"At a recent historical society meeting, Edgar Fisbeck, 94, was the guest speaker. Along with Fisbeck came a treasure of crafts he has built over the past 10 years.

Fisbeck comes with a wealth of knowledge about the Three Oaks and Dewees communities.

On display was the Friedens Hirche (peace church). Later, the church was known as the Friedens Evangelical and Reform Church. The church was merged with the Congregational Christian Church. Later it was known as the United Church of Christ. Most people in the Floresville area knew it as the Three Oaks Church.

Henry Krebs donated the land for the church in approximately 1917. The church was located near the Three Oaks Community Building. Existing is a church ledger containing all former pastors, marriages, deaths, confirmations, baptisms, etc.

Church services were held once a month. Lizzie Orth taught Sunday school twice a month.

Fisbeck built the model scale of the Three Oaks Church around 1970. The steeple and roof can be lifted off to view the inside of the church.

The church and other artifacts can be viewed at the Dewees-Remschel House.

Fisbeck now resides in Floresville and has three children: Ida Mae Ottilie Fisbeck Whitton, Bettie Jean Selma Fisbeck Brumley, and Henry Otto Fisbeck.

In addition to the Three Oaks Church, Fisbeck built replicas of age-gone-by cars, buggies, trucks, farm implements, and a maintainer. He has approximately 50 replicas. Fisbeck built these replicas by simply looking at a picture (no blueprints). These replicas are a must-see to appreciate the time and artistic talent that went into each replica with pride."
 

*Eckel Family History 1908 to 2010... William and Katie Reinhard Eckel came to Poth from Ruttersville, Fayette County, Texas in 1908. His first business was Bump and Eckel, a general merchandise business. In 1912 he and E.H. Reinhard established William Eckel and Company, a dry goods and grocery store, and in 1915 built the brick building on the corner of US Hwy 181 and Dilworth Plaza. William Eckel was Mayor of the City of Poth from 1933-1938; in 1936 the first city well was dug. William and Katie had four children, Alfred William, William C. "Bill", Elsie, and Mary. William C. married Bertha Ferguson and had one daughter, Doris (Sam Swierc). Elsie married John Flores and had Yvonne and John Jr.; and Mary married Dick Roberts (Wilson County Tax Assessor and Collector 1938 and Wilson County Sheriff 1940-1946), and their daughters were Katie Lee and Mary Anne. Bill and Alfred worked at William Eckel and Company for many years, eventually selling out, and the store became Reinhards. Alfred W. Eckel married Clara Woellert in 1922. They opened A.W. Eckel Grocery and Hardware in 1947. Alfred served as an alderman on the Poth City Council from 1938-1958. A.W. and Clara had three children, A.W. Eckel, Jr., Mary Rose (Dr. Jerry Jaeckle) and Jeanette (Ed Ramey). In 1945, A.W. Eckel, Jr. bought out Robert Orts of Orts and Lyssy and partnered with Ed Lyssy to establish Lyssy and Eckel, a feed mill and store. In 1950, he married Gertrude Guenther and they had two sons, Gerald Wayne and Ronald William. A.W. Eckel, Jr. was Mayor of Poth from 1958-1968. Gerald married Deborah Kocurek in 1984 and they have one daughter, Annika Kocurek Eckel. Debo served on the Poth City Council from 1989-1994 and owns Triple E Fitness in Poth. Ronnie married Chrystal Ray in 1986. They have three children, William Ray, Marie Caroline, and Charles Russell. Ronnie served as Mayor of Poth from 1984-1988. Chrystal has been Mayor of Poth since 2003 and partners with Esther Remling in the Garden Party Nursery, a garden center and gift shop in Poth. In 2010, Gerald and Ronnie continue to partner with Ernie Lyssy in Lyssy and Eckel and to participate in the growth of Poth.
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Courtesy/Wilson County Sesquicentennial 1860-2010

... from "On the Watershed of Ecleto and the Clear Fork of Sandies" writer Karen Mac Smith with illustrations by Jack Jackson.

