USA > Texas > A Twentieth century history of southwest Texas, Volume II > Part 68
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In the meantime Mr. Bruns had saved his earnings and felt justified in marrying, so in 1873 he wedded Miss Mary Sander, who was born in Fayette county, Texas, in 1853, a daughter of William and Mary (Duellberg) Sander, natives of Prussia, who became residents of that county in 1851. The father purchased land and improved a good farm. Later he took up arms in defense of the Confederacy, and for a time was stationed at Galveston, Texas, while later he freighted cotton to Brownsville for the government. He also found a market for his own cotton and some he bought, receiving forty-eight cents per pound. This proved very profitable and gave him a start in life. He afterward suc- cessfully carried on farming until his death in 1901. His wife passed away in 1889. They were faithful members of the Lutheran church and people of the highest respectability. In the family were four sons : William, a farmer and merchant of Fayette county; Henry, who died leaving a wife and five children; August, deceased; and Charles, a farmer of Fayette county.
The only daughter, Mary, and the third member of the family, as stated, became the wife of Mr. Bruns, after which he established a store and engaged in general merchandising on his own account. He secured a good trade, but the fact that he allowed so many to purchase goods on credit caused him to close out his business in 1887, after which he con- ducted a granger store until 1889. He then bought a tract of six hun- dred acres of raw land near the present site of El Campo. At that time
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no farming had been done on the prairie and he was the first to try the experiment. He paid three dollars and a half per acre for the land, built a house and soon had a portion of his farm under cultivation. The first year he had a small crop, but after that raised good crops annually until 1894, raising over a bale of cotton to the acre and also good corn. In May, 1895, a hailstorm, destroyed all ; he planted a second time, but that proved a failure. From 1896 to 1898 he had over a bale to the acre, and then for two years the boll weevil and storms proved very destruct- ive. In 1901 he put in rice and for three years raised good crops and secured good prices. In 1904 he sold his farm for fifty-three dollars per acre. He had also raised and sold hay in previous years and raised garden produce for his family.
When Mr. Bruns settled on the prairie he was alone. The railroad was running in 1884 and a small station was established, called Prairie Switch. In the fall of 1889 the town of El Campo was platted and a small gin built, and today it is a flourishing commercial center, with good schools, churches, a produce market, and all modern advantages which are an indication of advancing civilization and progressive citizenship. Mr. Bruns assisted in promoting the town, buying lots and building houses which he rented or sold. In 1904 he purchased a commodious residence standing in the midst of a block of ground. The site is ele- vated, the style of architecture is modern, the conveniences are many and altogether this is one of the attractive homes of the city. Mr. Bruns ยท is now living retired, looking after his invested interests, and deals in real estate. He owns three farms which he rents, as well as other proper- ties, and he aided in organizing the State Bank of El Campo and Palacios. of which he is a director. Mr. Bruns also loans money and busies him- self in many ways, for indolence and idleness are utterly foreign to his nature. As the architect of his own fortune he has builded wisely and well and he has created a goodly estate.
Mr. and Mrs. Bruns have had seven children: Augusta, who is the wife of Gus Nattio, a farmer ; Herman, at home; William, a popular druggist at El Campo ; Lizzie and Flora, also living at home; Emma, a successful school teacher, and Henry, who is attending school. All the family are members of the Lutheran church, and Mr. Bruns belongs to the Sons of Herman. He is well known as a most respected citizen, served as county commissioner in 1891-2, and he has done for the county a most serviceable and valuable work as a pioneer farmer, demonstrat- ing the possibilities of the soil for the cultivation of crops, thus setting an example which others have profitably followed and thereby contribut- ing to the general growth and prosperity of the county.
P. B. BUNDICK is the proprietor of the Pioneer Hotel of El Campo, and is a son of one of the veterans who fought in the battle of San Jacinto and was a citizen of the Republic of Texas. A native of Matagorda county, Texas, P. B. Bundick was born August 21, 1855, his parents being Thomas W. and Clementine (Schultz) Bundick, who were mar- ried in Texas; the former was born in Louisiana and the latter in Ger- many. T. W. Bundick was of Scotch-Irish descent and was reared on a farm in the state of his nativity. He came to Texas as a young man, locating in Fort Bend county, and opened up a farm on Oyster creek,
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where he remained until the outbreak of hostilities which resulted in winning Texan independence from Mexico. He joined the force of brave patriots, with General Sam Houston in command, and was active in the struggle until its close when Santa Anna was made a prisoner.
