USA > Texas > Indian wars and pioneers of Texas, Vol. 2 > Part 18
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ANTONE KOCH,
BOERNE,
Was born in Baden, Germany, in 1835; worked in a cloth-weaving mill in Germany when a boy ; came to America ; found employment in New York City and later in Philadelphia, and in 1856 enlisted in the regular army of the United States, with which he served as a private soldier for five years, securing an honorable discharge - in 1860. He then came to Texas, " striking" San Antonio, where he remained several months. He finally engaged in
farming sixteen miles east of San Antonio. He spent the years 1861-5 in the service of the Southern Confederacy and during that period aided in the building of various fortifications in Texas.
lle married Miss Gaild Schubert in San Antonio in 1860. They have one son, Julius Koch. Mr. Koch located in Boerne in 1862, where he has been engaged in farming and gardening and has accumu- lated a competency.
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INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS
ANDRAES WOLLSCHLAEGER,
BOERNE,
Was born in Prussia, August 25, 1818, where he learned the shoemaker's trade, which he followed until he left Germany for America, 1868. Landing at Galveston in 1868, he took passage in another ship for Indianola and from the latter place pro- ceeded to San Antonio, where he resided for a short time and then moved to Sisterdale, where he pur- chased and improved a farm and engaged in raising horses and cattle. After a residence of six years at Sisterdale he sold out his property there and in
1874 located on the present family estate, near Boerne ..
.He brought his wife and four children with him to this country. He died July 28, 1894, at. seventy-five years of age. His widow survives at seventy years of age. The living children are Andraes, Christian, Sophia, now Mrs. A. Behr, of Sisterdale, and Gustav.
The farm consists of 420 acres of splendid farm- ing and grazing lands.
HENRY BOERNER,
COMFORT,
Was born in Hanover, Germany, November 21, 1826, and came to Texas in 1850. Other members of the family followed. The subject of this notice first located at Horton Town, near New Braunfels, where he remained for six years engaged in farmning. He later moved to his present home near Comfort. His father, Henry Boerner, Sr., came from Germany to Texas in 1854, and lived at New Braunfels, where he died in 1886, at ninety-three years of age. Henry Boerner, Jr., subject of this notice, had one brother in Texas, who was killed by the Indians in
the historic Nueces Massacre. His name appears on the monument erected to the memory of the victims at Comfort, where their remains were in- terred. Mr. Boerner has one brother in Germany, and two married sisters in Texas. He was married July 11, 1852, to Miss Caroline Schultz. They have six children : Johanna, now Mrs. Joseph Keiner of Comfort; Frederick, Minnie, Lena, Augusta and Dora. He served in the Home Guards during the late war. Mr. Boerner is one of Comfort's most highly esteemed citizeus and prosperous farmers.
HERMAN KNIBBE,
SPANISH BRANCH,
A native of Comal County, Texas, born July 6th, 1850, is second son of Dietrich Knibbe, one of Comal County's earliest and most prominent pio. neers, and was reared on the old Knibbe estate in that county. He is a successful farmer and stock- raiser. December 7, 1874, he was united in mar-
riage to Miss Ottilie, a daughter of Philip Wagner. She was a native of Texas and died in 1889, leaving three children: Alice, Meta, and Alvin. A number of years later Mr. Knibbe married Mrs. Minnie Schultz, widow of the late Chas. Schultz, and by this union has two children : Hilda and Dietrich.
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INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
ERNST CORETH,
NEW BRAUNFELS.
Ernst Coreth, one of the early pioneers Comal County, Texas, was born in Vienna, Austria, December 2d, 1803. Was educated in that city. Enlisted in the Austrian army in 1820 and served as an officer until 1830, when he retired and settled on the estate, in Tyrol, inherited from his father, who fell an officer in the Austrian army, in the battle at Austerlitz, on the 24 of December, 1805. In 1834 he married Miss Agnes Erler and in 1846 he came with his family to Comal County and im- proved the estate near New Braunfels, now owned by his son, Rudolph. The family then consisted of six children and four were born afterward. Three of the children are dead and seven survive at this writing :---
Charles, born January 16th, 1837, married Miss Hedwig Kapp and died in 1865, a soldier in the Confederate army. Ilis two sons died in early childhood and his widow survives.
