Bertha Adam Froebel is the fifth child of Conrad and Adalbetha Adam. Her husband, Hilmar Gunther Froebel, died in 1905. Two years later, on 3 April 1907, Bertha married Charles J. Haby in San Antonio. Witnesses for the marriage are Anton Adam (not related, as far as I know) and Guenther Froebel.
Charles J. Haby was born on 10 February 1864 to Joseph and Magdalena Haby. Charles worked at the Office Bar on 215 Water Street in San Antonio as a bartender. He may have owned the business. During the 1905 fair held in San Antonio, Charles operated a bar for the fair visitors. The San Antonio Light reported, “The Buffet bar at the fair grounds has been one of the best patronized bars at the fair ground. It was in charge of [sic] Charles Haby and was noted for polite attention and efficient service. Mr. Haby too is noted for his courtesy…” He died on 21 November 1909 at their home on 126 Kansas Street. He was 45 years old and is buried in City Cemetery #6.
Witnesses: Anton Adam worked in the Bexar County Courthouse as a Clerk for Justice of the Peace Ben S. Fisk. He was born in 1874. His father, Anton Adam, served as a Bexar County Clerk for a several years.
Guenther Froebel was Bertha’s oldest son. He was born in 1889 in Boerne.
Do you have a story about Bertha or her family? Please share in the comments. I would love to learn more about them.
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Bexar County Marriage Records, Bexar County Clerks Office, San Antonio, Texas.
“Pleasant Remembrance.” San Antonio Light. (San Antonio, TX). 30 November 1905.
I certify, on honor, that this Muster Roll exhibits the true state of Captain W. E. Jones Company
of Kendall County, Texas State Troops, for the month of February, 1864
Er Ferandsen, Calvalry Officer.
Transcribed copy of by Kathryn Adam Hurst, Confederate Muster Roll, Kendall County, Texas State Archives
I noticed there were a number of misspelling or name changes on this muster roll, for example Cornelius instead of Conrad. Perhaps, Er. Ferandsen was trying to “Americanize” their names. When transcribing the document, I did not add any punctuation because Er. Ferandsen did not either.
An article about Frontier Organization in the Handbook of Texas gives an explanation of why this group was formed and what they were expected to do. Here are two excerpts.
“The law declared that all persons liable for military service who were actual residents of the frontier counties of Texas were to be enrolled into companies of from twenty-five to sixty-five men. The act defined the frontier line and the fifty-nine organized frontier counties of Texas; it also instructed Governor Murrah to divide the designated counties into three districts and to appoint a suitable man with the rank of major of cavalry to take charge of the organization of mounted companies within the district…”
“Companies in the Frontier Organization normally averaged between fifty and fifty-five men in strength, usually with about fifteen men per squad for patrol duty. The length of service at any one time varied according to the task, presence of the enemy, and availability of supplies, but most squads on patrol duty expected to remain out for about ten days at a time. The Frontier Organization not only provided protection against Indian incursions but also enforced Confederate conscription, rounded up deserters, and provided protection to settlers from renegades and bandits. The Frontier Organization assumed chief responsibility for the protection of the Texas frontier from March 1864 until several months after the end of the war…
Jacob was twenty years old when he arrived in Texas. He sailed on the ship Mississippi with his father and mother, Phillip Jacob, and Margarethe Kessler Theis and his siblings. They were from Offenbach, Nassau (Germany).
Jacob married Wilhelmine Gass on 2 October 1860. In the 1870 Kendall County Census, his profession is blacksmith, is married to Wilhelmine and has four children. By 1900 they have a total of eleven children, Robert, Anna (Achterberg), Emma, Lina (Dietert), Rudolph, Alma (Phillip), Louise (Bergmann), Emilie, Clara (Toepperwein), August, and Ida.
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Boerne Cemetery (Boerne, Kendall County, Texas). Jacob Theis. marker; personally read November 2020.
1870 Kendall County Census, Ancestry.com.
1900 Kendall County Census, Ancestry.com.
“Jacob Theis.” Death Certificates, 1903-1982. Ancestry.com.
Emma is the youngest child of Philipp and Marie Peters Bauer. She grew up on the family farm in Kendall County, Texas, with her siblings Bertha, Otto, Louise, and Ernst. Her older brother Otto died between 1870 and 1880. No records are available listing Otto’s exact death date or where he is buried, but she remembered him as she used Otto as her oldest son’s middle name.
