Interviews: Below are two excerpts of oral interviews from German Immigrants
Mr. George Ogden
"In this work of stocking the stations with feed-stuff, my work began at Fredericksburg and we worked in the direction of El Paso. This took as thro' Loyal Valley, Fort Mason, Kickapoo Springs, Concho and Fort Stockton. In harvesting this hay we were supplied with ten regular soldiers for guards who kept a watch for robbers or Indians while we worked. We bought some wheat from some Germans at Loyal Valley to place at the stage stops, as the wild grass had died out from a drouth. In many places there were from 16 to 20 men working and we used grammar grass, this grass was very hard to cut so we used hoes instead of the sickles and mower's. There were many Indian mounds in this section."
Mrs. Lucinda Permien Holze
"I was born in the year 1857 in Mechlenburg Germany. My father, Ludwig Permien, emigrated to America in the year 1871. He settled at the town of Fredericksburg, Texas. When he was located he sent for my folks in the year 1873. By this time he had become a naturalized American citizen. The war between the states was over and the worst of the reconstruction days were past. But there were still some Indians in the western part of the state where we came.
"The country was mostly a stock and ranch country, but in between the hills there was timber and so they raised their grain in these valleys. When they took their stock and produce to the markets they went to San Antonio, Austin and Brownsville. There was lots of Mexicans near our town and the German settlers employed them to clear the brush from the land they put in cultivation and to help herd the cattle. There were a very few slaves at this time in Gillespie. The settlers lived in log cabins and the schools and churchs also were the log houses.....
"I will not attempt to give you the story of the German settlement at Perry, but there was a young man from Germany by the name of Von Holwegg who was among the colony that Mr Schlimbech brought over. This young Holwegg accumalated a large amount of property and made Mr Otto Rau his overseer. Mr Rau also was one of the first ones to come over from Germany with this colony. My son Louis married his daughter and after Mr Rau died he took charge of this property and is the agent yet......
"Yes; I can give you a little of the history of the early days of some of the German communities in Texas before the Civil War came, as handed down to the descendents of those who were among the first settlers. It is said that in the spring of 1846 the first train for Fredericksburg, consisting of twenty wagons and some two-wheel Mexican carts, left the town of New Braunfels for the new settlement on the Pedernales. There were about 120 men, women and children in this train, accompanied by eight of the soldiers furnished by the "Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas."
"After a trip lasting sixteen days they arrived at the future town of Fredericksburg. It is worthy of note that the meat for the first meal to them in this new location was bear meat. John Schmidt, one of the military soldiers shot a bear on the banks of the Pedernales river. . . .
"It is a matter of record that the first school in Fredericksburg was organized by the "Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas". John Leydendecker held the school in the church building. When the first city school was organized in 1856 August Siemering was chosen as the teacher. By 1860 there were ten schools in the settlement around Fredericksburg and an enrollment of 260 pupils. In 1860 the number of white people in the country was around twenty-seven hundred, thirty-three slaves and thirty-eight people in business."
Mr. George Ogden
"In this work of stocking the stations with feed-stuff, my work began at Fredericksburg and we worked in the direction of El Paso. This took as thro' Loyal Valley, Fort Mason, Kickapoo Springs, Concho and Fort Stockton. In harvesting this hay we were supplied with ten regular soldiers for guards who kept a watch for robbers or Indians while we worked. We bought some wheat from some Germans at Loyal Valley to place at the stage stops, as the wild grass had died out from a drouth. In many places there were from 16 to 20 men working and we used grammar grass, this grass was very hard to cut so we used hoes instead of the sickles and mower's. There were many Indian mounds in this section."
Mrs. Lucinda Permien Holze
"I was born in the year 1857 in Mechlenburg Germany. My father, Ludwig Permien, emigrated to America in the year 1871. He settled at the town of Fredericksburg, Texas. When he was located he sent for my folks in the year 1873. By this time he had become a naturalized American citizen. The war between the states was over and the worst of the reconstruction days were past. But there were still some Indians in the western part of the state where we came.
"The country was mostly a stock and ranch country, but in between the hills there was timber and so they raised their grain in these valleys. When they took their stock and produce to the markets they went to San Antonio, Austin and Brownsville. There was lots of Mexicans near our town and the German settlers employed them to clear the brush from the land they put in cultivation and to help herd the cattle. There were a very few slaves at this time in Gillespie. The settlers lived in log cabins and the schools and churchs also were the log houses.....
"I will not attempt to give you the story of the German settlement at Perry, but there was a young man from Germany by the name of Von Holwegg who was among the colony that Mr Schlimbech brought over. This young Holwegg accumalated a large amount of property and made Mr Otto Rau his overseer. Mr Rau also was one of the first ones to come over from Germany with this colony. My son Louis married his daughter and after Mr Rau died he took charge of this property and is the agent yet......
"Yes; I can give you a little of the history of the early days of some of the German communities in Texas before the Civil War came, as handed down to the descendents of those who were among the first settlers. It is said that in the spring of 1846 the first train for Fredericksburg, consisting of twenty wagons and some two-wheel Mexican carts, left the town of New Braunfels for the new settlement on the Pedernales. There were about 120 men, women and children in this train, accompanied by eight of the soldiers furnished by the "Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas."
"After a trip lasting sixteen days they arrived at the future town of Fredericksburg. It is worthy of note that the meat for the first meal to them in this new location was bear meat. John Schmidt, one of the military soldiers shot a bear on the banks of the Pedernales river. . . .
"It is a matter of record that the first school in Fredericksburg was organized by the "Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas". John Leydendecker held the school in the church building. When the first city school was organized in 1856 August Siemering was chosen as the teacher. By 1860 there were ten schools in the settlement around Fredericksburg and an enrollment of 260 pupils. In 1860 the number of white people in the country was around twenty-seven hundred, thirty-three slaves and thirty-eight people in business."