John, born February 224, 1845, died a soldier in the Confederate army in 1863; Amalia, born June 22, 1840, married Dr. Goldman, in 1872, and died in 1873 without issue. Ernst Coreth,
died July 10th, 1881, and his wife died April 11, 1888.
The living children are :-
1. Agnes, born September 18th, 1835, now wife of John O. Meusebach, of Loyd Valley, Texas.
2. Rudolph, born May 7th, 1838, is not married.
3. Franz, born October 29th, 1846, at Houston, Texas, married Miss Minna Zesch. His children are : Agnes, born January 26th, 1884; Lina, born May 20th, 1885 ; and Rudolph George Rochette, born January 3d, 1892.
4. Mary, born November 25th, 1848, is not married.
5. Anna, born February 27th, 1852, now wife of Hans Marshall, of Mason County.
6. Joseph, born December 5th, 1854, married Miss Mathilde Rudorf. His children are: Eliza- beth, born September 26th, 1882; Ottilie, born, March 15th, 1887; Veronica. born January 20th, 1889 ; and Arthur Leopold, born October 13th, 1891.
7. Ottillie, born April 16th, 1858, now wife of Herman Altgelt, of Comal County.
RUDOLPH CARSTANJEN,
BOERNE,
A well-known and wealthy citizen of Boerne, Kendal County, Texas, and a pioneer settler in the State, came to Texas in 1850 and in November, 1855, camped with seven other young men on the present site of Boerne, up to that time unoccupied by a human babitation. The surrounding country was infested with Indians. The names of the party of campers were as follows: Mr. - Zoeller, of Boerne, Dr. Cramer and Christian Flack, of Comfort, Mr. - Fredericks, J. Küchler, - Schulz, Adam Vogt (the financial head of the expedition), and the subject of this notice. The party of explorers built a log-eabin on the spot and from this beginning the town has grown to its present proportions. The edifice now (1895) serves as the kitchen of the residence of County Surveyor --- Croskey. These
seven men were bound together as a commune, intending to locate and perpetuate a colony along communistic lines. It is no surprise, however, to state that, as such, it was a failure. Part of the 640 acres acquired by them has, in the course of various subsequent transfers of ownership, become the property of Mr. Croskey. Mr. Carstanjen had no money invested or material interest in this project. He was merely a traveler, who had joined the idealists iu search of health and pleasure. It becoming evident to the little band of adventur- ers that the scheme was impracticable, they dis- banded and Mr. Carstanjen went to Sisterdale. There he bought 320 acres of lard upon which he settled down to the quiet and independent life of a farmer. In 1869 he married Miss Ottillie Von
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INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
Werder, a granddaughter of Gen. Werder, a dis- tingnished officer of the Prussian army, in the wars with Trance, notably that of 1870. Mr. Carstan- jen remained on and improved this land at Sis- terdale until 1872, when he abandoned agricultural pursuits and removed to Boerne, where he now lives in ease. He possesses means (mostly invested in Germany) that yield him an ample revenue and enable him to lead a life free from business cares. He has experienced hardships of pioneer life in Texas and appreciates the privileges he enjoys. He has spent liberally of his fortune in travel in the United States and Europe for the edification and culture of his children. During his pioneer experience he had $1,000 worth of horses and other stock stolen by the Indians. Ile " roughed it" two years, without once sleeping in a house. Mr. Carstanjen was born August 20, 1827, in Duis- . Alvin.
burg, on the Rhine, in Prussia. His father, Charles Carstanjen, was a successful merchant and amassed a fortune. The subject of this notice, Rudolph Car- stanjen, was given a thorough German College edu- cation and at twenty-one years of age went to Buenos Ayres, South America. He traveled in various portions of that interesting country and then out of love for adventure came to Texas, where his de- sires were fully gratified. Mrs. Carstanjen was born in New Braunfels, Texas. Her father, Hans von Werder, was a First Lieutenant in the Prussian army. He came to New Braunfels in 1846, a com- panion of Prince Solms, the distinguished German colonist. He lived and died at Sisterdale, depart- ing this life October 5, 1891.