Emma was born on 27 February 1868 on the family farm in Spring Branch. The farm was located about halfway between Boerne and New Braunfels on what is now Highway 46. Her father, an experienced carpenter, built the house. Two generations of Bauer descendants lived there. The Max Hofheinz family purchased the farm in the 1930s when her sister-in-law, Rosa Bender Bauer, sold it. The house is located in Guadalupe State Park.
On 14 December 1889, Emma married Henry Schuetz. Henry purchased their marriage license in Kendall County. Charles Ohlrich, the Justice of the Peace for Precinct 3 in Comal County, officiated the marriage ceremony. Ph. Acker and L. Willke witnessed the marriage. Henry, the son of Carl and Katharine Fries Schuetz, was born near Bear Creek, close to New Braunfels, in Comal County in 1864.
In January 1895, Henry and Emma purchased land from his aunt and uncle, Joe and Annie Saunders, for $500.00. The “…tract of land being on Curry’s Creek about 9 ½ miles West of the Twin Sisters and 33 miles N. 55 W from New Braunfels…” They sold this property containing 190 acres to William Schuetz, Henry’s oldest brother, in 1898 for $800.00. In June 1899, they purchased land next to the Blanco River in the town of Pittsburg in Blanco County. On the 1900 Federal Census, the Henry Schuetz family is living there.
In 1910 they live in Kendall County on the Karl Schuetz homeplace along Curry’s Creek in Kendalia. Karl, Emma’s father-in-law, age 71, is living with them. His wife died the year before. Emma is 42 years old and has had four children with three living, Alex Otto (1890), Lillie Katherine (1895), and Harry Charles (1898). Her husband, Henry, is farming, and her father-in-law, Karl, had his own income.
Emma and her daughter Lillie at the Schuetz homeplace in Kendalia
On 4 May 1916, Emma purchased a Beneficiary Fund from the Supreme Forest Woodmen Circle for $333.33. If she died after owning the policy for three years, the beneficiaries would receive $1000.00. The beneficiaries were her husband Henry and the children Alex, Lillie, and Harry. The fund would also pay $100.00 toward the “erection of a monument in memory of the member.” Emma belonged to Fern Grove, No. 1400 in the Supreme Forest Woodmen Circle in Texas. Clerk Minnie Davis witnessed the policy. 1916 may have been the year that Emma learned she had tuberculosis. Her obituary states she died “after an illness of some duration.”
In 1918 Texas women tried to convince the governor of Texas that they should have the right to vote in elections. Governor William P. Hobby agreed to allowed them to vote in the upcoming Texas Primary. Emma registered to vote on 5 July 1918, just in time for the Democratic Primary on 27 July.
Signature in 1916
Two years later, Henry, Emma, and their youngest son, Harry, live on a farm and ranch along Welfare Road or Fredericksburg Road. The 1920 census lists both roads next to their name. Henry sold this farm to Willie Rust in October of 1920, and they moved to a small farm along Johns Road. The disease must have progressed since they decided to move so close to town and near Dr. John Nooe, her physician.
Left to Right – Harry Schuetz, Mrs. Lex, Emma and Henry Schuetz at house on Johns Road, Boerne
Emma Bauer Schuetz, age 59 and one month, passed away at her home near Boerne on 27 March 1927. Rev. George Belsey performed the funeral service. Pallbearers were Gus. Bower, Chas. Pfeiffer, Chas. Dienger, Max Richter, Joe Vogt, and Ernst Haufler. She was buried in the Boerne Cemetery.
Emma was my dad’s grandmother. She died when he was two years old, so he did not remember her. He always understood she died in a house on the corner of Turner and San Antonio Streets in Boerne. The house was a small sanitarium or hospital. Years later, my maternal grandparents, Paul and Ame Richardson bought the house, and they would sometimes mention this story. Now that I reread the obituary and it states she died in her home, I wonder if maybe she stayed at the house to receive extra care and then went home?
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Blanco County Deed Records, Vol )R, p 63-64. County Clerk’s Office, Johnson City.
Blanco County Deed Records. Vol 17, p44-46. County Clerk’s Office, Johnson City.
Kendall County Deed Records. Vol 15, p137-139. County Clerk’s Office, Boerne.
Kendall County Deed Records. Vol 17, p154-156. County Clerk’s Office, Boerne.
Kendall County Deed Records. Vol 35, p60-61. County Clerk’s Office, Boerne.
Kendall County Marriage Records, County Clerk’s Office, Boerne, Texas.
Obituary, The Boerne Star, March 1927.
