A Twentieth century history of southwest Texas, Volume I, Part 23

Author: Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 648

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Kendall's Sheep Ranch.

"At the foot of Mission Hill, four miles northeast of New Braun- fels, is the farm of G. W. Kendall, one of the founders of the New Or- lean Picayune, who, after traveling all over the world, came to the con- clusion that there was no country like Texas. He has there a fine flock of sheep, numbering several thousand, and has done more than any other man to advance the interests of sheep husbandry in Texas, having at an enormous expense introduced some the finest European and North- ern full blood of approved varieties ; and he is now supplying those who wish to improve their stock with choice animals."

San Antonio in 1857.

From New Braunfels, Olmsted and his party took the road to San Antonio. "At noon we crossed the Cibolo (pronounced by Texans 'Sewilla') a creek which has the freak of here and there disappearing in its course for miles, leaving its bed dry. Here were several settle- ments, almost the only ones on the day's route. Seven miles from San Antonio we passed the Salado, another smaller creek, and shortly after, rising a hill, saw the domes and white-clustered dwellings of San Antonio below us.

"The city is closely built and prominent, and lies basking on the edge of a vast plain, through which the river winds slowly off beyond where the eye can reach. To the east are gentle slopes toward it; to the north a long gradual sweep upward to the mountain country, which comes down within five or six miles; to the south and west the open prairies, extending almost level to the coast a hundred and fifty miles away.

"There is little wood to be seen in this broad landscape. Along the course of the river a thin edging appears, especially around the head of the stream, a short ride above the city. Elsewhere there is only limitless grass .and thorny bushes. These last making chapparal, we saw as as we went further on for the first time. A few specimens of mesquite had been pointed out to us ; but here the ground shortly became thickly covered with it. This shrub forms one of the prominent features of Texas west of San Antonio. It is a short thin tree of the locust tribe, whose branches are thick set with thorns, and bears, except in this respect, a close resemblance to a straggling neglected peach tree. Mixed with other shrubs of like prickly nature, as an undergrowth, it frequently forms, over acres together, an impenetrable mass.

"By a wall of these thorns the road is soon closed in. Almost all the roads of entrance are thus lined, and so the city bristles like the

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HISTORY OF SOUTHWEST TEXAS

porcupine, with a natural defense. Reaching the level we shortly came upon the first house, which had pushed out and conquered a bit of the chapparal. Its neighbor was, opposite and soon the street closed in.

"The singular composite, character of the town is palpable at the en- trance. For five minutes the houses were evidently German, of fresh square-cut ,blocks, of creamy-white limestone, mostly of a single story and humble, proportions, but neat and thoroughly roofed and finished. Some were furnished with the luxuries of little bow windows, balconies, or galleries.

"From these we enter the square of the Alamo. This is all Mexican. Windowlegs, cabins of stakes, plastered with mud and roofed with river grass, or 'tula ;' or low, windowless, but better thatched houses of adobe, with groups of brown idlers lounging at their doors.

"The principal part of the town lies within a sweep of the river upon the other (west) side. We descend to the bridge, which is close down upon. the water. From the bridge we enter Commerce street, the narrow principal thoroughfare, and here are American houses. and the triple nationalities break out into the most amusing display, till we reach the main plaza. The sauntering Mexicans prevail on the pavements, but the bearded Germans and the sallow Yankees furnish their proportion. The signs are German by all odds, and perhaps the houses, trim built, with pink window-blinds. The American dwellings stand back, with galleries and jalousies and a garden picket fence against the walk, or rise, next door, in three-story brick to respectable city fronts. The Mexican buildings are stronger than those we saw before. but still of all sorts, and now put to all sorts of new uses. They are all low, of adobe or stone, washed blue and yellow, with flat roofs close down upon their single story. Windows have been knocked in their blank walls, letting the sun into their dismal vaults, and most of them are stored with dry goods and groceries, which overflow around the door. Around the plaza are American hotels, and new glass fronted stores, alternating with sturdy battlemented Spanish walls, and con- fronted by the dirty, grim old stuccoed stone cathedral.