Mr. and Mrs. Carstanjeu have five interesting children: Ida, Rudolph, Hedwig, Charles, and
FRITZ ADLER,
BOERNE,
An enterprising and prosperous German citizen of Boerne, Kendall County, Texas, left Heider- stoph, Germany, for America, in 1874; landed at Baltimore, Md., traveled through the States, in July of that year came to Texas, and the following year located at Boerne with his wife and three
children and engaged in farming. He was born June 27th, 1841. Mrs. Adler's maiden name was Miss Julia Naikel. They have four children: Anna, Fritz, Emma, Powell, and Ernst Henick. Mr. Adler's farm consists of 80 acres in a high state of cultivation and is well improved.
FREDERICK LEASCH,
BULVERDE,
An energetic and thrifty farmer of Comal County, Texas, came to America in 1860. He was born in the little town of East-Sea, Germany, May 29, 1835. His father, who also bore the name of Frederick, came to this country in 1867, and died in 1889. He had one other son, John, who, however, never came to America, and two daughters, Mary, who is now Mrs. William Edgar, of Comal County, and Lena, widow of the late Hermann - -, of that county. The subject of this memoir married Miss Rica
Kobbelmaker in 1860. Her father, John Kobbel- maker, a carpenter by trade, and in later hfe a farmer, came to Texas with Prince Solins in 1815 and died here in 1870. Her mother is still living. as an honored and beloved member of the Leaseh household. Mr. and Mrs. Leaseh have eleven children : Louise, Henry, Frederick, Charles, Emil, Sophia, Angusta, Mennie, Idelhite, Frederica, and! Robert, and nine grandchildren. Mr. Leasch has a well improved farm of 100 acres.
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INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
HENRY RICHTER,
SCHILLER,
Was born near Bremen, Germany, July 28, 1826; came to America in 1852, as a passenger on the sail- ing vessel, " Texas," on her trial trip, and after a voyage of fourteen weeks, landed at Indianola, from which place he went to New Braunfels and from there to Jones Mills, at the junction of Curry's creek and the Guadalupe river, in Kendall County, where he worked at the mill for two years for Judge
Jones.' He then pre-empted land and began farming, in which he has since been engaged. He now owns a well improved farm of seven hundred and twenty acres.
He was united in marriage to Miss Mary Stende- back in 1856. They have eight children, viz. : Paul, Emil, Norma, Mary, Otto, Minnie, Henry, and Elvira.
CHARLES VOGES, JR.,
BULVERDE,
Is a son of the venerable and esteemed Harry Voges.
Charles Voges was born in 1848. In January, 1874, he was united in marriage to Miss Amelia Georg, daughter of Charles Georg. They have seven children: Clara, now Mis. Henry Ross ;
Matilda, Huldah, Oscar, Emil, Freda, and Meda. Mr. Voges owns a considerable body of land, part of which is under cultivation ; and is regarded as a prosperous business man and substantial citizen of Comal County.
ERNEST GRUENE, SR.,
GOODWIN,
An old and respected settler of New Braunfels, came to America in 1845 and to New Braunfels in 1816. He was born in Hanover, Germany, July 6, 1819. He has two sons and one daughter. The daughter, Johanna, is the wife of Mr. John Zipp, of
New Braunfels. The sons are well known and prosperoas business men of that place. Mr. and Mrs. Gruene are members of the German Lutheran Church of New Braunfels. They were members of the first band of the Prince Solms colony.
