Conrad's Stories

The life and times of the Conrad Adam family in Kendall County, Texas

Elsie Dienger and Josephine Dienger Bergmann

Elsie Dienger

Born July 9, 1893

Died February 18, 1910

Josephine Bergmann nee Dienger

Born July 31, 1885

Died May 16, 1909

Joseph and Theresia Bergmann – great-great grandparents

Wilhelm and Rosa Bergmann Dietert- grandparents

Joseph and Ida Dietert Dienger – parents

1900 U.S. census, Justice Precinct 1, Kendall, Texas, population schedule. enumeration district (ED) 38, p. 13A, Joseph Dienger; NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 1651.

Boerne Cemetery (Boerne, Kendall County, Texas). Elsie Dienger and Josephine Dienger Bergmann  marker; personally read 2011.

Conrad and Adalbertha Bergmann Adam Wedding

Conrad married the girl next door! When he first arrived in Boerne, Conrad lived and worked on the Dr. Ferdinand Herff farm. The Joseph Bergmann family was his closest neighbor. The houses were within easy walking distance from each other and so I think it is safe to say that Conrad saw the Bergmann family fairly regularly. In particular, Adalbertha. They were married on 16 February 1856 by Albert Moye, JP of the third precinct. Witnesses were H. G. Froebel and Anton Beyer. Their marriage license was recorded in the Bexar County Court House in San Antonio on 18 February 1856.

Bexar County, Texas, Marriage Licenses. No. 1370, Bergmann-Adam, 1856; County Clerk’s Office, San Antonio.

Ludwig and Bertha Dietert Fabra

Bertha Fabra

Sept. 22, 1869

July 15, 1958

Ludwig Fabra

Sept. 16, 1858

Feb. 12, 1929

Bertha is the granddaughter of Joseph and Theresia Bergmann and the daughter of Heinrich and Amalia Bergmann Dietert.

Boerne Cemetery (Boerne, Kendall County, Texas). Bertha and Ludwig Farbra marker; personally read 2011.

Philipp and Maria Peters Bauer

In 1859, Philipp Bauer petitioned the Comal County District Court to become a citizen of the United States. Henry Seele and John Schumacher provided affidavits saying that they had known him for the past five years and was a man of good moral character. He denounced all allegiance to the King of Prussia and was awarded a certificate of citizenship.

Philipp Bauer was born in Prussia on 21 June 1820 and married Maria Peters on 15 August 1855 in New Braunfels, Texas. G. W. Eisenlohr preformed the ceremony. A family story says he corresponded with Maria before he came to Texas. She lived in New Braunfels.

Philipp and Maria had five children: Bertha, Otto, Louise, Ernst, Emma.

Both are buried in the Kreutzberg Cemetery. Philipp died 5 January 1902 and Marie died 13 March 1905.

They are my great-great grandparents.

Tombstones Carl and Katharina Fries Schuetz

Katharina Schuetz                                              Carl Schuetz

Born 12 January 1840                                          Born 11 August 1840

Died 15 February 1909                                         Died 8 August 1923

On her stone is carved,

“She’s gone to world’s above

Where saints and angels meet

To realize our Savior’s love

And worship at his feet

They are buried on the homeplace in Kendalia. They are my great-great grandparents.

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Schuetz Cemetery (Kendalia, Kendall County, Texas). Carl and Katharine Schuetz markers; personally read 1983.

Eighty settlers in 1859 petitioned the Texas legislature to create a new county from Bexar, Comal and Blanco counties. The request was passed on December 3, 1861 by the Senate and approved by the House on January 8, 1862. On January 10, 1862 the act was signed to create Kendall County.

Here is an excerpt from the petition. They stated how they felt.

We the undersigned residents of the headwaters of the Cibolo Creek, Balcones Creek, Sister Creek, Salinas Creek, Post Oak Hill Creek, and settlers on the Guadalupe River have been thrown from one County to the other within the last 5 years.”

