History of Austin County

By William A. Trenckmann

In the spring of 1933, exactions of old age forced William Trenckmann to sell his newspaper to the National Weeklies of Minnesota but he remained its editor in all matters pertaining to Texas. Mr. Trenckmann was regarded as one of the best informed men in Texas on state and national affairs and during his many years in the newspaper business wrote considerably about the history of the state and the nation while in the making. From the date of the founding of his newspaper, he wrote each week a summary of national and state news for the readers of his weekly newspaper. Politically, Mr. Trenckmann was a democrat, not in the partisan interpretation of the word but rather in the light of the tenets of justice, tolerance, freedom of speech and freedom of press, to which ideals he remained loyal throughout life, with a loyalty stimulated by the teachings of his father, a disciple of Kant, who was born in Germany in the time when the teachings of that philosopher on the concept of duty were beginning to spread.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stephen Engelking
• Release date: Aug 23, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393190219

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A HISTORY

of

AUSTIN COUNTY, TEXAS

Edited and published in 1899 as a supplement to the Bellville Wochenblatt by William A. Trenckmann

Translated by his children William, Else, and Clara.

A HISTORY OF AUSTIN COUNTY, TEXAS

Edited and published in 1899 as a supplement to the Bellville Wochenblatt by William A. Trenckmann

Translated by his children William, Else, and Clara.

© Stephen A. Engelking (Editor)

For the Millheim Literary Circle

Table of Contents

W. A. Trenckmann

Foreword

Austin County

The Land and its People

Forestation

Soil Conditions

Water Supply and Climate

Population

Education

County Administration

Closing Remarks

Historical Information

Places

Bellville

Industry

Shelby, alias Roedersmuehl

New Ulm

Welcome—Bleiblerville

Cat Spring

Kenney

Sealy

Millheim

Wallis

Nelsonville

Buckhorn and Cochran

San Felipe

Neu Bremen

Schoenau

New Burg

Rockhouse

Post Oak Point

Bellville's Oldest Citizens

Charles Fordtran

F. W. Hackbarth

Albrecht Dietrich Heitmann

Franz Pille

M. Hartmann

Index of Family Names

W. A. Trenckmann

In the spring of 1933, exactions of old age forced him to sell his newspaper to the National Weeklies of Minnesota but he remained its editor in all matters pertaining to Texas. Mr. Trenckmann was regarded as one of the best informed men in Texas on state and national affairs and during his many years in the newspaper business wrote considerably about the history of the state and the nation while in the making. From the date of the founding of his newspaper, he wrote each week a summary of national and state news for the readers of his weekly newspaper. Politically, Mr. Trenckmann was a democrat, not in the partisan interpretation of the word but rather in the light of the tenets of justice, tolerance, freedom of speech and freedom of press, to which ideals he remained loyal throughout life, with a loyalty stimulated by the teachings of his father, a disciple of Kant, who was born in Germany in the time when the teachings of that philosopher on the concept of duty were beginning to spread.

Mr. Trenckmann, 75, died at his Austin residence Friday, March 25, 1935. Burial was in Austin Memorial park following services held at the family residence, with the Rev. S.E. Frost of the First Congregational church officiating.

According to the Saturday, March 23,1935 issue of the newspaper The Austin American, from which this material was taken, surviving Mr. Trenckmann were his widow, Mrs. Tillie Trenckmann of Austin; two sons, Robert Trenckmann of Elms, Washington, and William Trenckmann of Austin; two daughters, Miss Else Trenckmann of Austin and Mrs. Clara Studer of New York; and five grandchildren, William Meerscheldt Trenckmann and Robert Junior Trenckmann of Washington and Miss Emily Jo Trenckmann, Charles Trenckmann and Billie Bess Trenckmann, all of Austin.

Excerpts from the editorial of the Austin American, issue March 23, 1934:

William Andreas Trenckmann, by every standard, ranked high as a worthy citizen, a man of wisdom, a builder of the state and a friend of humanity...He was ever the friend of education, ever a champion of public schools, ever a stalwart advocate of higher education and as an editor and publisher he was widely known beyond the border of Texas...He was not an exhibitionist, but a very modest, a very sane and a very sincere man....He was a credit to his state, a credit to his family and friends, a credit to himself, a credit to his chosen profession and ever loyal to the call of the hour and the demand of social order.

AUSTIN COUNTY

A Supplement to the Bellville Wochenblatt issued June 16, 1899

Foreword

For a number of years the Wochenblattmann has been concerned with the idea of publishing a special edition dedicated to the County of Austin, in Texas. Certain hindrances such as lack of time and of the article which is quite as essential to pay for printing jobs as it is to waging a war—have thus far prevented its publication. But we are convinced that this supplement, which we now send forth into the world, will be welcomed by all those who live in the county, even if much that we present here in word and picture is already familiar to them through hearsay or through actual personal experience.

Many of our loyal readers who have set up their homes elsewhere will be happy to have more information about that section of the earth where Stephen F. Austin made his first settlement and where once stood the first capital of Texas. It was also the place where the earliest German pioneers in this state erected their first cabins and where, since that time, so many men and women of German blood have found homes and have helped to transform the wilderness into a fruitful garden.

We have spared no effort or expense to make this booklet as rich in content and interest as possible, and we here with express our right hearty thanks to all those persons who have ably assisted us. We are fully aware that this historical sketch and topographical description of the county which, like our state capital, took its name from the Founding Impresario, cannot lay claim to completeness. Months and years of preparation and research would have been required to make it so. But we have striven within this limited frame to portray the material which is most important and worth recalling, and we believe that we have succeeded reasonably well.

We hope, as they read this booklet and study the features of the aged men and women who created a new home for German culture and language on foreign soil, that our readers may gratefully remember what we their sons and grandsons owe to the German pioneers of Texas. If this aim is achieved, then the primary purpose of the little book has been accomplished.

Respectfully,

The Wochenblattmann (W. A. Trenckmann).

Austin County

The Land and its People

Since the line that separates the Gulf Plain from the hilly interior of the state runs almost directly through the middle of the county, opinions differ as to whether Austin County is situated in Central or in South Texas, Washington County to the north, Fayette, Colorado and Wharton Counties on the slanting southwest line, Fort Bend to the southeast and Waller County to the east form the boundaries of Austin County.             

The natural boundaries are that great river, the Brazos[1] to the east; and to the west the, San Bernard[2], with its enormous sandy bed that carries little or no water except in rainy seasons.

Under the Republic