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"O" in "My Texas Alphabet" is for Ostriches that you can see here and there.
Quite a few men by the name of Schmidt came to the Fredericksburg area in the second half of the 19th century.Since Schmidt is quite a common surname, not all the people were related to each other.
One of them was Johann Joachim Heinrich Schmidt, born in Gresenhorst, Mecklenburg on 5 April 1826*. The baby, son of Johann Heinrich Schmidt and Marie Lisch Bruedegam was baptized 4 days later at the Evangelische Kirche in Blankenhagen, Ribnitz, Mecklemburg-Schwerin, Germany (1)**.
On 25 November 1847 (2), Johann married Johanne Karoline Wilhelmine Koenig, daughter of Kuno Ludwig Koenig and Anna Katharine Fett. Johanne was born in Klein Mueritz, Mecklenburg, on 21 June 1818, and baptized on 27 June in Evangelische Kirche Volkenshagen (3).
Johann and Wilhelmine's sons were given similar or even the same names. In some cases, they did not use the first names as the main ones. It made my research difficult and quite confusing. It was easy to get lost in who was who.
I. Ludwig Karl Heinrich (Heinrich) - born in Klein Mueritz, Mecklenburg-Schwerin on 29 June 1847/baptized on 4 July (4) in Evangelische Kirche. Stadtkirche Ribnitz (Mecklenburg-Schwerin);
II. Johann Wilhelm - born in Klein Mueritz , Mecklenburg on 26 September 1849/1940;III. Wilhelm Heinrich Theodor - born in Klein Mueritz, Mecklenburg-Schwerin on 6 March 1852/baptized 14 March (5).
IV. Ludwig Karl Heinrich - born in Klein Mueritz, Mecklenburg on 23 December 1854/baptized 7 January 1855 (6);
V. Bertha Ernestine Johanna - born in Klein Mueritz, Mecklenburg on 26 Aug 1857/baptized 6 September (7);
VI. Bernhard Friedrich Johann (Fritz) - born in Klein Mueritz, Mecklenburg on 26 June 1860 (8);
VII. Karl Friedrich Heinrich - born in Klein Mueritz on 12 December 1863/baptized on 25 December 1863 (9);
VIII. August Theodor Johann- born in Kelin Mueritz, Mecklenburg on 20 September 1865/baptized 8 October (10).
The three oldest sons of Johann and Karoline were Mariners in the Prussian Navy, in the service of Emperor Wilhelm I of Germany. Johann Wilhelm served for 2.5 years and was also a sailor for 9 years.
Ludwig in his teenage years happened to damage his trigger finger when he was chopping fodder. The finger healed but it stayed permanently bent. Due to that, he was disqualified from the military service. and worked as a head servant at a big farm estate.
👉 Census in Germany 1867 - Johann ("arbeiter"/worker), his wife Wilhelmine, and their children lived in Klockenhagen, district Ribnitz, Mecklenburg-Schwerin. I. Heinrich worked as "Schiffskoch"/ship's cook. Other kids who appear in the register are Ludwig, Bertha, Fritz, and August. II. Johann was in Rostock then, and III.Wilhelm was registered in Klein Mueritz (11). Possibly, he was visiting his mother's family (?). VII.Karl Friedrich Heinrich was not listed there. The boy had most likely passed away by then.
According to the family history, III.Wilhelm Heinrich Theodor
died during his maritime service. Tragically, he fell from a mast on the ship
deck during a storm while helping a young sailor. The story tells that Wilhelm was then
buried at sea and it happened in the Yokohama Bay in about 1872.
I found III.Wilhelm Theodor Heinrich's death record (with the names of his parents). The church book says that the man died on 18 June 1874 and was buried on 21 June at the Evangelische Kirche. Stadtkirche Ribnitz church cemetery (12).
Ludwig Koenig, Wilhelmine's brother, was the first family member who left the old country in 1852 and emigrated to America. The man settled close to Fredericksburg, TX. Heinrich, the eldest son of Johann and Karolina, came to New York in 1873. Then, he led a farmer's life at Meusebach Creek, near Fredericksburg.
In the same year, on ♦ 28 January, Johann Joachim Schmidt's mother Marie Lisch Bruedegam passed away in Bartelshagen, Ribnitz, Mecklenburg-Schwerin (13). When his father, Joachim Heinrich, died, I do not know.
🏠 Johann Schmidt and his wife Karoline settled on a farm in Doss. During the first year at the new place, all the family (besides Ludwig) worked at the farm in Doss (rented by Johann Joachim Schmidt). Ludwig worked at Heinrich's farm at Meusebach Creek. The $1400 that Johann had brought to Texas (the money from selling his farm in Germany) was soon gone as they all needed food, various household tools, and other items. Lisette worked as a maid at a family house in Austin.
⚭ 3 November 1876 - Ludwig married Lisette Lehmann (14), the daughter of Christian Nicholaus Albrecht Lehmann and Blondine Millahn. Ludwig and Lisette were married by Pastor K. Weiss at Zion Lutheran Church in Fredericksburg.
