Never heard King William area called that.

RiverAg 80 said:

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Where in SA is Sauerkraut Bend?

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King William. I've been to Beethoven hall a few times, always a good time.

My German side came in through Indianola late 1840s/early 1850s.

RiverAg 80 said:

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BoerneGator said:

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I'm 73 and never heard of the Wendish before reading this thread! How did I miss it?

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When driving on Hwy 21 in Lee County (Giddings) there is a billboard for the Wendish Museum. That is how I know something about the Wendish.

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Years ago I was able to hear an older couple speak the old Sorbian language that was spoken by the Wendish. It is a Slavic dialect close to Czech & Polish. Most of the descendants today speak fair to good German and are Lutheran.

RiverAg 80 said:

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Never heard King William area called that.

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It was a pejorative term used in the early days apparently. The term is very infrequently used today. The local 5k run uses it.

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The Joske Church (ones from San Antonio will know what I am talking about)

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St. Joseph's Catholic Church, built by German immigrants, now surrounded by Rivercenter Mall, instead of Joske's...All of the stained glass windows have German script on them, no English...

Here is a pic of the True to the Union Monument in Comfort. German immigrants who lived in Comfort didn't want to join the Confederacy, so they were fleeing to Mexico. Capt. McCrae and his Rebel soldiers slaughtered a bunch of them during the "Battle" of the Nueces.

Also in Comfort, here is a pic in honor of the German atheists, aka "freethinkers."

The irony of Freethinkers rejecting Secession, having just abandoned their ancestral homes in Germany, is puzzling.

Great grandfather was part of group Germans that settled east of Brazos near San Felipe.

Married in 1860 and had 9 children.

Of the 9 children, only my grandfather, who died at 63, lived past 1900.

I don't think we understand how tough life was for those people.

PS: Found a couple of deeds on property that great grandfather bought in family files (just sold them recently). One was handwritten by William J Bryan, and the other by Edwin Waller.

The Bryan deed was land from S F Austin. Austin died and sister Mary was the heiress, who's son was W J Bryan.

aggiehawg said:

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Allen76 said:

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aggiehawg said:

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My father's side was from Alsace and settled in Medina County in the 1850s.

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My dad spoke Alsatian and German, and had to learn English in school.

Give me a clue AggieHawg, maybe a last name or something, to see if I know your family (probably do if they are still in Medina County).

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Oh shoot, we lost track of that side of the family in the 70s. But I'm sure there are a ton of distant relatives still in the areas around San Antonio. Schuchart and Wurzbach were two of the names in the woodpile.

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Yeah we probably know each other. My mother was a Schuchart and she married a Wurzbach.

If 76 was your class year, more likely you knew my older brother. But our last name was neither of those. But that name has largely died out with few males having children before they died, sadly including my brother.

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The Bryan deed was land from S F Austin. Austin died and sister Mary was the heiress, who's son was W J Bryan.

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So, Wm. Jennings Bryan was Stephen F. Austin's nephew? First I ever heard of that.

We have a family reunion every year for a family that came over in 1845. One thing I learned over the years is that you ought to be careful about who you talk about in public and what you say because you never know who is going to show up at a family reunion.

BoerneGator said:

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The Bryan deed was land from S F Austin. Austin died and sister Mary was the heiress, who's son was W J Bryan.

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So, Wm. Jennings Bryan was Stephen F. Austin's nephew? First I ever heard of that.

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William Joel Bryan. I should have typed it out. Bryan, Tx namesake.

https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/603723

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Bryan was born at Hazel Run in Sainte Genevieve County, Missouri to James Bryan and Emily Austin Bryan. He attended school at Potosi until 1830. In 1831, W. J. Bryan's mother and stepfather James F. Perry followed Stephen F. Austin to Texas. [Raines 34.] They settled in the eastern part of Brazoria County, Texas. In 1832, the family moved to Peach Point Plantation, where Bryan was instructed by a governess and his stepfather took care of the plantation, cattle and other such property of Bryan's uncle Stephen F. Austin.

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Zarathustra said:

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Ever notice that all the iconic Texas towns are German? There was a big difference in culture between the German settlers and their stone work buildings compared to the Scottish / Irish that settled from the east in their clapboard shacks.

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TBF, our Scots-Irish ancestors were hoarding their resources for the time when they would face a resurgent, aggressive Germany. See Alvin York and Audie Murphy.

UTExan said:

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Zarathustra said:

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Ever notice that all the iconic Texas towns are German? There was a big difference in culture between the German settlers and their stone work buildings compared to the Scottish / Irish that settled from the east in their clapboard shacks.

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TBF, our Scots-Irish ancestors were hoarding their resources for the time when they would face a resurgent, aggressive Germany. See Alvin York and Audie Murphy.

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Those two very different Points of View are not mutually exclusive...

Great, great, great Grandpa Paul Richter left Oels Schlesien, Germany in the 1850s due to political unrest. His family settled in Staunton, VA. His third child, Will Richter got restless at age 17 and decided to move to Fredericksburg, TX to open a commercial bakery like what he saw at home. However, he went out of business in three months no self-respecting German housewife would buy factory made bread when she could make it cheaper at home.