"We have no city, except perhaps New Orleans, that can vie, in point of the picturesque interest that attaches to odd and antiquated for- eignness, with San Antonio. Its jumble of races, costumes, languages and buildings; its religious ruins, holding to an antiquity indistinct enough to breed an unaccustomed solemnity; its remote, isolated. out- posted situation, and the vague conviction that it is the first of a new class of conquered cities into whose decaying streets our rattling life is to be infused, combine with the heroic touches in its history to en- liven and satisfy your traveler's curiosity."

Trade.

"The local business is considerable, but carried on without sub- division of occupation. Each of a dozen stores offers all the articles you may ask for. A druggist or two, a saddler or two, a watchmaker and a gunsmith ply almost the only distinct trades. The country supplied from this center is extensive, but very thinly settled. The capital owned here is quite large. The principal accumulations date from the Mexican

GINSTERILS

Alamo Plaza 50 years ago.

Looking Southwest from Menger Hotel to the present site of :-

1. Dullnig's four-story Department Store.

2. Joske Bros. Co. Department Store.

3. I. & G. N. Ry. and Pullman Palace Car Ticket Office.

4. Wolff & Marx Department Store.

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HISTORY OF SOUTHWEST TEXAS

war, when no small part of the many millions expended by the govern- ment were disbursed here in payment to contractors. Since then the town has been well-to-do, and consequently accumulates a greater population than its position in other respects would justify. The traffic, open and illicit, across the frontier with interior Mexico, has some importance and returns some bulky bags of silver. All the principal merchants have their agencies on the Rio Grande. . The transportation of their goods forms the principal support of the Mexican population. It is this trade, probably, which accounts for the large stocks which were kept, and the large transactions that result, be vond the strength of most similar towns.

"All goods are brought from Matagorda bay, a distance of 150 miles, by ox teams, moving with prodigious slowness and irregularity. In a favorable season the freight price is one-quarter cent per pound from La Vaca. Prices are extremely high, and subject to great variations, depending upon the actual supply and the state of the roads.

"The government brings its army stores direct from the coast. But some hay., corn and other supplies are contracted for in this region, and from this source, and the leavings of casual travelers and new emi- grants, the hard money for circulation is derived. Investments at pres- ent are mostly in lands. There are no home exports of the least ac- count. Pecan nuts and a little coarse wool are almost the only items of the catalogue. The wealth and steady growth of the town depend al- most entirely upon the rapid settlement of the adjacent country.

"A scanty congregation attends the services of the battered old cathedral. The Protestant church attendance can almost be counted upon the fingers. Sundays are pretty rigidly devoted to rest, though most of the stores are open to all practical purposes and the 'exchanges' keep up a brisk distribution of stimulants. The Germans and Mexicans have their dances. The Americans resort to fast horses for their prin- cipal recreation."

Alamo.

"The Alamo is probably a mere wreck of its former grandeur. It consists of a few irregular stuccoed buildings, huddled against the old church, in a large court surrounded by a rude wall; the whole used as an arsenal by the U. S. quartermaster. The church door opens on the square, and is meagerly decorated by stucco mouldings, all hacked and battered in the battles it has seen."

HON. HENRY ELMENDORF, the extent and importance of whose business enterprises and his activity in public life rendered him one of the foremost citizens of San Antonio, died December 20, 1901, and in years no death in the city has caused such uniform and widespread regret. His business methods were so honorable, his actions so manly and sincere, his unselfish devotion to the general good so manifest that all who knew him honored him, and the city was enriched and benefited by his example. Added to his marked business ability and his fitness. for leadership in municipal interests, was a broad general culture and

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strong native intelligence that rendered him a most entertaining and in- teresting gentleman and made the circle of his friends co-extensive with the circle of his acquaintance.

Texas numbered him among her native sons, for he was born in the German colony of New Braunfels, Comal county, April 7, 1849. the son of Charles A. Elmendorf, who came from Prussia to Texas in 1844, a member of Prince Solms-Braunfels' colony, which founded the town of New Braunfels. His wife, Amalia Elmendorf, came in 1848 and in 1852 the family removed from New Braunfels to San An- tonio. Charles Elmendorf had engaged in merchandising in his native land, but in this country turned his attention to farming at New Braun- fels, again becoming a merchant when he removed to San Antonio, where he died in 1878. His widow died in 1899.