1900 Blanco County Census, Ancestry.com.
1870, 1880, 1910, 1920 Kendall County Census, Ancestry.com
Phillip Theis left Offenbach, Nassau, Germany in 1855 on the ship Mississippi. Eight members of the P. J. Theis family came to Texas, his wife Margarethe and children, Anna, Jacob, Elsie, Henry, August, Caroline, and Catherine.
In 1860, Phillip appeared on the Blanco County Manufacturing Schedule. He owned a blacksmith shop valued at $400.00, and he had one employee over 16, which he paid $120.00 per year. His business was located on Main Street in Boerne.
Phillip Jacob Theis was one of thirty-three inhabitants to purchase burial plots in the Boerne Cemetery in 1867.
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Boerne Cemetery (Boerne, Kendall County, Texas). Phil. Jac. Theis marker; personally read November 2020.
I just found this deed in the Kendall County Deed Records, Volume 24, pages 595-596. I was unaware of its existence and never heard anyone in my father’s family mention it. In February 1909, my great-great-grandmother Katharina Fries Schuetz passed away and was buried within walking distance from their house in Kendalia. I had no idea that in December of 1909, my great-great-grandfather created a cemetery. He was buried there in 1923, and my grandma Lillie Adam said there were two infants buried there, too. I never gave it a thought that other family members could be buried there—what a beautiful tribute to his wife and family. The last time I visited the cemetery was in 1983.
Katharina Fries Schuetz
I have transcribed the deed for easy reading.
The State of Texas |
County of Kendall | Know all men by these presents
that I, Henry Schuetz of the County of Kendall and State
of Texas, for and in consideration of the sum of Five
dollars to me in hand paid by Karl Schuetz of the
County of Kendall, the receipt of which is hereby acknow-
ledged, do by these presents, bargain, sell, release and
for ever [sic] claim unto the said Karl Schuetz his heirs
and assigns, all my right, title and interest in and
to that certain tract or parcel of land lying in the
County of Kendall and State of Texas, described as
follows, to wit: Being one acre of land, more or
less out of Survey No. 2, in the name of R. W.
Montgomery and being a part of the old Karl
Schuetz homestead on Curry’s Creek. The land hereby
conveyed is now used as a cemetery for members
of Schuetz’s family and relatives. To have and to
hold the said premises, together with all and singular
the rights, privileges [sic] and appurtenances thereto in
any manner belonging unto the said Karl Schuetz,
his heirs and assigns for cemetery purposes for ever [sic]
so that neither I, the said Henry Schuetz, nor my heirs
nor any person or persons claiming under me, shall
at anytime [sic] hereafter, have claim or demand any
right or title to the aforesaid premises or appurtenance
or any part thereof.
Witness my hand at Boerne this 3rd day of Dec.
A.D. 1909.
Henry Schuetz
The State of Texas|
County of Kendall| Before me, Jno. Reinhard, County
Clerk in and for the County of Kendall, in the State
of Texas, on this day personally appeared Henry
Schuetz known to me to be the person whose name
is subscribed to the foregoing instrument and
acknowledged to me that he executed the same
for the purposes and consideration therein expressed.
Given under my hand and seal of office this
3rd day of Dec. A.D. 1909.
Seal Jno. Reinhard
Clk. C. C. K. Co.
Filed for record in my office the 3rd December 1909
At 11 o’clock A. M. and recorded the 10th December
I had a great idea, but I am a digital native and can not figure out how to make it work. Most likely, I am using the wrong program. I planned to make an interactive chart listing the children and grandchildren of Philipp and Marie Peters Bauer. I made the chart but could not figure out how to make it interactive and work on WordPress simultaneously. I probably should have checked first to see if it was possible to do this. I do not think it is. I like my chart and decided to post it anyway. So, instead of clicking on a person’s name, go to the sidebar on the right and in the Search box type in the person’s name or scroll down to Categories, click on Bauer. To be a digital native must be bliss…
Do you know any stories about the Philipp Bauer family? Please add one in the comments. I would love to hear from you.
When did Philipp Bauer arrive in Texas? A question I have tossed around for quite a while. 1854 is the date used for his arrival to Texas, and I have also used it, but I do not know where the date originated. I am unable to locate a ship manifest with an 1854 arrival date. I did find a manifest for a Philipp Bauer who sailed on the ship Ammerland and landed in Galveston, Texas, on 28 October 1851. On board ship there were eight families from the same town of “Eenkirch.” The translator was uncertain of the spelling of the town. I looked in Meyers Gazetteer for the “Eenkirch,” but one was not listed. However, there was an Enkirch, Zell, Coblenz, Rheinland, Preussen.