At the Siege of the Alamo.
He was always on duty, ready for any emergency. He was with a small force dispatched to recruit the forces under Travis at San Antonio. When within a few miles of the city the lieutenant in command, not knowing in which direction the Mexicans would approach, asked for volunteers to act as pickets to carry word to the garrison at the Alamo. Mr. Bundick, with three others, volunteered and remained in order to give warning of the Mexican approach. The remainder of the force joined Crockett and Travis at the Alamo and met death with that brave band of Texas heroes, while those on picket duty remained at their posts and could see the smoke of the battle. On the morning of the last day of the struggle one of the pickets rode in and told his companions of the massacre in the Alamo. Then the four pickets returned to Houston's camp and informed him what had happened. Mr. Bundick was one of the squad that captured General Santa Anna at the battle of San Jacinto, not knowing at the time who the prisoner was. As they approached the camp other Mexican prisoners exclaimed, "Santa Anna." The squad brought him before Houston and it took all of Houston's power and influence with his army to keep the men from hanging the Mexican gen- eral on the spot. With keen foresight General Houston realized that Texan liberty was in his grasp, but that the death of Santa Anna might prolong the war, and so refused to give up his illustrious prisoner to the fury of his soldiers. Texas became a republic, but it was still some months before the state was freed from the Mexican renegades and desperadoes who had crossed the border, and Mr. Bundick assisted in holding these in subjection. It was a heroic struggle and was won against great odds.
When the war ended Mr. Bundick returned to his Oyster creek home and resumed farming. Soon after his marriage he removed to the prairie near the present site of Stafford, there remaining for a short time, after which he removed to Matagorda county in 1849, when there were not more than a half dozen white families in the county. George Elliott, Esquire Reed and Harris Yamans camped on Cashes creek and Mr. Bun- dick joined them, later selecting land on the Colorado river, where he made a permanent settlement and engaged in farming and stock rais- ing. Farming was then done on a small scale, for the only market was that furnished by the emigrants. The pioneers raised supplies for their own families and depended on stock raising for an income. Game of all kinds was plentiful and wild beasts roamed at will. The range was free, grass was good and the stock flourished. Mr. Bundick employed his energies in getting a good herd of cattle, and he aided in the pioneer development of the county, not only in winning independence from Mexican rule but also in suppressing the Indian violences and in plant- ing the seeds of later-day civilization and progress. . To such men the
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state owes a debt of gratitude that can never be paid and on the pages of her history he deserves most honorable mention.
On arriving in Matagorda county he lived for a time in a tent made of a wagon cover and when he had selected land for a permanent loca- tion he built a house and soon had some of his land under cultivation. while his herds roamed over the open range. Later he purchased more land and was the owner of over eleven hundred acres at the time of his death, which occurred in December, 1870. He was a splendid represen- tative of the old type of southern planter and stockman, charitable to the needy, hospitable at all times, the latchstring ever hanging out to his friends, while the traveler of pioneer times was never denied a wel- come and shelter. He was a faithful member of the Christian church and also of the Masonic fraternity and he voted with the Democracy. In the early days he was a slave owner but he gave to all his black people their freedom while living in Fort Bend county. He was, however, a supporter of the Confederate cause in the Civil war and was a man unfaltering in his adherence to his honest convictions. None ever doubted his loyalty or questioned his sincerity.