Henry Elmendorf acquired his early education in the German-Eng- lish school of San Antonio, and at the outbreak of the Civil war he accompanied his father to Matamoras, Mexico, where the latter opened a hardware business. Before the close of the war, however, the family went to England, where they remained for a few months, and then to Germany where they remained for seven years. At Fredericksdorf, Germany, Henry Elmendorf acquired his more advanced education, also attending some of the best universities of that country. He returned to America in the fall of 1866 and entered his father's store as a clerk. From that time forward he was prominently identified with business in- terests in the city, and his activity, enterprise and keen discernment constituted an important factor not only in his individual success but also in promoting general prosperity and in advancing the welfare of the community when he was its chief executive. He became one of the most prominent and successful merchants of San Antonio and Southwest Texas and a large landowner as well. The town of Elmendorf in Bexar county was named for him.

The large pioneer business house of Elmendorf & Company (by which name it was conducted through all this long career) was estab- lished by Charles Elmendorf in 1860. The original store was on Main Plaza, diagonally opposite the corner now occupied by Wolfsohn's store. At the outbreak of the Civil war the business in San Antonio was sus- pended temporarily, but, as stated, was continued at Matamoras for a number of years. In 1866, however, the business was re-established in San Antonio, following the return of the family from abroad. After the death of the father in 1878, Henry Elmendorf, who had previously be- come associated with the firm, continued the business under the same name and in the old location until about 1890, when the trade, having outgrown its quarters. the Elmendorf Building was erected on the north side of Military Plaza, and there business was resumed and continued until 1901, when it was closed out. A general wholesale and retail hard- ware business was conducted and the trade of the house extended throughout the southwest. There was a large local patronage in San Antonio, while in the wholesale department of the house orders were filled and goods of the house were shipped to various sections of Texas and other portions of the country. In the conduct of this enterprise Henry Elmendorf maintained a safe, conservative, yet progressive policy

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that made the business a most successful one. As the years passed he also extended his efforts into other fields of labor, being a man of re- sourceful business ability, forming his plans readily and being determined in their execution. In addition to the conduct of the hardware business he became second vice-president of the Alamo National Bank and the treasurer of the Lake View Land Company, which had extensive landed interests and made many important realty transfers. He was one of the directors and assisted largely financially in the building of the San An- tonio & Aransas Pass Railway from San Antonio to the gulf. He was a director of the Alamo Fire Insurance Company, was president of the Crosstown Street Railway Company and a director of the board of trade. He was the chief financial supporter of the Bem Brick Company, the first commercial brick factory in the city, the firm being Beckman, Elmen- dorf and Meusebach, the brickyard and works being on the Calaveras road. Whatever he undertook claimed his talents and energies to the full extent and it was his endeavor to carry forward to the highest per- fection possible whatever claimed his attention. This was manifest in his public life as well as in his business interests.

Not a politician in the commonly accepted sense of the term Henry Elmendorf, however, was honored with the highest office within the gift of his fellow townsmen, who recognized his ability and his devotion to the public good. In 1893 he was chosen as an alderman-at-large and was · appointed mayor pro tem. He represented his ward in the city council from the spring of 1893 until September, 1894, when the council elected him mayor to fill out the unexpired term caused by the death of Mayor George Paschal. Following this at the regular election held on February II, 1895, he was elected by popular suffrage as chief executive of the city by a majority of one thousand votes over Bryan Callaghan, who before that time had been thought impossible to defeat, and who has been elected mayor since the death of Mr. Elmendorf. The city's present fine sewerage system was completed during his administration. He gave splendid su- pervision as mayor of San Antonio, being public spirited in every way and favoring and pushing all beneficent and worthy public improvement and enterprises, while personally he was a liberal contributor to and pro- moter of public improvements and important private interests which have had marked bearing upon the welfare and progress of the city.

On the 22d of November, 1873, Henry Elmendorf was married to Miss Emilie Baetz, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joe Baetz. Five chil- dren were born to them, of whom four are living, Mrs. Louis Dreiss, Dr. E. H. Elmendorf, who is represented elsewhere in this volume, and Cedric and Erna Elmendorf. One son, Henry Elmendorf, Jr., died in 1900.

Mr. Elmendorf held membership in several German societies, in- cluding the Sons of Hermann, and was also an Odd Fellow. He was a most generous contributor to all worthy educational, religious and other beneficent enterprises and was especially helpful financially in the Bee- thoven Hall Association, the Casino Association, the Orphans' Home and other interests of a similar nature. A man of broad humanitarian prin- ciples, it was through his instrumentality that the working hours of the employes of the old street car line were reduced to nine hours per day.

