie died in 1960; both she and Josef are buried in Seymour, Texas.
Marie, the second child of John and Marie Sumbera, was born on July 8, 1869. She was first married to John Parma, who died in 1898. She then married Paul Lidiak in 1900; they lived in Ammannsville for the remainder of their lives. They adopted one daughter, Viola, who was one of the children sent from New York City on an orphan train. Paul died in 1947, and Marie died in 1961. Both are buried in Ammannsville.
John, who was born on August 29, 1871, married Agnes Stavinoha in 1895. They had seven children, three of whom died in early childhood. John was a blacksmith in Ammannsville, as well as a mechanic and farmer. He moved to Baylor County in 1906, and then to Temple, Texas, where he continued to farm and operate another smithy. After Agne