FRANK VELA of FLORESVILLE TEXAS ... made saddles for Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders.  Frank Vela saddles were made from 1920 until his death in 1952. He worked for the L. Frank Saddlery during the Spanish American War. The Frank Vela Saddle Shop in Floresville now houses the Wilson County News office. Owner Elaine H. Kolodziej says they have one Vela working saddle on display in the lobby! So great opportunity to see an actual VELA saddle.

TWCTHT Reader remembers, "When I worked at Squeaks we were a Grey Hound bus stop. Remember he shipped out saddles  to Gene Autry they were beautiful."

Edward M. Golson, a single man from New York, arrived in Floresville in August of 1885. His initial impression of the town was dismal. However, since he lacked sufficient funds to leave town, he proceeded to develop a mercantile business near the courthouse. He found the local people were very friendly and hospitable. *He discovered that the single girls were very attractive and married one of the young ladies at a later time. Apparently, he was able to develop a good relationship with the local community, and was able to secure funding to build a new store and open a new mercantile business.

The site he selected for his new store was the northwest corner lot at the crossing of "C" and 3rd streets. Today, this site is the location of the U.S. Post Office. Prior to this, it was also the location of the First City National Bank. Mr. Golson bought the lot for $500.00. At this time, many of the local population felt that the property was greatly overpriced. Mr. Golson had a two-story, brick building erected on the lot. The lower level was dedicated to the merchandise store and the upper level served as his living quarters. The building bricks were locally made by hand at a brickyard near the community of Lodi on the west bank of the San Antonio River.

Uriah Lott, the builder of the railroad from San Antonio to the Gulf Coast chose a route closely paralleling the Alamo – La Bahia Road, which brought it right through Lodi. Initially, Mr. Lott only had sufficient funds to construct a railroad to the Lodi – Floresville area. For the period of time before he obtained additional funds, the ending of the railroad here proved to be a boom to the local community. It created a profitable business environment for Mr. Golson's new
enterprise. In addition to operating a general merchandise store, he also became a prominent, local cotton buyer. He shipped locally ginned cotton by rail to the markets elsewhere. The bidding for cotton bales became very competitive because of the local shipping advantage. Golson lost $5.00 on the first bale he bought. However, he continued buying and selling bales, and developed a very fair knowledge of the product. Cotton was coming into the area from adjacent counties and in one season about 18,000 bales were brought to the railroad creating a prosperous business for him.

Mr. Golson also brought the first carload of Glidden fence wire to the area. He sold most of the wire on the first day of its arrival. Windmills, brought in by rail, was another major product he brought to the area and sold to local ranchers. The windmills helped to provide water to cattle in grazing areas located some distance from the rivers and flowing creeks.
Droughts were alsooccurring at that time and many cattle died from lack of water. The bones of dead cattle were collected and these provided another local enterprise. At one time during a dry spell Mr. Golson shipped 25 carloads of bones by rail to market within a period of three months.

One notable event occurring in this period involving Mr. Golson and his store was the capture of a train robber by the name of Whitney. One morning the local sheriff, Jim Wyatt came to the store and informed Mr. Golson that Whitney, who had just committed one of the most daring train robberies at Harwood, was on his way to Floresville to rob his store. The Sheriff, who was elected in 1886 and served the county for two years, advised Mr. Golson to obtain guns and ammunition for his protection. Golson wired by telegraph to San Antonio and asked that guns and ammunition be sent to him by rail. His sleeping quarters were in a room above the store
and this space became occupied by the sheriff and five deputies. These deputies included Jim and Tom McDaniel and Manuel Ximenez. The bedroom took on the appearance of an arsenal. The officers spent two nights there waiting for the robber without action. On the third night, continuous gunfire was heard from the southeast part of town. The shooting was taking place in the Mayes home. When the sheriff arrived at the site, Whitney was found lying dead on a bed with a smoking pistol still in his hand. The U.S Marshal and two of his deputies who were trailing the robber caught him in the home before he could carry out his intended robbery.

