DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about a Boerne boy who could outshoot just about anyone breathing. Now, by the 1880s, the Old West was already fading at the edges — the wildness getting soft, the legends getting polished up for parlor consumption. But out of that romanticizing came something real: the Wild West show, the vaudeville stage, the exhibition circuit.
And those arenas needed people with genuine, bone-deep skill. Which brings us to Adolph Toepperwein. Ad, they called him.
Ad was born right there in Boerne on October 16, 1869, to Johanna — Bergmann before she married — and Emil Albrecht Ferdinand Toepperwein, who had come over from Prussia to Texas back in 1850. Now, Emil was a gunsmith. Not just a fixer of broken things — a builder and designer of guns.
And when your father is a man like that, well, firearms are less a hobby and more a second language. Ad grew up fluent. By the time he was ten years old, he could outshoot many a veteran marksman.
Ten years old. Let that settle a moment. After his father's death, Ad moved to San Antonio to sharpen what nature and upbringing had already honed.
He took a job at the San Antonio Express as a cartoonist — which tells you something about the man's range of talents — but in 1889, he quit that job and headed to New York with vaudeville on his mind. For two years he shared the stage with all manner of vaudeville acts, learning the craft of performance right alongside the craft of the shot. Then he joined the Orin Brothers Circus, and with that outfit he toured for eight years.
In 1901, the Winchester Repeating Firearms Company saw what they had in Ad Toepperwein and signed him to a long-term contract as an exhibition shooter. That was a life-changing arrangement. But 1901 wasn't even the most interesting year coming.
In 1902, Ad visited the Winchester plant up in Connecticut. And there, among the cartridge assemblers, he met a woman named Elizabeth Servaty. Short courtship — the marker doesn't waste words on the timeline — and then they were married.
Ad taught Elizabeth to shoot, and before long the two of them were touring together as a husband and wife team billed as the Wonderful Toepperweins. That name wasn't just marketing. They were, by all accounts, wonderful.
They traveled together for over forty years. Over forty years on the road, performing, setting records, living a life most folks only dream about. They kept at it until Elizabeth died in 1945.
Ad retired in 1951. He died on March 4, 1962. Along the way, Ad Toepperwein racked up shooting records that got him into Ripley's Believe It or Not and the Guinness Book of World Records.
He was a long-time member of the Boerne Schuetzen Verein. And in 1966, he was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. One of Boerne's most famous sons — a gunsmith's boy who started outshootin' veterans before he was old enough to shave, and never really stopped.
The records speak, and they speak loud.
What the marker says
ADOLPH TOEPPERWEIN IN THE 1880s, ELEMENTS OF THE OLD WEST WERE FADING AND BECAME ROMANTICIZED THROUGH WILD WEST SHOWS. THESE PROMOTIONS CREATED OPPORTUNITIES FOR THOSE WITH SKILLS, INCLUDING SHARP-SHOOTERS. ADOLPH (AD) TOEPPERWEIN WAS BORN IN BOERNE ON OCTOBER 16, 1869 TO JOHANNA (BERGMANN) AND EMIL ALBRECHT FERDINAND TOEPPERWEIN, WHO IMMIGRATED TO TEXAS FROM PRUSSIA IN 1850. AD'S FATHER WAS A GUNSMITH WHO BUILT AND DESIGNED GUNS AND, BECAUSE OF THIS, AD BECAME PROFICIENT WITH FIREARMS AT A YOUNG AGE. BY THE AGE OF TEN, HE COULD OUTSHOOT MANY VETERAN MARKSMEN. AFTER HIS FATHER'S DEATH, AD MOVED TO SAN ANTONIO TO PERFECT HIS SHOOTING SKILLS. IN 1889, HE QUIT HIS CARTOONIST JOB AT THE SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS AND WENT TO NEW YORK SEEKING A VAUDEVILLE JOB. FOR TWO YEARS, HE SHARED THE STAGE WITH MANY VAUDEVILLE ACTS. HE THEN JOINED THE ORIN BROTHERS CIRCUS, WITH WHICH HE TOURED FOR EIGHT YEARS. IN 1901, THE WINCHESTER REPEATING FIREARMS COMPANY SIGNED HIM TO A LONG-TERM CONTRACT AS AN EXHIBITION SHOOTER. ON A VISIT TO THE WINCHESTER PLANT IN CONNECTICUT IN 1902, AD MET A CARTRIDGE ASSEMBLER NAMED ELIZABETH SERVATY. AFTER A SHORT COURTSHIP, THEY WERE MARRIED. AD TAUGHT HER HOW TO SHOOT AND THEY BEGAN TOURING AS A HUSBAND AND WIFE SHOOTING TEAM KNOWN AS THE WONDERFUL TOEPPERWEINS. THEY TRAVELED FOR OVER FORTY YEARS UNTIL ELIZABETH DIED IN 1945. AD RETIRED IN 1951 AND DIED ON MARCH 4, 1962. AD WAS A LONG-TIME MEMBER OF THE BOERNE SCHUETZEN VEREIN, WAS INDUCTED INTO THE TEXAS SPORTS HALL OF FAME IN 1966, MADE RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT AND THE GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS. ONE OF BOERNE'S MOST FAMOUS SONS IS REMEMBERED AND RESPECTED FOR HIS MANY SHOOTING RECORDS OVER THE YEARS.