One brother, Jackson Bundick, settled with him on Oyster creek, from which both joined Houston's army. After the war Jackson Bun- dick settled in Brazoria county near where Sandy Point is now, T. W. Bundick, removing to Matagorda county, began raising hogs. One night the only sow was attacked by two bears, and after a considerable fight Mr. Bundick and his father-in-law, Moritz Schultz, succeeded in killing the bears. Mr. Bundick shot deer from his own dooryard and there were many wild turkeys, panthers and bears and much smaller game. His wife yet survives at the old homestead, where a large tract of the land which her husband acquired is under cultivation, being rented out for modern farming, while some stock is also raised thereon. Mrs. Bundick was born in Germany in 1828, a daughter of Moritz Schultz, of that coun- try, who landed at Galveston, Texas, about 1840. Later he settled near where Houston is now and after his daughter married Mr. T. W. Bun- dick they all lived together, moving to Matagorda county, where he died at his daughter's home in 1872. He was a saddler, and made saddles and saddle trees, selling to the trade. He also made saddles for stockmen and for soldiers in the Civil war. He made a saddle for his grandson, P. B. Bundick, who used it from the age of eight years until he was too old, and later P. B. Bundick's son Hy. Bundick used it until he also was too large, and the saddle is still in a good state of preservation.
In the Schultz family were two children: Mrs. Bundick; and C. A. Schultz, who freighted cotton for the government to Mexico during the Civil war. After the war he settled on Jones creek in Wharton county, where he engaged in farming and stock-raising. He married Lizzie Haddon, a daughter of William Haddon, a pioneer settler of Texas, who saw hard service in the early days, especially in the Mier expedition, when the death roll was made out by drawing beans from a bag. Those who drew white ones escaped, but those who drew black ones were shot. William Haddon and another man managed to make their escape and were followed by armed soldiers. They jumped into the Rio Grande river to swim across and being fired upon they pretended to have been
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hit. Sinking low in the water William Hadden floated down stream and hid in a big pile of drift until night, when he made his escape. He be- came a widely known and prominent stockman and was the first to handle registered stock in his locality. He died in Wharton county.
The children of Thomas W. Bundick were: Thomas W. Bundick, Jr., who is yet with his mother on the old homestead; P. B., of this re- view : O. C., also on the homestead farm; Robert, deceased ; Hamilton, who settled at San Antonio, where he married and became chief of the fire department ; Matilda, the wife of P. Rieman; and Jepth, on the old home farm. The mother is. a member of the Christian church and a most estimable lady.
P. B. Bundick was reared amid pioneer surroundings in Matagorda county and was educated at a private subscription school. He remained under the parental roof until twenty-one years of age and was then mar- ried and two years later was elected constable and served a term of two years, during which time he settled on a farm. After five years he bought and run a public ferry boat on the Colorado river, known as Bundick's ferry, for eight years. He then resumed farming and stock-raising for five years. In 1893 he came to El Campo, purchased a lot and erected the Pioneer Hotel, which he has since conducted, making it a popular hostelry.
Mr. P. B. Bundick was appointed and served as deputy sheriff for five years and later was elected city marshal and tax collector, in which capacity he is still serving. He is faithful and prompt in the discharge of his official duties and is also known through the county as a reliable business man. While on the farm he raised corn, cotton, hogs and other stock. He has witnessed marvelous changes in agricultural methods. In the early days of his residence in this locality there were only three or four families in his immediate nenghborhood and but two houses within twenty miles. He saw the country in its wild and primitive condition and has noted with pleasure its rapid development and the progress that has been made in farming, especially in rice and cotton culture. He has kept pace in his business life with the general development and is known as one of the representative business men of El Campo.
In October, 1876, Mr. Bundick was married to Miss Mary J. Spore, who was born in Louisiana in 1856, a daughter of John and Margaret (O'Neal) Spore, who were married in Louisiana. The father was a farmer by occupation and served in the Confederate army. He was cap- tured by Union soldiers at Matagorda peninsula, taken north and kept there until after the close of the war. Mr. and Mrs. Bundick have many friends in El Campo and vicinity. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and Odd Fellows lodge and is most loyal to the teachings and tenets of these orders.
GIDEON EGG, a prominent merchant and cotton buyer of Edna, was born at Canton Zurich, Switzerland, December 16, 1839, a son of Jacob and Anna (Gisler) Egg, both also natives of that place. The paternal grandfather, Belshaser Egg, was numbered among the leading agricul- turists and prominent citizens of that locality, and was a worthy member of the Reformed church. He became the father of four children, three daughters and a son.