Mr. Golson's cotton buying activity also spread to the La Vernia area after the second railroad in Wilson County was constructed through that area. The railway was built by San Antonio investors and run by the Fry brothers who were the sole operators. They served as the engineers, conductors, ticket agents and even the president. This was a small operation and the train would often delay leaving La Vernia at the request of Mr. Golson so he could complete his business with his customers.

*Edward Golson married Josephine Polley the daughter of Joseph Benjamin and Martha LeGette Polley of Floresville. The Polleys were an important family in the early days of Wilson County. She was the granddaughter of Joseph and Mary Bailey Polley of Sutherland Springs Texas

{Written by Gene Maeckel, Wilson County Historical Society,  1/2007}
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Abstracted from an article in the July 24, 1936 Floresville Chronicle Journal entitled "Recalling Good Old Days" in
Floresville and Wilson County.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Lawrence and Bertie Lee Zook    .... were long time residents of Wilson County with their 8 children, living on a farm about 6 miles, west of Deweese.  They sold their farm and moved to San Antonio in 1957.... shared by Sam Zook.(Thank you Sam for the picture & info on your Wilson County family)

 

One Sunday after church   ....... Sometimes I look at an old picture and imagine what they were doing and saying ... if there are many people in the picture.

 

I look at this one of my daddy, Lawrence Zook, who was the teenage boy sitting on the step to the right. He and all his brothers and sisters are mighty dressed up. They probably just came from church.

 

This was probably about 1917. My grandparents and all the kids, Dwight standing there has a uniform on, and he probably was leaving to go to France, where he fought in World War I. They probably lived out in Camp Ranch then.

 

It may have been a Sunday and they all just came back from church where they all went, Floresville Methodist Church on Fourth and B streets. My grandma Lizzie Zook, who taught a Sunday School class that day, stands there beside my grandpa but he didn't get in the picture.

 

So Dwight has his arm around Ola Dee, who was the baby sister. Standing by Ola Dee were little Everett and Warren. Both these boys were very close growing up, and probably plotting where they were going to go fishing after dinner. Years later, in the '40s, they were still close, though Everett was an attorney in Houston, and Warren was still in Floresville, living on part of the old Zook farm, and working in Saspamco, and raising cattle on his ranch. But that Sunday they would go down to the San Antonio River, which the farm backed up to, to go fishing.

 

Ola Dee grew up to be whatever she wanted to be. She was an amazing woman, stubborn woman, never had kids but married several times. She even made maps back in the '30s, flying with a guy from California who flew all over the U.S. When she was in her 70s she was raising bees and did her own remodeling of a historic home in La Grange.

 

Then there was Gladys on the steps to the left. She was an interesting woman too, and never got married. She had a day care and kindergarten and a dance school in Brownsville for many years. She is the one I wrote about in my book, who took me from my parents on the farm and didn't bring me back until Mother threatened to get the sheriff after her. My mother called it kidnapping. Gladys became a nun later on and became Sister Agatha Linn. My mother forgave her and they were close in Gladys' last days here on earth, when she passed away with cancer.

 

And there sits sweet Maurine next to Daddy. Uncle Everett told me that Maurine was Daddy's favorite and if you see pictures of the big family, back then, you will see Maurine always next to Daddy. She graduated from Floresville High, and she gave me her memory book of her high school years and everyone talked about how kind and sweet she was to everyone.

 

Ola Dee and Gladys graduated from old Tech High School in San Antonio. That was after their mother died of cancer of the brain in 1924, and they wanted to leave the farm and go to San Antonio to finish high school. They both worked and went to school and did finish school.

 

Maurine was married two times; the first one ended in divorce. He was a school teacher. And the second one she was very happy, but he got sick with TB, and she took care of him in Brownsville for years until he died. She never had any children either. She loved him very much.