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INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS
GOTTLIEB ELBEL,
SPRING BRANCH,
A Texian pioneer of 1849; came from Saxony, where he was born March 2, 1827. His wife, nee Miss Christina Zeh, who was then a single woman, and to whom he was married in the fall of 1819, came to Texas with him. They landed at Gal- veston and proceeded thence to New Braunfels by way of Port Lavaea. He remained at New Braun- fels for a brief time and in 1852 located on his present farm near Spring Branch, where he owns abont 1,900 acres of good farming and grazing lands. His wife was born in Saxony. She died
March, 1862, and left eight children : Wilhelmina, Augusta, Herman, Emma, Bertha, Ernst and Mary. Mr. Elbel married again in 1867, his second wife being Mrs. Wehe, widow of Charles Wehe, of Comal County. She has two children by her first, marriage: Caroline Wehe, who married and lives in New Braunfels, and Louise Wehe, who married Charles Bierle and lives in New Braunfels. She has borne Mr. Elbel three children : Albert, Frank- lyn and Alma.
CHARLES LEISTIKOW,
KENDALIA,
One of the most prosperous and esteemed German farmers of Comal County, came to America in 1851 from Labenz, Germany.
He was born August 6, 1824. He married in 1818 Miss Johanna Troga. She was born in the town of Kissburg, Germany. They came over in the ship Francisa, sailing from Bremen to Galves- ton. They came from the latter port to Indianola
and from thenee to New Braunfels, where they lived for a period of about ten years. Mr. Leisti- kow worked out by the day three years and farmed on rented land for about seven years, after which he moved to the Piper settlement and there lived until 1877, when he established himself on his pres- ent place, which consists of 3,000 acres of farming and grazing lands.
CHARLES KNIBBE,
SPRING BRANCH,
Fourth son of the late Deterieh Knibbe, was born June 16, 1860, at the old homestead in Comal County, where he now resides. He was married April 17, 1881, to Miss Pauline, daughter of Phillip Wegner. Mrs. Kuibbe was born at Anhalt, Comal County, August 26, 1859. They have four chil-
dren : Ella, Hermann, Henry, and Arno. Mr. Knibbe owns several hundred acres of good farm- ing and pasture lands and a cotton gin, located near his home, and he is recognized as a substantial business man.
INDLIN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
S. W. SHOLARS, M. D.,
ORANGE,
Physician. Born October 15, 1847, at Talladega, Als.
State of Georgia - one of the prominent physicians of that grand old commonwealth. Died in Jasper County, Texas, in 1864.
Mother, Miss S. E. Wallace, born in Virginia, August 24, 1820.
Dr. Sholars received his literary education in the common schools of Texas and his medical edu- cation at the University of Louisiana (now Tulane University), attending that institution three years in succession and graduating therefrom March 12, 1872. In 1886 he returned to the college for review.
His parents moved from Alabama to North Louisiana; remained there about ten years and then came to Texas and settled in Jasper County, in November, 1858. The remained there until 1878, and then moved to Orange.
The subject of this notice began practicing medi- cine in the winter of 1872 at his old home in Jasper County and remained there the six succeeding years. He moved to Orange April 16, 1878, where he has since practiced his profession and for a num- ber of years been engaged in the drug business.
He has met with excellent financial success.
He enlisted in the Confederate army in 1864, as a private in Company I., Lane's (Texas) Regiment of Cavalry, with which he served until the close of the war. He then returned to his home in Jasper County, Texas.
He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained the Royal Arch degree, and is also a member of the K. of P., and Elks frater- uities.
April 18, 1874, he was united in marriage, at Jasper, Texas, to Miss S. E. Miller, of Randolph
Father, Dr. R. P. Sholars, born in 1812, in the . County, Ga. She died April 16, 1880, at Orange. His second marriage was to Miss Odessa Brockett, formerly of Alabama, June 22, 1887. Four children were born to him by his first wife, one of whom is dead, and two by his second wife, one of whom is deceased.
Of these children, Arthur R. Sholars attended Baylor University at Waco three years, going as far as he could in civil engineering and acquiring some knowledge of military tactics.
S. Wallace Sholars attended Baylor University for three years and is now a student at the Univer- sity of Texas, law department.