Many of the people who settled in the Texas Hill Country were from the Rheinland area. There were other families or single persons from the same town aboard the ship. They were Georg Hant and his wife, Phil. Jac. Wagener, wife and three children; Joh. Carl Georg, wife and two children; Phil. Carl Georg; Sop. Elisab. Georg; Dan Mueller, wife and four children; and Philipp Kunz. The specific destination is not recorded for these families, but Hant, Wagener, and Georg families from Enkirch settled in Comal County. Phillip Bauer’s oldest daughter, Bertha, married Eduard Georg, the son of Phil. Carl (Charles) and Sophie Georg, in 1879 in Comal County. The 1900 Census lists the year of immigration for Philipp as 1850. I feel the 1851 Ammerland manifest lists my Philipp Bauer.
1900 Kendall County Census, next to the word Germany is the year of immigration
Philipp Bauer was born on 21 June 1820. He married Marie Peters in Comal County on 10 August 1855. I obtained a copy of the marriage license in 1999, and that is when I realized Philipp had not married Marie Busch. A grand aunt told me he married Marie Busch when the Kendall County Historical Commission was putting together the book Rivers, Ranches, Railroads, Recreation: A History of Kendall County. I did not double-check Marie’s maiden name. The deadline was fast approaching, so I went with it. That mistake has haunted me.
The family story is Philipp and Marie knew each other in Prussia. She arrived in New Braunfels and wrote Philipp telling him there were jobs available. He decided to immigrate, and then they married. I recently located another version of this story. Marie arrived two years before Philipp and was working in a hotel in New Braunfels. She wrote Philipp about work available in the area. He was a carpenter by trade. Present day Enkirch, is known for its historic timber houses. The 1900 census states Marie arrived in 1846. She would have been twenty-one. Did Marie come with her parents or another relative? I do not know. I have not been able to connect her to the Peter/Peters families living in Comal County at the time. She may have come with relatives and then had to work at the hotel to support herself.
In the fall of 1859, two men, Herman Seele and John Schumacher*, spoke on Philipp’s behalf, stating they had known him for five years and he was a man of good moral character. Philipp became a citizen of the United States and received a naturalization certificate.
Philipp Bauer’s naturalization in the Comal County District Court Minutes, Vol C, 243p.
On the Comal County 1856 Tax Roll, Philipp Bauer had 160 acres of preemption land on the Guadalupe River from Survey 72. He owned one horse valued at $50.00, 1 buggy valued at $150.00, merchandise on hand valued at $250.00. The total value was $3500.00. He paid .75 for poll tax, $5.221/2 for state tax, and $2.91¼ for county tax. On the 1857 Tax Roll, he owned 160 acres, one horse, and ten head of cattle. He must have sold the buggy and decided not to have merchandise on hand. The stream nearest his land was Curry’s Creek. Sam Houston was governor at the time and signed land patent. It was here Philipp built a log cabin. He later received two more land patents in Kendall County, 156 5/10 acres in Survey 306 and 160 acres in Survey 730.
In 1893 Philipp and Marie sold their land to their son Ernst for $1500.00. The couple placed a stipulation in the deed stating, “reserve to ourselves from this conveyance for the full term of our natural life the use and ownership of our present dwelling house, also the use and enjoyment of five acres of farming land now in cultivation in our field or farm. At the death of both of these grantors the property and premises hereby reserved shall become the possession of the grantee Ernst Bauer…” Philipp was 73 and Marie 66 years of age. Rosa Bauer, Ernst’s wife, sold the land in 1934 to Max Hofheinz. The house and property are now part of the Guadalupe River State Park in Spring Branch, Texas.
Indians were roaming the area when the Bauer family moved to their land. It makes me wonder what kinds of experiences they had. In 1855 at Judge William E. Jones‘ place along Curry’s Creek, two men searching for oxen were attacked by Indians. These Indians had stolen several horses from Sisterdale and the surrounding area the night before. Raids in upper Comal County along the Blanco and Guadalupe Rivers were a common occurrence. Groups of men would pursue them when these raids occurred, but there is no record showing Philipp took part in them. Eyewitness accounts at the time stated all persons needed to be armed even if they were going to the barn because they never knew when a raid would occur.