“We belonged originally to Bexar and were well satisfied with this arrangement. We have since been annexed to Comal, Kerr, and Blanco County and each time lost by the change. Our connection to Blanco however is so unnatural, inconvenient, and intolerable that we believe our situation can not be made worse than it is now and any change would be agreeable.”

The kick off date for the 150th celebration will begin Saturday, April 28, 2012 at the historic court house. This is within two days of the first election, in the newly formed county, to vote for the county seat and for the officials. The date was April 26, 1862.

Kendall County was the only Texas county to be formed during the Civil War.

Biesele, Rudolph Leopold. The History of the German Settlements in Texas 1831-1861. Austin, TX: Eakin Press, 1987. The copyright was renewed by the German-Texas Heritage Society in 1987. The original copyright is 1930 by the author.

Tombstone of Julius and Ida Haufler Adam

Ida Haufler Adam was the daughter of Johann (John) Gottfried and Louisa Magers Haufler.

born September 25, 1871

died May 10, 1964

Julius Adam was the son of Conrad and Adalbertha Bergmann Adam

born March 15, 1864

died August 23, 1952

They are my great-grandparents.

Boerne Cemetery (Boerne, Kendall County, Texas). Julius and Ida Adam marker; personally read 2011.

Conrad Adam ?

Conrad was born in Tiefenbach, Prussia, a small village in Hesse in 1828. I know the location of his birthplace because on his naturalization papers he states he was from Tiefenbach. But then comes every genealogist’s nightmare, I do not have documentation for the rest of his family tree. I do know that what I have feels right.

About 11 years ago, the Adam family in Kendall County was contacted by Gerhard Adam from Braunfels, Germany. He came to Boerne with his wife, Regina, and shared a copy of the Adam family tree which his father had researched and compiled. Tiefenbach is about 5 miles from Braunfels and yes, Braunfels is the sister city of New Braunfels, Texas.

Conrad and Carl Adam’s parents were Wilhelm Christian and Wilhelmine Klotz Adam. Wilhelm was born on 3 June 1807 in Tiefenbach and married Wilhelmine Klotz on 2 March 1828 in Tiefenbach. She was born 12 August 1809 and died 2 July 1833 of consumption. I am guessing that since his brother Carl, who was born in November 1832, was an infant and Conrad was 5 that it was important to get married right away, so on 22 December 1833 Wilhelm married Anna Elisabeth Muller in Tiefenbach. They had three sons, Frederick, John, and Henry. This goes along with information Bertha Adam Froebel Haby stated in her letter to her son, Guenther in 1927. She says, “ The one thing I can tell you my father was from a very good family, but he lost his mother when he was very young and then went to stay and live with an uncle who owned a large farm and he had to work very hard as a young man. His father married again soon after his mother’s death. From this marriage there are two sons, Henry and John Adam, both whom later moved to America.” Wilhelm died on 27 January 1848. Conrad was 19 years old.

It appears Conrad’s birthday was a day for celebrations. His two oldest daughters, Kathinka and Theresa, were married on his birthday. Kathinka married Paul Toepperwein on 30 December 1874 and Therese married Frederick Voges on 30 December 1878.

I have included a picture that “I think” is Conrad. The original is not in very good shape and I will post the complete picture at another time. It is a family picture of the Toepperweins with a few Adam family members sprinkled in. Paul and Kathinka Toepperwein are in the picture. Anyway, if this is Conrad it gives me a whole different view of him. He looks rather dapper!

Happy Birthday, Papa, and thank you for coming to Texas!

Theresa Adam Voges

Thrasa Voges

Born: Aug. 20, 1859

Died: Dec. 30, 1926

Therese Adam married Frederick “Fritz” Voges

daughter of Conrad and Adalbertha Bergmann Adam

Boerne Cemetery (Boerne, Kendall County, Texas).Thrasa Voges marker; personally read 2011.

Paul and Kathinka Adam Toepperwein's Tombstone

Kathinka is Conrad and Adalbertha Bergmann Adam’s oldest daughter.

Boerne Cemetery (Boerne, Kendall County, Texas). Paul and Kathinka Toepperwein marker; personally read 2011.

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