It was 1879 when he hitched a ride on a hide wagon to San Antonio with .25 in his pocket. Got a job at the Menger hotel as a pastry chef. His true love was actually bread-making so he also worked part time at the Solcher bakery around the corner. Eventually working there full time and falling for the boss's daughter, they borrowed $200 from the father in law and opened the Richter bakery down the street in 1882. Still operating as Richter's ButterKrust bread.

My great grandfather was a Lutheran minister among other places, Cuero and founded a church in Salem, Texas (near Brenham).
My great uncle told me he and the family was threatened by the KKK because he gave the sermon in German.
I presume this was WWI and/or II era.
Salem church (where my grandmother was born in the rectory next door) is still there. Went to a 100 year anniversary celebration ~10 years ago.
Pretty cool for my family.

That is some great history. I am liking this thread even though I grew up in west Texas with no German ancestry.

Kool story, Mike!

Technically, wouldn't that be "up the street"?

I also understand the Republic of Texas would publish legislation in English, Spanish and German.

NM

The first bakery was located on the corner of N Flores and W Houston. The second location was Laredo and E Santa Rosa street.

I stand corrected. Was obviously referring to its current location. Love to enjoy the aroma emanating from there while playing golf at Brackenridge.

mike073 said:

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Great, great, great Grandpa Paul Richter left Oels Schlesien, Germany in the 1850s due to political unrest. His family settled in Staunton, VA. His third child, Will Richter got restless at age 17 and decided to move to Fredericksburg, TX to open a commercial bakery like what he saw at home. However, he went out of business in three months no self-respecting German housewife would buy factory made bread when she could make it cheaper at home.

It was 1879 when he hitched a ride on a hide wagon to San Antonio with .25 in his pocket. Got a job at the Menger hotel as a pastry chef. His true love was actually bread-making so he also worked part time at the Solcher bakery around the corner. Eventually working there full time and falling for the boss's daughter, they borrowed $200 from the father in law and opened the Richter bakery down the street in 1882. Still operating as Richter's ButterKrust bread.

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Very cool.




Richter on the right.

Here is the whole Alamo photo:



He was also mayor of SA for a while when his friend Bryan Callaghan passed away.

Fightin_Aggie said:

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Will read later. Interesting fact:

German POWs were housed at country campus in Huntsville, TX during WW2. The main reason being that the Geneva convention required prisoners be held in a location similar to their homeland.

Although not sure how the climate factored into that, maybe it was just topography/forests

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There was also a German pow camp in Karnes County right outside of Kenedy. Pop was in WWII, piloted a B-17 and flew 35 missions into Germany. Him and mom settled in Karnes City. In the mid 90's a former German pow at Kenedy and his wife came back to Texas and Karnes CO to visit the area. Some how he and pop were introduced and pop invited the man and his wife to stay at their house for a couple of days. I thought that was pretty neat. Two former combatants breaking bread at the same table 50 some odd years later

Context of that Alamo photo?

I grew up in George West. Probably played football against you (and Ed Ebrom)...

BoerneGator said:

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I grew up in George West. Probably played football against you (and Ed Ebrom)...

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Yep me and Ed were class of 68 KC badgers. Edwin was the quarterback. I didn't play football though. I was "needed" on the dairy farm outside of Gillett......... and the girls from Nixon and Stockdale were more "adventuresome".

He was chairman of the Retail Merchants Association of South Texas. That was taken at their SA convention in 1904. The Alamo Trust folks got a real good kick out of that photo when I gave them a copy. They did not have one like that in their archives.

There is an interesting story told to me about Canaan Baptist Church in Prairie Chapel near Crawford. This is not a typical baptist, but a German baptist church. It has a very unique history. During WWII when services were at least partially held in German, a McLennan County deputy came to the service just to listen to make sure no funny business was occurring. Also another story from that time and era involved a German in the area being tarred and feathered in Osage. I helped the old timer German bloods in the fields growing up and got all sorts of interesting tidbits about the area's history.

https://www.canaan-baptist.com/history.html

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lso another story from that time and era involved a German in the area being tarred and feathered in Osage.

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We have a family story that my Great Grandfather (cobbler) had his store torched in La Salle, Illinois at the outbreak of WWI. I've never been able to verify but it wouldn't surprise me if nothing was reported either.

Fun times.

This thread makes me damn proud to be from Austin County. Their is something very special about our county and surrounding counties and I am very glad that many traditions are still alive and well.

My wife who is from the Tyler, TX area was exposed to a whole new culture when she married me. Hardcore babtist area up there and basically polar opposite of how it is here. I remember first time I took her to church and she met the priest after mass at the church bazar who was outback helping tap the kegs. Blew her mind to see everyone drinking beer at church. She had no idea about all the dancehalls, polka music, large weddings, beer etc. that is unique to our area of TX. I love it and I am very thankful for my upbringing.

Nothing like drinking a beer listening to 98.3 polka party on the way home from work driving down a backroad in Austin County.

I remember old-timer anniversaries, etc with polka bands and lots of beer. Sadly, those days are over in my neck of the woods. Lots of characters have passed away and not enough people care about this stuff it seems. But I love that this thread is 5 pages long! I like reading all of your tidbits, memories, etc.