Captain Charles Welhausen

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Born September 2, 1835, in Hanover, Germany, Charles Welhausen came to Texas the way a lot of big stories start, on a boat, with his parents, pulling into the Port of Galveston in 1843. Now, they didn't stop there.

The family settled first at Cat Spring, over in Austin County, then moved on to High Hill in Fayette County, where young Charles learned a trade. He became a saddle maker. Quiet work.

Patient work. The kind of work that does not prepare you for what came next. When the Civil War broke out, Welhausen enlisted in the Confederate army.

He served at Fort Brown and Fort Manhassett, both in Texas, before Louisiana called, specifically, the Battle of Calcasieu Pass in 1864. And whatever happened at that pass, it was enough. He was cited for gallantry in action and promoted to captain.

That title, Captain, would follow Charles Welhausen the rest of his days. He came back to Fayette County after the war, married Eliza Amsler in 1867, and got to the business of building a life. He served as county commissioner.

He served as justice of the peace. Then, in 1888, Fayette County sent him to the twenty-first Texas Legislature to represent them in Austin. The man had range.

In 1890, Charles and Eliza and their children packed up and moved to Shiner, where they purchased a ranch from H. B. Shiner.

Charles opened a bank, became a respected business and civic leader, and Eliza was no quiet bystander either, she was an active lay leader in the Methodist church. The two of them shaped that town together. Then, in 1911, Charles Welhausen purchased this very site and donated it to the city for a park.

A man who had crossed an ocean, survived a war, built a bank, and served his neighbors, made his last public act a gift. He died November 3, 1916. Some people leave a name on a marker.

Charles Welhausen left a park.

What the marker says

(September 2, 1835 - November 3, 1916) A native of Hanover, Germany, Charles Welhausen immigrated to Texas with his parents, arriving at the Port of Galveston in 1843. They settled first at Cat Spring in Austin County, and later moved to High Hill in Fayette county, where Charles became a saddle maker. Enlisting in the Confederate army at the outbreak of the Civil War, Charles Welhausen served at Fort Brown and Fort Manhassett in Texas before taking part in the Battle of Calcasieu Pass in Louisiana in 1864. Cited for gallantry in action, he was promoted to captain. Returning to Fayette County after the war, Welhausen married Eliza Amsler in 1867. He served as county commissioner and justice of the peace, and was elected to represent Fayette County in the twenty-first Texas Legislature in 1888. In 1890 the Welhausens and their children moved to Shiner, where they purchased a ranch from H. B. Shiner. Charles Welhausen opened a bank and became a respected business and civic leader; Eliza Welhausen was an active lay leader in the Methodist church. Charles Welhausen purchased this site in 1911 and donated it to the city for a park.