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Jacob Egg, the son, remained under the parental roof and assisted in the work of the farm, finally inheriting the old homestead. There all of his children were also born, but in 1854 he soid the old place and emi- grated with his family to Texas, arriving in this state early in the year of 1855. The family home was established in Goliad county, where the father spent his declining years retired from all active labor, happy in the thought of having established his children in this free land of Amer- ica. He was a valued member of the Reformed church, and ever lived an upright and honorable life. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Egg: Abraham, who was killed during his service in the Con- federate army, as a member of Pratt's Battery ; Isaac, a prominent mer- chant and postmaster of Milesville, Texas, and a ginner in DeWitt county ; Jacob, who served throughout the war of the rebellion in the Confederate army, and is now living retired at San Antonio; Gideon, whose name introduces this review; Johanna, who died of yellow fever in 1867 ; Anna S., who died in 1858; Amelia, who became Mrs. Heck and died at Victoria, leaving one daughter; Salena, the wife of M. Lichten- stein, of Corpus Christi.
Gideon Egg accompanied his parents on their emigration to Texas in 1855, being then a lad of sixteen years; and he thereafter worked at any honorable occupation which he could find to do. At the opening of the Civil war he enlisted for service in Company C, First Regiment of Sibley's Brigade, and later in Tom Green's command. Being assigned to New Mexico, the first engagement in which he participated was the battle of Val Verde, thence to Glorieta, and after much maneuvering and skirmishing the command returned to Eastern Texas and Louisiana, participating in the victorious fight at Mansfield and later at Pleasant Hill, Louisiana. After spending much time in that state the command went to Arkansas, and returning to Texas on the Ist of January, 1865, was at Galveston when General Lee surrendered, and was near Corsi- cana, Texas, when the command disbanded and all returned to their re- spective homes. At the battle of Glorieta Mr. Egg was made a pris- oner of war and carried to Fort Union, where he was paroled for ex- change, which occurred about one year later. After the war had ended he returned to his home at Goliad, where for two years he was engaged in freighting with mule teams from Indianola to San Antonio, while for a similar period he was employed as a clerk in a store, and at the end of that period he came to Jackson county, Texas, and engaged in business for himself at Texana in 1873. In 1882, when Edna was platted, he erected the first business house and moved his store there, and through- out the intervening period has been extensively engaged in the grocery business. At the same time he has also been identified with the cotton industry, distributing the money among the farmers for most of the cot- ton marketed at Edna. During his business career he has met with many difficulties and obstacles, but he has overcome them all, has kept pace with the progress and development of the times, and has long been num- bered among the leading business men of his city and county, esteemed alike for his many sterling characteristics and his honorable business methods.
In 1870 Mr. Egg was united in marriage to Miss Amelia Kaapku, Vol. II. 33
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who was born in Indianola, Texas, in 1852, a daughter of Charles Kaapku, of Berlin, but who was numbered among the early pioneers to Texas. where he became well known as a carpenter and builder. He assisted in the building of Indianola, which was washed away by the floods of 1875 and 1885, and was an enterprising and public-spirited man, successful in his investments and honorable in his business dealings. At the time of the Civil war he removed to St. Louis, where his death occurred in 1864, passing away in the faith of the Lutheran church. His widow survived for many years, and after the first destruction of Indianola in 1875 she found a home with her daughter, Mrs. Egg, in Edna, where she passed away in 1904. She, too, was a worthy member of the Luth- eran church. In their family were five children, namely: Amelia, who became the wife of Mr. Egg; Charles, who also died at the home of his sister, Mrs. Egg, leaving a wife and one child; Matilda, the wife of F. Lege, county clerk of Eagle Pass, Texas ; Martha, unmarried ; and Al- bertena, now Mrs. Horton. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Egg has been blessed with eight children: Salina, the wife of Professor Peacock, of San Antonio; Anna, the wife of Guy Mitchell, a prominent attorney-at- law and county judge of Jackson county ; Gideon, a dry goods merchant at Edna ; Emil, engaged in the same occupation at Ganado; Albert C., high sheriff of Jackson county; Joseph and Alfred, who are assisting their father in the store; and Norma, the youngest of the family. Mrs. Egg is a member of the Presbyterian church.