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Previous to this time they worked for fourteen hours or more. He did much for the city, and the public acknowledged his worth and cherish his memory. He was a man of strong intellectual endowments and of broad literary culture as brought about through his university training and his extensive reading and investigation in later years. He possessed a patriotic spirit, marked by the utmost devotion to the public good, whether in office or out of it. He was, moreover, a man of marked ability and wide business enterprise. Respected by all wherever known it was through the closer circles of social acquaintances he gained warm friend- ships and that genuine, kindly regard which arises from appreciation of genuine worth in the individual. At his death the flag upon the city hall was placed at half mast out of respect to his memory and the city council passed the following resolution : "Be it resolved by the city council of the city of San Antonio:

"That the members of the council take this method of expressing their deep sorrow at the death of Henry Elmendorf, a former member ,of this body and mayor of the city.

"In his death San Antonio has lost an old and most estimable citi- zen, his family a loving and devoted father and every member of the city council a personal friend. To his sorrow-stricken family we extend our warmest sympathy, and the assurance we mourn with them in their and our irreparable loss.

"Resolved, that a copy of these resolutions be transmitted to the family of the deceased by the city clerk and furnished to the press for publication."

Expressions of deepest regret were made among the city officers and employes in business circles and in homes where he was known socially when the news of the death of Henry Elmendorf was received. His life was one of general usefulness. He never allowed the accumulation of wealth in any way to affect those less fortunate, but gave his friendship in recognition of character worth. He manifested in all life's relations a breadth of view and a benevolence of purpose that made him honored and esteemed and gained him recognition as one of San Antonio's fore- most citizens.

ANTHONY MICHAEL DIGNOWITY, M. D., one of the most noted pioneers of San Antonio, was born in Kuttenberg, Prussia, January 16, 1810, being descended from a family enjoying distinction for intellectual endowments, and he ambitiously availed himself of the excellent educa- tional opportunities which were given him and pursued a thorough course in the Jesuit College of his native place. On the 17th of February, 1832, at the age of twenty-two years, he sailed from Hamburg to the United States, and after his arrival resided at different places in the south, prin- cipally at Natchez, Mississippi, where he remained for a longer period than at any other place before coming to Texas. During his residence in that city, in 1835, he made a trip to the Lone Star state, coming as far south as San Antonio at that time, and returning to Natchez entered upon the study of medicine under Doctors Stone and Carrothers, also attending lectures at the Eclectic Medical College of Cincinnati, Ohio. He adopted the eclectic school, then in its infancy, and began his practice in Mississippi.

Mrs. Anthony M. Dignowity

Anthony M. Dignowity

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HISTORY OF SOUTHWEST TEXAS

Some time later Dr. Dignowity chartered a small steamboat, the Lady Morgan, and taking his effects went up the Mississippi and Arkansas rivers to the Indian Territory, locating at Talequah, which had but re- cently been established as the seat of government for the Cherokee nation. Here he practiced his profession for a year or more, in the meantime visiting Little Rock, Arkansas, where he met and married on the 9th of February, 1843, Miss Amanda J. McCann, who had become a resident there two years previously. After his marriage the doctor moved to a small place called Illinois Falls in the western part of Arkansas, near the Indian Territory line, where he practiced until the early spring of 1846, at that time volunteering under Governor Yell of Arkansas for service in the Mexican war. With this object in view he came with ten others to San Antonio, and while awaiting an opportunity to enlist, was called upon to attend an Indian and Mexican, who had been participating in an affray on the street. His presence as a physician thus becoming known and such services being in demand, he was prevailed upon to remain and de- vote his time to the practice of medicine, afterward sending for his family. He built up a lucrative practice, and his skill as a business man enabled him to lay the foundation of a comfortable fortune and accumulate a large amount of property. At the opening of the Civil war, being op- posed to slavery and therefore unable to espouse the cause of the Con- federacy, he went north to Washington city and secured employment under the government, remaining there during the entire period of the war. Returning thence to his home in Texas in 1869, he resumed prac- tice at San Antonio, but in the meantime he had suffered a great loss financially by the ravages of war. But he continued successfully in his practice and in his business affairs until his life's labors were ended in death on the 22d of April, 1875.