Lisette was born in Blankenhagen on 22 July 1855. In Germany, she worked
as a maid at a farmer's house. Ludwig and Lisette had 7 children. At
first, the young couple lived and worked at August and Sophie Koenig's
place. Just before their first child was born, Ludwig and Lisette moved
to a farm close to Live Oak. They rented the place that belonged to Mr.
Schroeder. A few years later, Ludwig and his family relocated and they
lived in Fredericksburg, where the man worked at a flour mill. In about
1886, they moved again, and then a few times more as Ludwig was a
sharecropper. The couple had 15 children.
Johann Joachim Schmidt purchased a farm at Meusebach Creek and the family relocated there as well. Sometime later, the man bought a farm three miles west of the town of Fredericksburg, where he lived until his passing.
👉 Census 1880 Johann Schmidt (farmer, age 63), his wife Wilhelmine, and son August (age 15) were registered in Justice Precinct 2, Gillespie, Texas. Heinrich (age 32), his wife Anna (age 28), and their son Gustav (6 months) lived in the next house (18).
⚭ 8 May 1889 - August married Martha Strackbein (19), born 28 April 1869, the daughter of Johann Heinrich Strackbein and Katharine Elisabethe Crenwelge. August and his wife had 7 children.
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*In the book "Ludwig Heinrich and Lisette Lehmann Schmidt", Wilhelmina Anna Karolina Koenig's birth date is given as 21 December 1818 and Johann Schmidt's birthday is noted as 9 April 1828.
** Since there are discrepancies in the sources, regarding Johann's date of birth, I do hope the names of Johann's parents given above are correct.
Sources:
"Ludwig Heinrich and Lisette Lehmann Schmidt" by Ruth Schmidt Dyar, Nortex Press, Austin, Texas, 1994.
Findagrave.com
The Llano County courthouse came into being in 1859. It was a wooden building - 21 years later it was destroyed by a fire.
A few years ago, when I started reading a genealogy-type book dedicated to the people who lived in the County, somehow, I found several names quite familiar. No, I had not come across them before, but the more I read about some of the early pioneers, the more it felt as if I had known them before. And it was like meeting them again.
When I looked at a photograph included in the book (a family, parents with their children), I felt great sadness. What was more, the one girl looked familiar. Why? I do not know. Maybe because she looked a bit like my mom when she was little? Or maybe not. No, I did not know then who those people were. So I looked closer to find out. The family in the photo was Friedrich Heinrich Kensing, his wife Mathilda, and their children. The "familiar" girl was the oldest child of Mr. and Mrs. Kensing. Bertha.
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| In Mason, TX |
Subsequently, I started researching and writing about those early pioneers. On my blog, you can find quite a few posts dedicated to them.
I am not related to those persons. It is just that feeling of undefined connection. Does it have anything to do with what I mentioned in my previous post "H for Hill Country"? Did we know each other in my previous life? Who knows.
We visited Mason sometime ago. No special sentiments there, though. I liked the old city center, but it is the hills and the countryside that talk to me more.
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| Mason County Courthouse |
Another letter related-post in "My Texas Alphabet" is dedicated to Texas jackrabbits. We have met them quite often in the countryside. Jackrabbits are considerably bigger than their European cousins. Their long ears give them quite an unusual look.
I do like those long-eared hoppers.
"My Texas Alphabet" is my, quite a personal, summary of our hitherto life in Texas.
Coming back to "My Texas Alphabet" and to the letter "A", it is for Armadillo, of course.
How could it be different since the animal is one of the symbols of Texas?
You can meet it in the countryside. Armadillos tend to be rather slow regarding their actions. They are cute in their own way, though.
Video and photos: One of the Texas symbols met during one of our walks in the country area.
"My Texas Alphabet" is my, quite a personal, summary of our hitherto life in Texas.
Alfred Henke was the son of Heinrich Henke and Dorothea Weirich. He was born on 8 March 1874 in Gillespie, TX.
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| Marriage Certificate - Source #3 |
I do not know how I could forget about them writing about Ds in "My Texas Alphabet"!
There are so many deer in our area and they are everywhere. It always amazes me how gracefully and effortlessly they hop over fences.
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The letter H is for two things in the second edition of "My Texas Alphabet".
The first one is the Hill Country with its beautiful vast land, fresh air, plenty of deer and other critters, and our day trips.
When I was little, I drew people dressed in 19th-century-type clothes, ladies in long dresses, and men with top hats and cloaks around their arms. There were also single hills in the background. My teacher laughed at those hills. She said they looked like haystacks. Well, I agree the hilly areas of Poland look different indeed. Anyway, my work was laughed at in the classroom, I got ashamed and never drew those people and landscape again.
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"My Texas Alphabet" is quite a personal summary of our hitherto life in Texas.
Thinking about the "E" entry in "My Texas Alphabet", I totally forgot about the Kerrville Empty Cross Mountain. It is quite a spectacular site and we did visit it some time ago.
The story shared by the site creators, tells about a lot of series obstacles that they had to overcome before they were able to complete that project.
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The Empty Cross is the main feature of the Park. You can see it from quite a distance.
Some miracles took place there as well. When you are at the Coming King Garden of Prayer, look for a free CD with a recording that informs about it all.
By the way, are you in need of a miracle?
People have written their prayers on the stones provided by the site creators. We left our prayer their too.