BENJAMIN M. SHELDON, so many years prominent in the public affairs of Rockport, is the son of Captain Stephen Sheldon, in the days of his activity among the best known of those connected with the "river trade." Born at New Orleans, Louisiana, on the 12th of August, 1862, he was reared in that old historic city. His parents, Stephen and Georgi- ana (Arnold) Sheldon, were both natives of Apponaug, Rhode Island, the mother being a descendant of the old Arnold family of New Eng- land and Revolutionary fame. She was a granddaughter of Joseph W. Arnold, one of the first settlers of Providence, where he engaged in the hotel business and became the host of many eminent Americans. Gen- eral Washington made his house his headquarters when in that locality, and upon one occasion left his trunk in Mr. Arnold's care. As he never called for it, the trunk of the great president has remained in the family for three generations, and is now its most valued relic.
Stephen Sheldon was born, reared and married in Rhode Island, and later moved to Georgetown, near the city of Washington, where he en- gaged in the hotel business. He thus continued until 1858, when he re- moved to New Orleans, bought the steamboat Starlight and engaged in the river trade of the Mississippi valley. In this venture he was re- markably successful, and at the opening of the Civil war his steamer be- came a transport for the Federal government. During this period he transported General Banks and other eminent commanders, and after the close of the war continued in the river traffic until the sinking of his boat and its total wreck. He then retired from active business, but had become so popular with the government authorities that he was ap- pointed to various federal positions, and filled them with credit until his death in 1868. There were few men on the river or at New Orleans who
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were more widely known or highly respected than Captain Sheldon. He was a sterling Republican, and an honored member of the Episcopal church and the I. O. O. F.
Mrs. Stephen Arnold survived her husband, and later made her home at Rockport, where she died in October, 1906. She was a daughter of Francis Arnold of Rhode Island, and her mother was a daughter of Gen- eral Joe Green, of Revolutionary fame. Her father was owner and cap- tain of a vessel which was engaged for many years in the West India trade. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Francis Arnold were: Frank, de- ceased ; Susan, Mrs. Baker; Adelia, now Mrs. Gardner; William, who died at Yorktown, Texas; and Georgiana, the mother of Benjamin M. Sheldon.
The children of Captain and Mrs. Stephen Sheldon were as follows : Fannie, afterward Mrs. B. Sprague, who died in Rhode Island ; Benjamin M .; Albert, who died in Texas, and Georgiana, unmarried.
Benjamin M. Sheldon remained in his native city of New Orleans until 1873, or five years after the death of his father. He was then eleven years of age, and at this time his mother brought him to Corpus Christi, in whose schools he obtained a good elementary education. Later he learned the trade of a painter, which he followed for a number of years, finally taking considerable contracts at different towns, but retain- ing Corpus Christi as his headquarters. He thus became familiar with the advantages of Rockport, locating there in 1890 and opening a paint shop. He actively and successfully engaged in his old line of business until 1904, when he was appointed postmaster of Rockport.
Mr. Sheldon has always been a sturdy Republican, having earnestly and intelligently supported its principles as being conducive to the great- est public good. He has served with vigor and practical ability as mayor of the city for a period of six years, and in 1898 was elected county judge, holding that position for the succeeding four years to the mutual satisfaction of the legal profession and the general public. While post- master he has made many changes tending to the betterment of the serv- ice, and has raised the office to a third-class grade. He has carried his careful and sound business methods into the conduct of the postoffice, and none of the rural towns of Texas have a better service than Rockport. The Postmaster was one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Rockport, of which he was also a stockholder and director, and has many property interests in the place. His handsome and commodious modern residence occupies a commanding site near the bay, and is an additional evidence of the well merited prosperity which. has come to him-or rather which he has earned by his sterling qualities of industry and broad and far-sighted ability. In his religious affiliations he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in his fraternal relations is one of the most widely known characters in this section of the state. He is identified with Masonry, and also a member of the Elks and Knights of Pythias. In the last named order he has filled all the chairs, attended the grand lodge and is now deputy grand chancellor.
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