History of New Braunfels and Comal County, Texas, 1844-1946

History of New Braunfels and Comal County, Texas, 1844-1946
Author: Oscar Haas
Publisher:
Total Pages: 338
Release: 1968
Genre: Comal County (Tex.)
ISBN:

Founded 1845, became gateway to the Texan western wilderness. Could have been founded on the Medina or the San Saba, Llano, or San Antonio River, but was founded by an 'omen' on the Comal and Guadalupe rivers. Prince Carl Solms, founder, who was from Branfels on the Lahn River, Germany, wrote: "I myself with a troop of twenty-five men proceeded inland to find a place suitable for a town and to make the necessary preparations and investigations, especially as to whether or not there were hostile Indians in that region. It was on such an excursion that I found snow in my tent one morning, which, though it could be rolled in the hand, by noon had melted. Taking this as a good omen, we established our German colony here to which I gave the name New Braunfels." Much has been written about New Braunfels and Comal County. Much still remains to be written. May this boo9k add to incentives.

Texas Place Names

Texas Place Names
Author: Edward Callary
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Total Pages: 430
Release: 2020-06-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 1477320644

Was Gasoline, Texas, named in honor of a gas station? Nope, but the name does honor the town’s original claim to fame: a gasoline-powered cotton gin. Is Paris, Texas, a reference to Paris, France? Yes: Thomas Poteet, who donated land for the town site, thought it would be an improvement over “Pin Hook,” the original name of the Lamar County seat. Ding Dong’s story has a nice ring to it, derived from two store owners named Bell, who lived in Bell County, of course. Tracing the turning points, fascinating characters, and cultural crossroads that shaped Texas history, Texas Place Names provides the colorful stories behind these and more than three thousand other county, city, and community names. Drawing on in-depth research to present the facts behind the folklore, linguist Edward Callary also clarifies pronunciations (it’s NAY-chis for Neches, referring to a Caddoan people whose name was attached to the Neches River during a Spanish expedition). A great resource for road trippers and historians alike, Texas Place Names alphabetically charts centuries of humanity through the enduring words (and, occasionally, the fateful spelling gaffes) left behind by men and women from all walks of life.

Texas Furniture, Volume One

Texas Furniture, Volume One
Author: Lonn Taylor
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Total Pages: 393
Release: 2012-05-10
Genre: Antiques & Collectibles
ISBN: 0292742126

The art of furniture making flourished in Texas during the mid-nineteenth century. To document this rich heritage of locally made furniture, Miss Ima Hogg, the well-known philanthropist and collector of American decorative arts, enlisted Lonn Taylor and David B. Warren to research early Texas Furniture and its makers. They spent more than a decade working with museums and private collectors throughout the state to examine and photograph representative examples. They also combed census records, newspapers, and archives for information about cabinetmakers. These efforts resulted in the 1975 publication of Texas Furniture, which quickly became the authoritative reference on this subject. Now updated with an expanded Index of Texas Cabinetmakers that includes information that has come to light since the original publication and corrects errors, Texas Furniture presents a catalog of more than two hundred pieces of furniture, each superbly photographed and accompanied by detailed descriptions of the piece’s maker, date, materials, measurements, history, and owner, as well as an analysis by the authors. The book also includes chapters on the material culture of nineteenth-century Texas and on the tools and techniques of nineteenth-century Texas cabinetmakers, with a special emphasis on the German immigrant cabinetmakers of the Hill Country and Central Texas. The index of Texas cabinetmakers contains biographical information on approximately nine hundred men who made furniture in Texas, and appendices list information on the state’s largest cabinet shops taken from the United States census records.

The Cypress and Other Writings of a German Pioneer in Texas

The Cypress and Other Writings of a German Pioneer in Texas
Author: Hermann Seele
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Total Pages: 232
Release: 2014-02-19
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 0292761767

When Hermann Seele anived in New Braunfels in 1845, the raw colony was plagued by poverty, disease, lack of food, and hostile Indians. This personal record of the Germans in Texas shows their evolution from struggling colonists to prosperous citizens. From his viewpoint of a hardworking yet imaginative pioneer, Seele presents first a history of German immigration and settlement in Texas during the nineteenth century. Next, his autobiographical writings range from a "sentimental recollection" of his first Christmas Eve in Texas to his first day of teaching in New Braunfels, from accounts of the popular singing society to murder and justice along the Comal River. In addition, Seele's romantic novel, The Cypress, is a delightful though improbable tale of a traveling botanist, a chieftain's daughter, and a savage Indian cult. Hermann Seele—farmer, lawyer, teacher, lay preacher, mayor, state representative, Civil War major, and editor—epitomizes the best of the German immigrants who established their communities as models of respectability and prosperity.

Texas Furniture, Volume Two

Texas Furniture, Volume Two
Author: Lonn Taylor
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Total Pages: 351
Release: 2013-04-15
Genre: Antiques & Collectibles
ISBN: 0292745818

The art of furniture making flourished in Texas during the mid-nineteenth century. To document this rich heritage of locally made furniture, Miss Ima Hogg, the well-known philanthropist and collector of American decorative arts, enlisted Lonn Taylor and David B. Warren to research early Texas furniture and its makers. After more than a decade of investigation, they published Texas Furniture in 1975, and it quickly became the authoritative reference on this subject. An updated edition, Texas Furniture, Volume One, was issued in the spring of 2012. Texas Furniture, Volume Two presents over 150 additional pieces of furniture that were not included in Volume One, each superbly photographed in color and accompanied by detailed descriptions of the piece’s maker, date, materials, measurements, history, and owner, as well as an analysis by the authors. Taylor and Warren have also written a new introduction for this volume, in which they amplify the story of early Texas furniture. In particular, they compare and contrast the two important traditions of cabinetmaking in Texas, Anglo-American and German, and identify previously unknown artisans. The authors also discuss nineteenth-century Texans’ desire for refinement and gentility in furniture, non-commercial furniture making, and marquetry work. And they pay tribute to the twentieth-century collectors who first recognized the value of locally made Texas furniture and worked to preserve it. A checklist of Texas cabinetmakers, which contains biographical information on approximately nine hundred men who made furniture in Texas, completes the volume.