Dr. Dignowity was in all respects a fine citizen and gentleman. He had a far-seeing vision, and as long as fifty years ago he outlined a plan of industrial development for San Antonio to make it a manufacturing city, using the raw materials at hand, such as cotton, wool, hides, etc., and developing power for manufacturing purposes from the San Antonio river. He also in the early days laid off many additions to the city, and was very enthusiastic in his efforts to bring citizens, not only to this city, but to the surrounding farming lands as well. His first home in San Antonio was on Acequia street, but after a short time he bought a large tract of elevated land in the eastern part of the town, which has ever since been known as Dignowity Hill. There he built his home, which still stands and is occupied by his children and grandchildren. It is a beautiful homestead and is one of the landmarks of the city. He was a scholarly man of the highest principles, which he always steadfastly maintained regardless of circumstances or surroundings. His mind was actuated by a spirit of the utmost fairness to all men, and he had such exceptional mental and moral qualities and was a man of such unblem- ished honor and rectitude that he was admired and revered by all. He was greatly devoted to his family and an ardent lover of his adopted country. He was a Republican in politics, and although reared a Catholic in later life he became a Spiritualist.

Dr. Dignowity's wife, who died at San Antonio, January 27, 1907,

Vol. I. 12

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was before her marriage Miss Amanda J. McCann. She was born on the 26th of July, 1820, at Martinsburg, Virginia, the daughter of Francis and Sarah (Cramer) McCann. Her father was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, and came to America with his uncle at the age of nine years, locating at Baltimore, and he remained with the uncle until reaching years of maturity. He fought during the war of 1812, taking part in the battle of New Orleans under Jackson. In August, 1817, he married Miss Sarah Cramer, of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and a niece of Con- gressman Cramer of that county. They removed to the mountains of West Virignia, where in 1820 their daughter Amanda was born. The family subsequently removed to Hagerstown, Maryland, and later de- cided to go to Louisville, Kentucky, but stopping at Cincinnati on their way remained there for several years. From that city Amanda was sent to the convent at Loretta, where she remained for four years, obtaining there the greater part of her literary education. Continuing their journey to Mississippi in 1840 and thence to Arkansas, the family located on a plantation near Little Rock, where Mr. McCann acquired a headright for his services in the war of 1812. Although a planter by occupation he was considerable of a merchant and trader, and Amanda accompanied her father on many of his travels as a trader. In fact, it is hardly possible that any one woman ever had as typical a pioneer and frontier experience as did Mrs. Dignowity, her travels by wagon and other crude methods of the early days beginning in her childhood and taking her through Vir- ginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Ohio, Mississippi, Arkansas and finally to Texas.

During all those years and her subsequent early married life she took constant care of a large family, and her services both in health and sick- ness could hardly be estimated. In early life she began the study of med- icine, being one of the pioneer women in that profession, and when the home was established in Little Rock she continued her studies under Dr. William Byrd Powell, then president of the Medical College of New Or- leans and afterward state geologist of Arkansas. On the 9th of February. 1843, she was married to Dr. Dignowity, who was a friend and partner of Dr. Powell. This union, lasting through such a long number of years, was an ideally happy one, the two not only being united by the sacred ties of love, but by mutual interest in the profession of medicine and in mak- ing the world better. She came with her two babies to Texas in 1846 to join her husband, who had preceded her as related above, making the jour- ney by water to New Orleans, thence to Port Lavaca and then by Mexi- can wagons to San Antonio, the party having trouble with the Indians on their way hither. In San Antonio she at once became absorbed in the new, quaint, foreign-like life of the then almost entirely Mexican town, studied and learned to speak Spanish fluently, and later when the German settlers came in large numbers she also learned that language. From the very beginning of her life here she established herself in the hearts of ali as a woman of many gifts and accomplishmnts, which were at the disposal of all her friends. Her home, at its beginning on Acequia street and later when established, on Dignowity Hill, became noted for its genial hospital- ity, and there she entertained many notables, such as Prince Solms, Don Castro, Generals Kearney and Doubleday and other United States army

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A Twentieth century history of southwest Texas, Volume I, Part 23

Author: Lewis Publishing Company Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 648

Author: Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 648