 

Then she became a legal secretary in Houston for years. Never married again, and retired later to the Round Top area, where her brother Everett and his wife Alta had retired. She was my favorite of the Zook aunts, and she and I wrote letters back and forth from the time I was in high school to her death in 1987. I loved that woman and she was very instrumental in how I turned out.

 

I don't think the three Zook girls were very close growing up. But they were near in age, so maybe they played with dolls and played house. I just know when they were grown they were always arguing.

 

And there was my daddy sitting on the right; notice how big his hands are. He played football for Floresville High School, and was very good. He was a linebacker. My daddy was a hardworking, stern, tough farmer ... and father, and I am glad he later mellowed out to be a kind gentle man, and that is when he gave up farming after almost 35 years. Notice how the only persons smiling in this picture are Dwight and Maurine.

**************

COURTESY/Lois Zook Wauson   Lois Zook Wauson is the oldest of eight children who grew up on a farm in Wilson County in the mid- 20th century.

*************************************************** 

 

This progressive little town of La Vernia is situated on the Gulf Shore Railroad on the south side of Cibolo Creek, on the Wilson County side. It is the center of as fine an agricultural section as can be found in any section of Southwest Texas. 

 

The country about La Vernia, north of the Cibolo and on the Guadalupe County side, is a grand landscape for one to view. From gently sloping hills, stretch after stretch of rich country may be seen with valleys lying in pensive quietness between. These valleys are dotted with the homes of a thrifty, well-to-do class of farmers, who say the country is just as fertile as it looks. We believe it. 

 

We had the pleasure of meeting Mr. A. O. Elam who is running the old Newton farm one mile northeast of La Vernia. Mr. Elam keeps "bachelor's hall" in the old Newton home on the hill. It is a large white house commanding a beautiful view of the 

surrounding country. We expressed our surprise at his keeping "bachelor's hall". He should be a prominent candidate for matrimony, since he is surrounded by so many young maidens. Mr. Elam cultivates 135 acres in corn, cotton and sorghum. 

 

From Mr. Elam's we pass up the road one-half of a mile to the pretty and comfortable home of Mr. John Gambier Scull. This

is certainly a model country home. Mr. Scull is a most scientific and successful agriculturist. His farm contains 282 acres, and 125 acres is in a high state of cultivation. It is situated on table land known as the Mesquite and Live Oak Sand Prairie. 

 

Mr. Scull says it is well adapted to cotton and corn. He said he had frequently grown as much as a bale of cotton to the acre. He has a fine lot of mules and horses. Mr. Charley Scull, one of his brothers, lives in a charming home about 200 yards 

south of Mr. J. G. Scull. What we have said of Mr. J. G. Scull is also applicable to Mr. Charley Scull. They are both pleasant gentlemen with happy, accomplished families. 

 

Their sister, Mrs. Levi (Emma Scull) Maddox, lives about 200 yards north of them and is comfortably situated. Mrs. J. B. (Mary Elam) McLemore, sister of A.O. Elam, lives one-half mile west of them and owns a tract of 165 acres, of which 80 acres is in cultivation. 

 

From the little nest of "Sculls" we pass on to Mrs. Louisa (Gus) Tiner's farm of 200 acres. She rents part of her place and her two oldest boys are cultivating 75 acres in cotton and corn. In this same favored section also lives that good citizen, Mr. Curtis Warren, who owns a nice farm. We met Mr. L. W. Conner and Mr. W. Kay, who is farming with him. They are 

cultivating 85 acres in corn and cotton.

 

Mr. W. D. Scull is another substantial farmer. His farm contains 279 acres, and he has 135 acres in cultivation. Mr. Scull said he would sell his farm if he could get his price, but he laughed when he said it. 

 

(Courtesy of Wilson County Historical Society, & "Portal to Texas History")

B. A. and Andrea Jimenez .... November 26, 1902, was the time for Benito Andres Jimenez to be born in Floresville, Texas. He was the son of a well known pioneer family of 

Wilson County. His father was the late Wilson County sheriff M. J. Jimenez, and his mother was Josephine L. Jimenez, one of the first certified school teachers in the county.