Phillip’s land had initially been in Comal County. In 1858 it became part of Blanco County. The 1860 Agriculture Schedule gives an idea of how his farm operated. He had 10 acres of improved land and 150 unimproved lands. His farm’s value was $300.00, and he owned $50.00 worth of farming implements and machinery. He had two milk cows, two working oxen, 18 other cattle, and ten swine. He grew Indian corn, and when the census was taken, he had 40 bushels on hand.
Ph. Bauer selling corn, recorded in J. F. Stendebach’s log book, undated
After the Federal troops left the state at the beginning of the Civil War, Indian raids occurred with renewed vigor. The State of Texas organized troops to help with the Indian situation. Philipp’s name does not appear on any surviving lists. After the war, while Texas was under military rule, any man who wanted to vote had to register in 1867. Philipp does not show up on the Kendall, Blanco, or Comal voter lists. In previous years he paid his poll tax, so it seems he voted prior the war.
By 1900, Philipp and Marie lived with Carl and Louise Wessely, their daughter, son-in-law, and family. In this time, older people generally lived with one of their children, so they had someone to care for them. When the family could not take care of them any longer and were exhibiting irrational behavior that could not be controlled, a family member could petition the court for a lunacy hearing. This is what happened to Philipp Bauer. We can only speculate what was happening, maybe dementia. The case was brought forward by his son-in-law Carl Wessely, Jr. On 8 November 1901, Kendall County Judge Henry Theis heard the case State of Texas vs. Philipp Bauer. These seven questions and answers were presented to the court.
Is Philip Bauer, the Defendant, of unsound mind? Ans. Yes
If the Defendant is of unsound mind, is it necessary that he be placed under restraint? Ans. Yes
If you answer both the foregoing questions in the affirmative, then what is the age and nativity of the Defendant? Ans. Age 82 years, native of Germany
How many attacks of insanity has he had and how long has the present attack existed? Ans. Off and on, for the last six mths. Ans. The last attack lasted 8 days.
Is insanity hereditary in the family of the Defendant or not? Ans. No
Is the Defendant possessed of any estate, if so, of what does it consist and its estimated value? Ans. $300 note
If the Defendant is possessed of any estate, are there any persons legally liable for his support, if yea name them. Ans. According to the evidence none
This document was signed by the jurors, F. W. Horner, Wm. Vanderstratten, Willie Stendebach, J. S. Crist, G. Forshon, R. Schwarz.
The decision of the court: “Whereupon it is adjudged, that the said Phillip Bauer is a lunatic and it is ordered by the Court, that he be conveyed to the Lunatic Asylum at San Antonio County of Bexar, for restraint and treatment, and that the costs of this proceeding be agrudged against.” H. Theis, County Judge Kendall
Lunatic Asylum in San Antonio
Philipp Bauer died at the asylum six weeks later, on 5 January 1902. He was buried in the Kreutzberg Cemetery in Kendall County. According to his wife, Marie’s obituary, she “had been ill since the death of her husband three years ago.” I wonder if she ever saw him again.
*John Schumacher arrived in New Braunfels in 1845 with his wife, Margarite. In 1860 he was a landlord. John is from Rosdorf, Hesse-Cassel. Could he be the owner of the hotel where Marie Peters worked?
Do you have a story about Philipp Bauer? Share it in the comments. I would love to learn more about my great-great-grandfather.
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Bauer, Mrs. Mary. San Antonio Express (San Antonio, Texas) 15 March 1905. Genealogybank.com.
Bauer-Peters. Comal County Marriage Records. County Clerk’s Office. New Braunfels, Texas.
Bauer, Philipp. Kendall County Probate Minutes, Vol. 4, 79p. County Clerk’s Office. Boerne, Texas.
Carmack, George. “A New Park in Our Future.” San Antonio Express-News, 13 August 1977.
Comal County Tax Rolls, 1856, 1857, 1858. Familysearch.com.
District Court Minutes, Vol C, 243p. Comal County District Clerk. New Braunfels, Texas.
San Antonio Express (San Antonio, TX), Vol. XL, 74, p 7, March 15, 1905, Genealogybank.com.
Mrs. Mary Bauer
“Boerne, Tex., March 14 – Mrs. Mary Bauer died yesterday afternoon at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Chas Wessly[sic], at Kreuzberg Interment was made at Kreutzberg cemetery at 1 o clock today Mrs. Bauer was 76 years of age and had been ill since the death of her husband three years ago She was born in Germany, but came to Kendall county fifty years ago. One son and three daughters mourn her loss Ernst Bauer, Mrs. Chas. Wessely and Mrs. Bertha George of Kendall county, and Mrs. Henry Schuz [sic Schuetz] of Blanco.”
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