Ferdinand Hohenberger Farmstead

Duane's take

The way the marker on this old Kendall County farmstead tells it, here's what came to pass. Ferdinand Hohenberger was born around 1813, and by 1855 he had decided that Germany was behind him. He and his wife Katherine Schultze and their whole family packed up and left Bremen, bound for Texas.

They crossed an ocean, seventy-three days of it, which is the kind of ocean crossing that either makes a family or breaks one. On November 20 they came ashore at Galveston, and their first stop in this new country was Luckenbach, sitting about ten miles to the northeast of where we're standing now. They put down roots there for a time.

Then in 1871, the family relocated to this very area and purchased this property. Ferdinand took up farming, which was hard enough work on its own, but he also became a freight driver. Picture that.

A man running goods back and forth between San Antonio and Indianola on the Texas coast, rolling across a lot of this same country you're drivin' through right now. In 1882, Ferdinand made a decision about what he'd built. He deeded one hundred sixty acres to each of his two sons, William and Theodor.

One hundred sixty acres apiece, carved right out of what he had worked for. This particular property, the one the marker stands on, became William Hohenberger's. William and his family lived here until 1914, and during those years William ran a store and a post office out of one of the buildings on the homestead.

He died in 1932 at age 82. The property itself stayed in the Hohenberger family until 1915. Now here is the part that stops you quiet.

Somewhere on this farmstead there are four gravestones, undated, marking the burials of family members. Ferdinand is there. Katherine Schultze Hohenberger is there.

And beside them, two more, women believed to be Katherine's own sisters, Mrs. Reichenthin and Mrs. Hagelman.

No dates on those stones. Just the names, and the land, and the silence that's been keepin' them company ever since. That's the Hohenberger farmstead.

What the marker says

Ferdinand Hohenberger (ca. 1813-1895), with his wife Katherine Schultze and their family, left Bremen, Germany in 1855. Arriving in Galveston on November 20 after a 73-day ocean voyage, they first settled in Luckenbach (approx. 10 mi. NE). The family relocated to this area and purchased this property in 1871. Hohenberger and his family engaged in farming, and he also became a freight driver, traveling between San Antonio and Indianola on the Texas coast. In 1882, Ferdinand deeded 160 acres of land to each of his sons, William and Theodor. This property was part of the land deeded to William Hohenberger. He and his family lived here until 1914, and William operated a store and post office from one of the buildings on the homestead. He died in 1932 at age 82. The property remained in the Hohenberger family until 1915. Four undated gravestones on the farmstead mark the burials of family members. In addition to the graves of Ferdinand and Katherine Schultze Hohenberger are the interments of Mrs. Reichenthin and Mrs. Hagelman, believed to be sisters of Katherine Hohenberger. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986