Hugo Emil Klaerner

Hugo Emil Klearner, the son of Alfred Klaerner and Emma McDougall, was born on 15 October 1908 in Fredericksburg, TX (1).

Hugo attended Live Oak School (for 6 years), north of Lady Bird Park. When he was 12, Hugo learned to play musical instruments. Soon the young man whose, nickname was "Dutch" or "Hoog", started his career as a pitcher.

In 1923, he pitched for the first time during a sandlot game. In 1929, he tried his luck with San Antonio Indians. Hugo paid with his own money for the training which took part in Laredo. During the training, the man broke his right-hand ring finger. The contusion never healed well and the finger (after several rebreaking injuries) got stiff. Thanks to that, Hoog was able to pitch a ball with a certain unusual spin which was named "the slider".

In 1935, Hugo Emil Klaerner married Miss Esther Louis Peterman, daughter of Edward William Petermann and Anna Mueller. The marriage took place in Longview, TX. At that time Hugo pitched for Longview Cannibals.

A year later, he was one of the players who participated in the first-ever Texas League All-Stars Game.

Mr. Klaerner was engaged with his baseball career for 27 years until the 1940s.

Later, from 1951 to 1981, he was Gillespie County Sherriff.

Hugo Emil Klaerner

He was the third County Sheriff in the family. His father Alfred "Smokey" Klaerner held the same position from 1918 to 1920 and from 1925 to 1943. Hugo's uncle, Mr. John Klearner served as County Sherriff for ten years from 1900 to 1910.

H. E. Klearner loved music - he played accordion, E-flat hornet, and tuba. He was a member of the Pehl's Old Time Brass Band for many years. Besides that, Mr. Klaerner also sang in the Arion's Men Choir and the Zion Lutheran Church Choir.

"Dutch" passed on 3 February 1982. He was survived by his wife Ester, four sons (Travis, Tommy, Carlos, and Patrick), and a daughter Evelyn. His other daughter Gladys Virginia passed away in 1941.

UPDATE

Not long ago, we visited the old cemetery in Fredericksburg - we came across the graves of Mr. Klearner's parents Alfred and Emma.

Resources:

1. "Texas Birth Certificates, 1903-1935," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VX96-31W : 4 April 2020), Hugo Emil Klaerner, 15 Oct 1908; citing Fredericksburg, Gillespie, Texas, United States, certificate 75776, Texas Department of Health, Austin; FHL microfilm 2,380,570.

Paper Clippings including the photograph: 

Dietel, Norman J. The Harper Herald (Harper, Tex.), Vol. 67, No. 6, Ed. 1 Friday, February 12, 1982, newspaper, February 12, 1982; Harper, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1035193/: accessed July 10, 2020), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Harper Library. 

"Our Way of Life. Voices of Gillespie County in the 1970s.", Philip O'Bryan Montgomery III, Shearer Publishing, Fredericksburg, Texas, 2013.