2011-2 Remembrances Special EditionCity of Schertz
Remembrances Publication Special Edition 2011-2
Presented by: Schertz Historical Preservation Committee
Life and Expectations of Earlier Times - In the Words of a former Schertz Citizen
(Source: Article contained in Breiten family genealogy file as
supplied by Elizabeth "Beth" (Breiten) Price , Granddaughter
of Sedan J. Breiten)
Sedan was vested with a rather unusual name that derived from his father ( German born)
wanting to remember the defeat of Napoleon III at the town of Sedan during the Franco-
Prussian War in the year of Sedan's birth (1870). But beyond the name, much about the
life and times of Sedan Breiten are typical of what young men of his time experienced in
terms of rural life in South Central Texas during the latter half of the 19th and early 20th
centuries.
At age 96 (1967), Sedan sat down with a newspaper reporter at the Breiten family
reunion and recounted experiences during his youth. As a student he recalled that his
first two teachers were Lutheran ministers who both gave all instruction in the German
language which was the language regularly spoken in his home. Once the county
(Medina) built a school, all teaching was done in English. After a total of eight years of
schooling he was considered old enough to begin earning his own living. He never
mastered spelling but he considered himself a fine student with numbers. He could figure
anything in his head faster than on paper. His schooling centered on reading, writing and
arithmetic which he liked to refer to as the meat and potatoes of education.
In 1919, the Breiten's moved to George West, Texas where he purchased some acreage
and remained until 1960. In 1960, the Breiten's moved to Schertz to live with his
youngest daughter Helen and her husband C.R. Berry on Hwy. 1518.
No doubt, the rural lifestyle of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was
demanding and difficult for all young men of the time. Sedan's experience is likely
typical of many young men of the period. It was a lifestyle few of today's youth could
endure. It demanded strength of body and character, discipline of the spirit, a strict work
ethic, and devotion to family values. While Sedan would not have wanted to relive his
experiences, he also was of mind that, through rough, those were happy times filled with
work, family and good neighbors. Sedan's story reminds us of how fortunate we are to
live in more modem times and of how much our ancestors sacrificed to make their lives
and those of their children better, one generation to the next.
Sedan and Katherine enjoyed the love of six children, fifteen grandchildren and thirty-
one great grandchildren while alive. A remarkable circumstance of the generations of
Breitens who were around after the date of Sedan and Katherine's wedding and for sixty-
nine years thereafter is that there was never a death of any of the family relatives.
Thanks to Sedan for sharing his story with the reporter who has passed it on to us.
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