O. Louis Sholars is attending the public schools of Orange, Texas ; and Theta Sholars is now five years of age.
Dr. Sholars has been president of the Board of Medical Examiners of the first district for the past 15 years, and is serving his second term as presi- dent of the Southeast Texas Medical Society, head- quarters at Beaumont. He was one of the first aldermen of Orange, elected upon the incorporation of the town under the general laws of the State.
He has been a member of the city school board for the past eleven years and Captain of the Orange Rifles for five years. He has held a commission as Surgeon, with rank of Captain, in the First Regiment T. V. G., and was promoted to the office of Medi- cal Director of the First Brigade, with the rank of Lieutenant-colonel.
He has been a member of the State Medieal Asso- ciation for a number of years.
Dr. Sholars is widely known and is respected by all who know him as a leading and influential citizen.
WILLIAM VOGT,
BOERNE,
Was born in the kingdom of Prussia, Germany. April 15, 1826, and was reared to the occupation of a farmer. He came to America in 1852, landing at Indianola, Texas, in December of that year.
From Indianola he proceeded to Seguin, in Guadalupe County, where he remained for four years, engaged in farming and stock-raising. He, however, lost all he had by Indian depredations
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INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
and the vicissitudes of the war between the States. He pioneered in Guadalupe County with ex-Gov- ernor Jolin Ireland, and at times shared the same bed with him. Mr. Vogt aided in building the first sehool-house erected in Seguin. He finally loeated at Boerne, in Kendall County, where he has since resided. He at first purchased four acres of land on which his home now stands. To this he has since added ninety-six acres, and now owns a well- improved farm of one hundred acres.
In 1866-68 he served the people of Kendall County as Assessor of Taxes and made an active, efficient and acceptable official.
Mr. Vogt was united in marriage to Miss Anna Nesser in 1850. They have seven children : Joseph, deceased ; Caroline, now Mrs. Ernst Pfiffer ; August, deceased ; Emma, now Mrs. Adam Phillip ; Pauline, now Mrs. Charles Bergmann; Wilhelmina, now Mrs. Charles Reinhardt ; and Bertha.
Two brothers of Mr. Vogt, Ferdinand and August, also came to Texas. The latter died at Spring creek, in Kendall County. Ferdi- nand located in Cuero, where he engaged in merchandising and resided until the time of his death.
EWIN LACY,
BURNET COUNTY.
Ewin Laey was born in Christian County, Ky., October, 1832, and is a son of George W. and Sarah ( Myers) Lacy, both of whom were also natives of Kentucky. Mr. Laey comes of Revolu- tionary stock on both sides, both grandfathers, Moses Laey and John Myers, having served in the Continental army. They subsequently settled in Kentucky, where they helped to beat back the In- dians, fell the forests and lay the foundation of that great commonwealth.
George W. Lacy and Sarah Myers were married in Kentucky and moved thence to Missouri in 1842 and settled in Cedar County, where Mr. Lacy died the same year and his wife ten years later. They were the parents of eight sons and five daughters, all of whom lived to maturity. One of the sons, Zephaniah, died in Missouri, the others, seven in number, came to Texas: George W., Ewin and Jacob in 1858; John II. and Frank M. in 1860, and Matthew and Milton in 1872. Most of these settled in Burnet County, where they were for many years residents, and where some of them, among the num- ber the subject of this sketch, still reside. George W. and Ewin stopped, on coming to the country, at Rockvale on the Colorado, not far from the pres- ent town of Marble Falls, and there put up a two- story stone dwelling for Josiah Fowler, the first building of that kind erected in that part of the State. Jacob stopped at Smithwick Mills, further down the river, and opened a blacksmith shop. After the war the several brothers engaged in farm-
ing and stock-raising, at which they met with success.
