INTRODUCTION

This application is the culmination of eight years of restoration work on the structure historically known as the Kuenemann house. After the demise of the last Kuenemann resident in 1929, the building was used as a hospital-clinic and nursing home. Consequently, the appearance of the building had changed dramatically by the 1940s, some time before the restoration activity in Fredericksburg. The deteriorated condition of the structure and the fact that the Kuenemann story had been played out long before living memory of present generations, discouraged any consid­eration of restoring the building.

The structure exhibits the two architectural eras of 19th century Texas, i.e. the frontier "fachwerk" or "half-timbered" construction and the Victorian style of the 1880s. Additionally, it represented the Kuenemann family's classic journey from despair on the Texas frontier to affluence and fulfillment by the turn of the century. Because of these testaments to the development of early Texas and because this story was so well documented by the extensive photo collection, it was decided to undertake this restoration project.

Paul R. Hamilton, Fredericksburg, Texas October 3, 1996

NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE KUENEMANN HOUSE

This historical essay pertains to the structure located at 413 West Creek Street in Fredericksburg, Texas. The restored home repre­sents the historical saga of the Frederick Kuenemann family from their immigration from Germany in 1845 and the hardships they encountered upon their arrival in frontier Texas, through the building of a highly successful business complex, consisting of lumber mill, home and church construction, furniture making and dry goods merchandising. The simple construction of the early home of half-timbered or "fachwerk" design and the later Victorian additions thereto, with extravagant embellishments, reflects the meager circumstances endured on the frontier and the affluent, socially vigorous life which they achieved by the turn of the century. The tenacious, industrious nature of these German Texans found fertile ground in the free republic in which they settled.

Frederick Kuenemann was born in Stederdorf, Hanover, Germany in 1811. On September 27, 1845, at age 35, he and his family sailed from Bremen, Germany aboard the sailing ship "Everhard" for Texas. The immigration effort was organized by a group of German noblemen who dreamed of possibly establishing a colonial province in Texas. The German Immigration Company took advantage of the liberal land grants of the Republic of Texas, under terms of which each married settler received 640 acres of land. The com­pany purchased the right to settle land in present Llano and San Saba Counties.

After a voyage of two and one half months, the Kuenemann family ar­rived in Galveston, Texas on December 9, 1845. The ship manifest upon debarking showed Frederick, his wife and three children.

The family consisted of Frederick, his wife, Dorthea and their children Sophia, Heinrich and Catherine. They were transferred to a smaller vessel and sailed down the coast to Indianola, the staging point for the overland passage to their inland destination.

Circumstances developed that led to great privation for the immigrants who were steadily arriving from Germany. The United States had declared war upon Mexico and in January, 1846 had attempted to employ every freight wagon and teamster along the coast to work in this effort. The logistics of moving the thousands of immigrants inland was frustrated. The Kuenemann family was stranded in a tent city with approximately four thousand (4,000) immigrants. The weather and sanitary conditions led to epidemics which claimed a great number of lives. Many of the people walked inland with New Braunfels (which had been settled two years earlier) as their destination. The disease which raged in Indianola was carried with those who arrived in New Braunfels and later in Fredericksburg. Historians write that the trail to New Braunfels was easily marked by the grave markers of those who perished. It is presumed that Frederick's daughter, Catherine, perished during this period, for the 1850 census of Gillespie County fails to record Catherine's name and the earliest church records of both the Verein-Kirche and Zion Lutheran Churches in Fredericksburg do not record her presence. Authorities differ as to the number of deaths in Indianola, along the line of march and later in New Braunfels and Fredericksburg. A compromise of larger and smaller numbers estimates the total deaths over this period at 3,800.

It is not known exactly when the family arrived in New Braunfels, but it is thought they made the two weeks wagon trip from New Braunfels to Fredericksburg prior to 1847, since the Gillespie County Court Records indicate that in 1846 Frederick Kuenemann was issued town lot #125, which lies on present West Austin Street. Sickness and death continued during the winter of 1847 with four or five deaths each day. Conditions were so bad and the people so weak that only shallow graves without proper coffins constituted burial.

In 1849 Hermann was born to Frederick and his wife. This son died in 1867 at the age of 18 years. Another daughter, Marie Auguste, was born in 1852 and died three years later. The Zion Lutheran Church record in Fredericksburg reveal that Hermann's mother's name was Anna Catherine while the mother of Marie Auguste was named Margarethe. Because the earliest immigration record of the family in 1845 listed the wife's name as Dorthea, nee Kobbe, and the later name Anna Catherine was noted with "nee Kobbe", it was thought that either the two were sisters or were the same person. These same Zion Lutheran Church records in 1852, show in the earliest member rolls, that the daughter Sophia, who immigrated from Germany, was born to Frederick and Anna Catherine. This record confirms that the wife used both names and for some reason changed it upon arrival in Fredericksburg. There has been found no explanation as to why the wife's name is recorded as Margerethe in the birth of Marie Auguste. These records indicate that Anna Catherine died in 1887 and the Der Friedhoff Cemetery records indicate that she is buried there. Her birth date in Germany is not recorded.

In 1854, the oldest daughter, Sophia, married Christian Lehne and six children were born to this marriage. Sophia died in 1891 and is buried in Der Friedhoff Cemetery.