 

 Young Benito attended both Lodi Elementary School and Floresville Elementary School. He entered Floresville Public High School and in his later high school years, he became active in athletics, particularly in the track and disc-throwing 

teams for which he held several blue ribbons. He won these distinctions in the district, city, county, and state tournaments. He received a knee injury which hindered his further participation in athletics. After this injury, he studied public speaking under the direction of Mrs. W. B. Toone. In 1920, he graduated from the Floresville Public High School. Benito left Floresville to attend St. Mary's University and later the Alamo City Commercial College in San Antonio, Texas, where he studied Business Administration.

 

 Benito, now a young man with a new outlook on life, returned to Floresville where he was to remain for his lifetime. Here his inherited ideals began to develop. He wanted to serve the people of the community. He began by teaching school in a 

small community, Cañada Verde.

 

 In addition to his teaching, he rendered outstanding counseling to the people who sought his advice. He gave freely of himself. This was to mark the beginning of a successful political career for the late Commissioner Jimenez.

 

 In 1928, Benito married Miss Andrea Gonzales, daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Pedro Gonzales, a respectable and prominent family of Poth, Texas. Andrea became a devoted housewife to him and a loving and understanding mother to their children, Josephine, wife of the late Casimiro Garza, 

Nadine, Sarita, and Maria Oralia, wife of Dr. William Elizondo.They were blessed with eight grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren, and 11 great-great-grandchildren.

 

 Andrea's home was her castle. Here she devoted her time to household duties, such as cooking, sewing, quilting, and gardening. She took pride in preparing her holiday dinners. Her greatest delight was to prepare a festive meal and have her children and grandchildren around the table enjoying the 

festive dishes.

 

 To know Benito was to know a friend of the people. Those who know him could not fail to realize that behind his serious manner there was a vast amount of knowledge and understanding on a wide range of subjects among which were Human Understanding, Education, Economics, Government, and Politics.

 

 With the passing of the years, Benito Jimenez became more mature and stronger in his convictions. He no longer needed to search for a career because he found that his calling was to help the people. Politics and government appealed to him because it did not restrict him from attending to his 

other interests, such as farming, stock raising, and a thriving grocery business, "Jimenez and Zuniga," which he had purchased.

 

 Politics became his life. Because of his fluency in both English and Spanish, the late Honorable Judge Sam B. Carr appointed him Wilson County official District Court Interpreter. He served in this capacity for a period of 27 years.

 

 B. A. Jimenez was elected president of the Lodi Independent School Board in 1942. After six years, he relinquished this 

position and yet continued as the board's advisor until the district was consolidated with the Floresville Independent School District.

 

In 1947, the people of the community realized that Benito A. Jimenez was not only their counselor, but that he had become their voice in politics. Upon their request in 1947, he sought the offi ce of Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1. He was elected by an overwhelming majority. He served in this office for four years and became known for his honesty, integrity, and his devotion to duty.

 

 In 1948, a great honor was bestowed upon B. A. Jimenez. Special Federal Judge W. R. Smith appointed him State Interpreter for the most notable race in Texas political history – the greatly contested race in which U. S. Rep. Lyndon 

B. Johnson defeated former Governor Coke Stevenson by 87 votes.

 

In the year 1950, B. A. Jimenez was elected to his last political office, County Commissioner of Precinct 1, the largest 

precinct in Wilson County, in population, assessed valuation, and area. To his political followers, Jimenez was the most 

dedicated, conscientious, and impartial commissioner of Precinct 1. He served the people of this precinct for 17 years, and at the time of his death left an unexpired term of 16 months.

 

 The people bestowed many honors upon their late beloved Commissioner Jimenez. In 1966, he was named "Man 

of the Year" by G. I. Forum and Lulac Council 254. He was awarded a plaque in appreciation for his devotion and longtime service to the citizens of Wilson County. In May 1967, the Floresville Chamber of Commerce named him "Citizen of the Year," and presented him an award for 

outstanding services to his community.

