DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the Benedict and Anetta Kaderli family of north Comal County — and friend, this one's got some real Texas in it. Let's go back to the beginning. Not Texas — not yet.
September 7, 1832, a boy named Benedict Kaderli was born in Mülchi, Canton Bern, Switzerland. Then on May 7, 1839, a girl named Anetta Zund came into the world over in St. Gallen, Canton Appenzell.
Two Swiss kids, born a country apart, who'd eventually find each other and then find Texas. They married in 1862, and Benedict was workin as a sticker — that's an embroiderer — which is a fine trade, but it's not exactly the trade that prepares you for what was comin. Now here's a detail worth sittin with for a moment: Benedict wasn't exactly going into the unknown blind.
Two of his brothers, Johann and Jacob Kaderli, had already made the crossing to Comal County back in 1845. Family had gone before him. That thread across the Atlantic had already been pulled.
September 15, 1873. Benedict, Anetta, and their four children — Alma, Albert, Emil, and Emilie — boarded a vessel called the Hamburg. They landed in New Orleans, then transferred to a smaller vessel and came ashore at Indianola.
Texas welcomed them the way Texas does: with distance, and heat, and the promise of something worth the trouble. They pushed north into Comal County, and in 1877, Benedict obtained a preemptive land grant from the State of Texas — 160 acres in the northern part of the county. The family built a two-story stone house near Bates Creek, which folks now call Suche Creek.
And here is where the story gets genuinely interesting. That house was sited directly over an active spring. They cut a large round hole in the floor so the family could draw water without ever stepping outside.
Think about that on a cold night. Or a dangerous one. Water, right there through the floor.
On that farm they raised cattle and goats and grew their own food, and two more children came along on Texas soil — Louis and Frieda. In 1883, the family received the deed for their farm, making it official. Five years on, Benedict's oldest son Albert claimed 80 acres of his own, bordering the family farm, and in 1889 he married Elizabeth — Betty — Spangenberg.
The Kaderli roots were spreading. And then, 1893. Benedict Kaderli died from a snake bite.
A man who crossed an ocean, built a stone house over a spring, carved a farm out of the Texas Hill Country — and it was a snake that got him. That's not irony, that's just the land reminding you who's in charge. Anetta outlived him by decades, living with her adult children until her death in 1923.
And the family held on. For several subsequent generations, Kaderli descendants stayed near that homestead and throughout greater Comal County — becoming business owners, teachers, law enforcement officers, serving in government and civic organizations. The embroiderer's family, stitched into the fabric of the county.
The original Kaderli land grants were eventually replatted as part of what's now called the Mystic Shores subdivision. The spring may be built over, the stone house gone from view — but the marker stands, and the story holds.
What the marker says
Benedict and Anetta Kaderli were early European settlers to north Comal County. Benedict was born September 7, 1832 in M��lchi, Canton Bern, Switzerland. Anetta Zund was born May 7, 1839 in St. Gallen, Canton Appenzell. The two married in 1862. Benedict worked as a "sticker" or embroiderer. Two of Benedict's brothers, Johann and Jacob Kaderli, had immigrated to Comal County in 1845. On September 15, 1873, Benedict, Anetta, and their four children, Alma, Albert, Emil and Emilie, boarded the vessel Hamburg and landed in New Orleans, and traveled via a smaller vessel to Indianola. In Texas, Benedict and Anetta welcomed two more children, Louis and Frieda. In 1877, Benedict obtained a preemptive land grant from the State of Texas. He claimed 160 acres in northern Comal County. The family built a two-story stone house near Bates Creek, now known as Suche Creek. The home was sited over an active spring, and a large round hole in the floor provided safe spring access without needing to go outside. On their new farm, they raised cattle and goats and grew their own food. In 1883, the family received the deed for their farm. Five years later, Benedict's oldest son, Albert, claimed 80 acres bordering the family farm and in 1889 married Elizabeth "Betty" Spangenberg. Benedict died in 1893 from a snake bite. Anetta lived with her adult children until her death in 1923. For several subsequent generations, the Kaderli descendants remained near the family homestead and greater Comal County, becoming business owners, teachers and law enforcement officers, and serving in government and civic organizations. The original Kaderli land grants were later replatted as part of the Mystic Shores subdivision. (2023)