The original structure of the Kuenemann House was probably built in 1847, the year in which town lot #456 was assigned to Heinrich Schupp. Schupp conveyed the property to one Ludwig Kuhlman in 1854. Frederick Kuenemann purchased the simple structure along with three contiguous town lots from Kuhlman in 1866. The old structure comprises the greater portion of the present ground floor of the house. Its "fachwerk" con­struction (known as half-timbered construction in English Parlance) is typical of European medieval building method. To quote from Drury Alexander in his book "Texas Homes of the 19th Century", "In their struc­tural techniques the German colonists were more traditional than the An­glo-American, and in both their frame and their masonry houses in central Texas one can recognize the hand of the German craftsman. The frame houses followed the medieval "fachwerk" method of construction, that is, a frame of heavy timbers with diagonal bracing members at the corners and at doors and other openings. This type of bracing belongs to the very earliest wood-building traditions of Europe. After the frame was built, the spaces between the timbers of the frame were filled in with stone, wattle and daub (mud plastered on a lattice of twigs), or sun-dried mud bricks. These walls were frequently given a coating of lime plaster, which through the years had been renewed so often that in many cases the frame is no longer visible, and it is difficult to determine whether the house is actually "fachwerk".

The eldest son, Heinrich, who was two years old when the family immigrated, was responsible for building the family fortune. In 1861,he was conscripted into the Confederate Army at the age of eighteen years. He was a private in Captain Frank Van Der Stucken's Company in Gilles­pie County. It is not known if Heinrich participated in any battles during the civil war, but in later years he was active in several reunion of his army unit.

In 1869 he married Elizabeth Tatsch, the daughter of John Peter Tatsch, a master furniture builder. From this marriage were born nine children. It is surmised that Heinrich learned the furniture making trade from his father-in-law and became a well known furniture maker.

His reputation is confirmed in Lon Taylor's study of early Texas furn­iture entitled "Texas Furniture". In 1875 his father conveyed the sim­ple home and adjacent buildings to him. 18 The fachwerk structure was added onto several times during the 1880s. The broad two-story porch across the front of the house and the other porches were embellished with the Victorian "gingerbread" trim. Ornate tinwork was added to the ridge of the roof and around the roof line of the lower west porch. The major additions, i.e. the large kitchen and the entire second floor were decidedly added in the 1880s. With these Victorian period additions, the home exhibited both the earliest frontier architecture,i.e. fachwerk, and the ornamentation of the 1880s period.

A few years after the property was conveyed to Heinrich, the pat­riarch of the family passed away. Research failed to reveal the date of Frederick's death. From observation of his burial site in Der Friedhof Cemetery, it is believed that he died in either 1879 or 1880 since he is buried between two individuals who died on each of those dates.

Heinrich organized the Kuenemann Lumber Company in 1883 and built the lumber mill, sheds and yard across the street from the house. This business became the largest in the area in a few years. Construction of homes and churches was an outgrowth of this lumber business. A two story structure was built adjacent to the house on the west side, which con­tained the furniture shops and offices for the lumber and construction businesses. A large two-story rock building was built in the 200 block of West Main Street to house the retail furniture and dry goods business. This structure has since been razed.

Heinrich built homes for six of his children, five of which are ad­jacent to the house. The homes on Creek Street were built for Charles,Anna, Max and and Marie. The home on San Antonio Street was built for Willie and the home on Main Street for Arthur. With the lumber mill and yard across the street, the other buildings associated with the family busi­nesses and these homes built for children, the Kuenemann complex covered an entire block on Creek Street. The residential structures are still in existence, but the commercial buildings have all been razed. The lumber business was moved to a site on South Adams Street in 1914 in or­der to locate on a spur of the newly completed railroad from San Antonio. In the early 1930s, the business was sold to Mutual Lumber Company, which in turn was sold to National Building Centers, Lowes Lumber Com­pany and finally to BMC West, the currant lumber business on South Adams Street.

Heinrich died in 1914 and was buried in Der Friedhof Cemetery. At the time of his death, he had accumulated substantial wealth, the re­sult of his industrious and tenacious nature and his keen business sense.

Elizabeth passed away in 1929 and is also buried in Der Friedhof Cemetery. After her death, no member of the family occupied the home thereafter. Through the 1930s and early 1940s, the home was rented to residents and finally to a chiropractor, Dr. James Dickey. In 1944 the family conveyed the property to Chester Schwethelm who several months later conveyed it to Mrs. Emily Dillard. Mrs. Dillard operated a rest home on the premises until 1952 when she conveyed to Monroe Windel. Windel resided on the premises and sold cedar posts from the property. The property was later owned by Home Investment Loan Co. (1959), Cyrus Cox (1979), O. J. Kowert (1983) and finally Paul Hamilton (1987). Restoration of the property, including the old servants quarters and garage was begun in January, 1988. The work was completed in September, 1996. The remarkable saga related above is told in exhibits and photo­graphs from the extensive Kuenemann family collection obtained from Raymond Kuenemann, San Antonio, Texas, a great grandson of Frederick. The exhibits are arranged in the room above the cellar to the rear of the house.

Research revealed that the spelling of the name Kuenemann, the usage in all legal documents after 1870, followed six (6) other variations. The contract between the family and the German Immigration Company, sign­ed in Germany in 1845, used the spelling Kuenemann. In 1847, the family was assigned a town lot in Fredericksburg in the name KUENEMANN. Two instruments pertaining to the grant by the State of Texas of 640 acres to the family in 1849 used the spellings KUHNEMANN and KOENEMANN. The 1850 census of Gillespie County spells the name KUENEMANN and the 1852 records of the Vereins Kirche, the earliest church in Fredericksburg, spells the name KUENEMANN.