 

 All of his works did not make headlines, but however minor, his services live in the hearts of the people in the commu-

nity of Wilson County.

 

 Our Creator called Benito home on August 26, 1967, and Andrea on October 18,1980. Their memory will live in the 

hearts of their many friends for many years.

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Wilson County Sesquicentennial 1860-2010

On the morning of January 2, 2018, Thomas J. (T.J.) Williams, a faithful husband, loving brother, caring uncle and great friend passed to his heavenly reward with his Savior Jesus Christ.

 

T. J. was born in Sutherland Springs, Texas on October 20, 1922. He was preceded in death by his parents, Brazette and Josephine Evans Williams; two brothers and one sister. He attended public schools in Wilson County and later in San Antonio.

 

T. J. entered the U.S. Army in January, 1943, where he served 3 years, receiving an Honorable Discharge in January, 1946. His tours of battle included New Guinea and the Philippines. He served as an Amphibious Truck Driver as was a Qualified Military Sharp Shooter. T. J. received the American Theater Campaign Medal; the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal with two bronze stars; the Philippine Liberation Medal and the Good Conduct Medal. Upon discharge, he attended the Southwest Trade School, where he completed training in Auto Mechanic. He started a career in Civil Service at Kelly A.F.B. and later Randolph A.F.B. where he retired after 36 ½ hears of service in 1978.

 

He leaves to cherish his memories, his loving and devoted wife of 62 years, Lou Ella Williams; three sisters, Ruby Wills, Vera Fay (Sgt. Major Willie Fred) Watson and Stella Faye (Polk Eugene) Headspeth; a devoted nephew, Donnell Wills and a host of nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.

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Courtesy/Sutherland Springs Historical Museum 

December 07, 2016
By Lois Zook Wauson
Wilson County News

Addie Harrell was one of 12 children in her family and grew up in Camp Ranch and went to Green School. William Green donated the land where the one room schoolhouse was located on Farm Road 1344, which is west of Floresville in the Camp Ranch community. The land Green School was built on was bought for $12 an acre.

 

She and three of her siblings had to milk cows in the morning before they went to school. And there were 28 cows in all to milk! It took a long time to milk those cows. And they were usually late for school because of that. 

 

She said, "When it was real freezing weather, we'd turn the cows out to pasture so they could get behind the brush, because we didn't have no barn for them to get in out of the cold. I remember one morning I had to go down about 4:30 in the morning and get the cows, and I kicked into a pear bush and got full of prickly pears"

 

"When we got through milking, the others would go to school and I would have to herd the cows on my horse, down to this field and keep them there for about 3 hours, and then take them back. Then I would go to school. I wouldn't get to school until about 11:30 in the morning. I rode the horse to school. The younger kids had gone on and walked. My horse's name was Filly. She was a little Spanish type horse, and when she was young, when you got that one foot on the stirrup, you better hang on, because you was gone! "

 

She went on, "My daddy and I was the only one who could catch her. I would carry a string in my pocket and would got down in the pasture and call her to me and I would put the string in her bridle and climb on her and take off".

 

"My brother couldn't get her", she said, "My brother Buddy and Henry Tieken would go riding. Henry had his horse and Buddy would take Filly, and they would ride them all the way to Poth to the dances and tie them up with the saddles on them, leave them while they danced, then ride them back that night. So, she wouldn't ever come to Buddy."

 

"But when I got through riding her, I would take her in the barn, and unsaddle her and take everything off of her and take her down to the pasture and let her go and give her a rest. I loved that horse. Sometimes if I was upset about something, I would go down there and put my arms around her and put my head on her and cry."

 

All the Harrell children had to work on the farm. When they came in from school in the afternoon, they would always find left over bacon and ham on the shelf above the stove, which had been fried for breakfast that morning, and they would grab a piece of bread or a biscuit and put that meat between it, and take off to do work in the fields. They picked cotton, pulled corn, worked with hay bundles and lots more things. Every one had to work hard.

