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2013-6 Remembrances Special Edition1 City of Schertz Remembrances Special Edition 2013-6 Presented by: Schertz Historical Preservation Committee City Road Signs Reveal Meaningful Pasts – Pfeil Family Hundreds of family and individual lives have made significant contributions to the evolution of Schertz and neighboring cities. Several of those families have had streets and roads named in their honor. In Schertz alone there are many such family names attached to street signs such as: Schertz Parkway, Roy Richard Road, Dietz Road, Borgfeld Road, Bolton Road, Maske Road, Doerr Lane, Elbel Road, Friesenhahn Lane, Schwab Road, Hubertus Road, Kneupper Road, Schneider Drive/Lane, Schaefer Road, Wuest Street, Pfeil Street, and others you may recall. While the signage alone may mean nothing to most folks who pass by, there is meaningful history associated with each of these families/individuals that is worthy of remembering. One of those families that first settled the area between Schertz and Cibolo along the Cibolo Creek was the Pfeil family. A short recap of particular members of the family from the first to the forth generation serves to remind us of the legacy that family left our community. The Pfeil family patriarch and the person responsible for bringing his wife (Therese Schmitz) and six children to Texas from Prussia aboard the sailing vessel Ocean Queen in December 1849 was Anton Joseph Pfeil. After first settling his family in New Braunfels, Anton chose to move his family to the Cibolo Valley area near the banks of the Cibolo Creek. He purchased 190 acres near close family friends, the Stapper family. Anton made another 300 acre purchase from Sebastian Schertz at a time when Sebastian and his family decided to make a move to Missouri. One of Anton and Therese’s two sons was August Joseph Pfeil, born October 14, 1839, Kalkum, Germany, who migrated with his parents to Texas at age ten. August married Johanna Stapper and they produced a family of ten children. August and Johanna were prominent members of the Cibolo/Schertz community. They hosted many parties for the relatives and neighboring settler families were always a part of the celebrations. The Pfeils were instrumental in organizing what became a well known area dance hall called the Casino. Beer was served in the bar area but women were not permitted in that area so men would deliver beer to the ladies outside the bar area. August died on March 30, 1920 at the age of 80 leaving seven sons to carry August Joseph Pfeil on the family name. One of those seven sons was Herbert. As the family story goes, when Herbert approached his parents to get their approval for his wish to marry Julia Rosenthal from Comfort, Texas, the parents asked why he couldn’t find a future wife from around the Cibolo area. Eventually they must have given their approval because they did marry and had four sons and a daughter of their own. One of Herbert and Julia’s sons, Edgar Pfeil was elected Guadalupe County Attorney before World War II. Edgar served as an Intelligence Officer during the War and worked in research during the Nuremberg Trials since he could speak, read and understand the German language. Another of Herbert’s sons, August, and wife Hilde owned a men’s clothing store on East Commerce Street in San Antonio for several years. August and Hilde had two daughters, Jeannette and Julia. Jeannette still resides with her husband (John Wright – Air Force Officer Retired) here in Schertz and was a contributor to this article. Another of August’s sons, Ewald Pfeil, was a long-time owner of a lumber yard in Cibolo. He was such a well respected and active member of the community that Pfeil Road was named in his honor. Ewald and his wife had one female child named Grace. Still another of August Joseph and Johanna’s eleven children was Richard Pfeil. Richard grew up as a farmhand but eventually became a business owner. Richard opened a grocery store that was vital to 2 neighboring farmers. He was known as a very charitable man but not much is known of his overall life experiences. However, Roman Fenske, Richard’s granddaughter’s husband, wrote the following about his memories of Grandpa Richard (Pfeil) and farm life around Schertz in those early days: “I still remember Grandpa Richard Pfeil standing in his cotton field. Oh man, I tell you STOLZ! He had pride. He wasn’t wealthy, but grandpa was a generous type of guy. He was even too good-hearted in some ways. He gave credit when he had that store during hard times, when people didn’t have any money. When he died, we found a ledger of people who never paid. He just marked it off and that was it. He bought the store in the very early 1920s from some people named Wolf. When Momma and Daddy got married in 1924, Daddy was working in the cotton gin in Schertz and Momma was picking cotton to make money. When the ginning season was over, Grandpa wanted Daddy to help him take inventory in the store. So he went over there to help… The store was a natural meeting place as people went about their business at the cotton gin and the corn sheller nearby. All those buildings were close to the railroad tracks, where FM 78 is now. People would stop by and drink beer, play cards and talk… Richard Pfeil’s Store (Circa 1920s) The main crops in those days were cotton and corn. You’d shell the corn at the corn sheller and ship the corn by boxcar. You’d haul the cobs into the field to burn them. They baled the shucks and sold them. People used to have big piles of corncobs at home because they were good starters for wood-burning stoves. Sometimes we’d get turkey feathers and stick them in the corncobs and throw them. They whizzed like arrows. Picking cotton was work. The boils have these dry, sharp points on them and we’d have sore fingers. But we toughened up. Now they do it with machines, and they waste cotton like crazy. They leave so much behind. When we picked cotton years ago, we’d better pick it clean. If you saw a little piece on the ground you went over and got it. And if we didn’t feel like picking it up, Daddy and Momma would pull up a cotton stalk and WHOMP! Kids listened better in those days. They had respect. Once I remember, maybe in 1935, we were at a supper at Cibolo school and it started lightening bad… We barely got home and the phone rang. Lightening had struck Carl and Helena Schaefer’s place, and flames were going all over. We got over there – Edgar Pfeil and me and Dad – but we couldn’t get the fire out. I remember how that barn burned down with all that cotton. And Uncle Carl, who was blind, was sitting there. And Tante Therese told him, “Au, Carl. Klein noch nichten. Don’t cry like that.” It hurt him so bad. Cotton was only bringing 5 cents a pound at that time, and they thought it should bring more. So they were storing it for a better price. And they lost it all.”1 There are many more street signs out there with stories behind them. So, if you know some background about these historical figures write us at 4301 Monument Trail, Schertz, TX. 78154 or email us at weirtz1@yahoo.com and fill us in on the stories so we can share the history with our neighbors and supporters. 1 Stapper, Pfeil Family Reunion Booklet – 1989, Work and Play in Rural Texas” by Roman Fenske.