Ewin Lacy was a young man, unmarried, when he came to the State. He worked at his trade as a stone-mason until the opening of the war between the States and then entered the Confed- erate army as a member of Company B., Carter's Twenty-first Texas Cavalry, Parson's Brigade, with which he remained until the close of hostilities. He saw service under each of those distinguished commanders, Marmaduke, Tom Green, Wharton and Diek Taylor, and took part in most of the operations in Southwest Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana. He received a gun-shot wound and a saber wound in the left wrist, a gun-shot wound in the left leg and a saber out on the head, but was never for any considerable length of time out of the service and was but once captured (at Lick Creek, Ark. ), and was then held only for a short time, his exchange being effected within a few weeks. He returned to Burnet County after the war and settled on a tract of land near Marble Falls, which he first rented and subsequently purebased and where he has since lived engaged in farming and stock-raising, at both of which occupations he has met with a full mea- sure of success. Hle married Miss Kate Crownover of Burnet County in October, 1868. She is a native of Fayette County, Texas, and a daughter of Arter Crownover, who came to Texas previous to the revolution of 1835-6 and was for many years a resident first of Fayette and later of Burnet County
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INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
where he dicd a few years since. Mr. and Mrs. Lacy have had nine children born to them, seven of whom are living: Oleva, Arter, Melissa, Mar- shal Ney, John, Christian, and Ewin.
Mr. Lacy is a Democrat in politics and a mem- ber of the Methodist Church. He has lived in Burnet County since early Indian times and has
served as a ranger at irregular intervals as often as the public safety demanded. On these expeditions he has, on various occasions, ranged Northwest Texas as far as the Concho, and tracked the " red skins" to their haunts and helped to recapture stolen property, but could never get close enough to them to have an actual fight.
ERNEST DOSCH,
SAN ANTONIO.
Ernest Dosch, a well-known pioneer citizen of San Antonio, one of the German colonists who came to Texas in 1848, in his younger days saw active service as a soldier and daring Indian fighter. He is a native of Hessen, Darmstadt, Germany, and was born May 3d, 1822; studied forestry ; received a good education at the Uni- versity of Giesen, from which he graduated in 1844, and, being of an enterprising and adven- turous spirit, was attracted to the Texas Republic, in 1848, as above stated, and located near New Braunfels, where he engaged in farming. His father was an eminent jurist in Germany, serving acceptably a wealthy and influential constituency.
In 1857, Mr. Ernest Dosch, the subject of this notice, moved to San Antonio, where he lias since resided, with the exception of the years 1865-6, which he spent in Germany. Ile is a plain, unas- suming, kind-hearted and genial man, and has hosts of friends in the Alamo city, and throughout Southwest Texas. He has labored upon all occa- sions actively and efficiently, for the development and general welfare of the section of the State in which he has so long been a resident and a leading citizen. He has repeatedly declined public office, and although once elected Alderman from one of the influential wards of San Antonio, declined to serve.
A. L. STEEL,
HOUSTON.
Col. A. L. Steel was born in Oldham County, Ky., October 14th, 1830. His father, William M. Steel, was for years a prominent merchant of Louisville, Ky. The maiden name of his mother was Miss Lusatia Loughery. His paternal grand- father, Judge Andrew Stecl, a native of Virginia, served throughout the Revolutionary War and emi- grated to Oldham County, Ky., in 1785. Ilis maternal grandfather, Alexander Loughery, an eminent surgeon in the Continental army, settled and lived in Woodford County, Ky.
Col. Steel, when about nine years old, lost his father, but remained at home until fifteen years of age, when lic joined a surveying
corps of the Louisville and Jeffersonville Ry., as rodman. In the following years lie per- fected himself in the knowledge of civil engi- neering. In 1850 he came to Texas, tlealt in lands for & time, then accepted a position as Assistant Civil Engineer under the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado Ry. Co., Mr. J. A. Williams holding the position as chief engineer. Tire road was com- pleted to Richmond in 1855; in the winter of 1855-6 was projected in the direction of Austin, and was built to Allerton in 1860. Mr. Williams in the meantime had been made the superintendent of the completed portion of the road to Richmond, and Col. Steel, chief engineer, west of the Brazos
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