 

Some of their neighbors were the Alberts and the Noltes. She said she and her family lived "toward Dewees", in a small house. The kids had very little playing time, but when they did they played outdoors.

 

Addie Harrell went to Green school with some of my aunts, Ellen, Sallie and Fay Goode. She and Ellen were especially close, because they were the same age. She would spend the night with the Goode sisters at their house, and sometimes the girls would spend the night with the Harrell's.  This was about 1930 or 1931.  The Goode's, my grandparents, had a little house too and a bunch of kids. I am sure with 10 people in Grandma and Grandpa's house several kids slept on pallets on the floor.   

 

 

Addie Lea Harrell Wahl of Floresville, Texas, passed away peacefully in her home at the age of 100 on Tuesday, May 22, 2018. Addie was born on March 12, 1918, in the Camp Ranch community to Lon and Annie Hollub Harrell. 

(Courtesy of Wilson County News)

Spitz was born on Sept. 11, 1918 at home on Jackson Gulch in the Labatt Community, north of Floresville. He was the son of Harry and Ida Pfeiffer Roemer, grandson of Theodore Charles and Marie Schmidt Roemer.

 

Spitz was born a normal child, but at 18 months of age, Infantile Paralysis struck, leaving him deaf, mute, and crippled. He eventually started walking on his tiptoes when he was 7 years old.

 

Spitz's formal education consisted of 1 year at the School for the deaf in Austin, Texas. He developed a "homemade sign language" that everyone in the family and community easily understood. Tragedy struck when Spitz was 20 years old; his father was killed in an accident; he continued to live with his mother.

 

He enjoyed country living on the family farm. He loved to do 

small jobs for neighbors with his tractor and especially enjoyed visiting these neighbors. He could take apart a small engine, repair it, and have it running smoothly again.

 

Spitz could get very upset and angry; at such times he would run away from home. He would get on his tractor and go to the river bottom or to the sandhills and hide. One time, crippled as he was, he climbed to the top of the windmill and sat on the small platform while the wheel was turning at full speed, causing the family much anxiety. He came back home with a big grin on his face and acted as though nothing had happened.

 

Spitz loved family gatherings on Sunday, community parties, family reunions, parades, and peanut-threshing time. He loved to stand at the highway and wave at passing cars. He had many friends and was liked by all in the community. He always had a dog by his side; they even slept together.

 

Spitz was a "people person," very easy to know and love. A pat on the back and a handshake made his day special. He was very honest.He was baptized in November 1957 and knew that Jesus loved him. In April 1997 he went to live at Floresville Nursing Center until his passing November 9, 1999 at 81 years of age.

 

I want to share part of my story with you about my Uncle Spitz. My parents Alfred and Manilla Roemer married November 1933 and moved into a new little home built just for them by Alfred's dad, Harry Roemer. I was born there December 1934.

 

Spitz lived with his parents and siblings in a large home in Jackson Gulch. Tragedy struck in 1938 when Spitz' father was killed, leaving his mother to care for their special-needs son alone. The family decided that my parents, Alfred and Manilla, should move in with Spitz and his mother in the big house. I remember my mother cried, not wanting to make the move because life would not be easy.

 

In 1941, a small home was built for Spitz and his mother, and 

there they were cared for. In his later years, when Spitz became mine to care for, my wife and I took care of his every need.

 

Green trees never grow on mountain tops... only in the valleys. God gives each one of us strength to endure as we grow into HIS likeness.
 

— Respectfully submitted, Bennie Harry Roemer

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Mr. and Mrs. Richard (Mary Guenther) Voges are the parents of the former Wilson County Texas Attorney, D. Richard Voges (youngest son) and Walter Voges (oldest son). They lived in Poth, Texas. Mary Guenther Voges is Viola Guenther Henke's Grandfather's (George Guenther) sister.

The two young boys are:  Walter Voges and (County Atorney's Father)Richard Voges.

 

Daddy Always Went Back to the Farm ........ • Daddy always went back to the farm. He loved farming. When he graduated from Floresville High School in 1919, he decided to go to Kansas State, where he played football, for a year. But then he left and went to California to work in the orange groves his uncle owned. He loved working with the orchards there and being near the soil he loved well.

 

• But then he went back to the farm in 1924, when his mother was dying. After she died, he stayed to help his father run the family farm. He had come from a long line of farmers in Kansas, and ancestors who farmed in Pennsylvania before that. Farming always seemed to be beckoning and calling him back to the life of a farmer.

 

• In 1925, his brother Everett had gone to Del Rio to work and go to school. The drought was so bad and Daddy and his father were struggling to eke out a living when the seeds didn't even sprout that year. Everett sent him a telegram telling him that Magnolia Petroleum needed a "really strong man" who could lift 55-gallon drums and who could drive a truck. The first person Everett thought of was his older brother, Lawrence who was known as the "strongest man in Wilson County". He told Daddy the job paid $75 a month.

 

• Daddy took off for Del Rio, hitch hiking and walking. When he got there, the company hired him, and he worked until the man who owned the company hired a relative to take his place, so Daddy went back to the farm again. But he was ready. He was itching to get behind a plow again, and start growing things. He farmed with his father until 1927.

 

• In 1927, there was an oil boom in West Texas, and they were building pipelines from the oil fields there, to Corpus Christi. Some of the pipeline workers played football at Del Rio High School with Everett. They told him they sure did need some strong workers on the pipeline. He thought of his brother Lawrence again, and wired him to come, because those pipelines liked to hire big old strong country boys. They didn't have a ditch-digging machine back then, they used pick and shovel. That is when he thought of Daddy. Daddy went back to Del Rio again.

 

• The workers got paid $4 a day and all their meals and they lived in tents. $4 a day was a lot of money IN 1927.  Daddy worked hard with the pipeline company, laying pipe past Del Rio half way to Corpus Christi. He worked for a year. Then he decided to go home again. His father had passed away of cancer. 

 

• It was springtime and he could smell the earth as they dug down deep for the pipes. He wanted to plant some seeds. So he went back to the farm.

 

• Daddy took over the farm, after his father died. He married my mother in 1931 and farmed the old Zook farm until 1936, when they sold it and bought a 100-acre farm in the Kasper School community, west of Poth.

 

• He tried to make a living there for 20 more years. Most of those years he struggled with drought, low farm prices, boll weevils, grasshoppers, and those things that plague farmers. Every day when he left the house, his eyes turned to the skies to watch for rain clouds. He raised cotton, corn, maize, peanuts and watermelons, and even black-eyed peas one year. If it rained it was a good year. Most of the time it didn't rain. The life was hard, backbreaking and heartbreaking. Raising eight children added to the burden, although us kids helped with all the farming, and at times we were hired out to neighboring farmers to work, for $3.00 a day, and Daddy and Mother had to use the money to buy groceries and chicken feed. Daddy became a very angry man. It was too much for him.

 

• Finally, in the drought of the 50s' the bank finally took the farm, so they moved to San Antonio and he got a regular job, he began to plant gardens full of vegetables, and flowers. He was happy and cheerful most of the time. But he had running water with a hose to water the plants when they needed it, and he had a green thumb. He didn't have to depend on the weather to grow things. Everything he planted would grow and flourish! The earth and soil was in his blood. He watched the seeds sprout and grow and he grew the biggest vegetables and the most beautiful flowers and roses in the neighborhood. He still loved to watch it rain, and he could smell rain miles away when no one else could.

 

• I wish Daddy could have had one good year of farming. The rains came to Texas late that winter of 1957.  One year that he didn't have to worry about farm prices, or whether it would rain and the hot sun would beat down and kill his shrinking plants, or stunt their growth. I wish he could have had one year that was "raining at the right time, sunshine at the right time, paying off the banker on time" years. But, he didn't and he finally gave up and moved away from the farm. But if he had had one more chance, he would have gone back to the farm, because he loved farming.