Home of William Christian Papenberg

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the home of William Christian Papenberg, out in Colorado County. Now, some stories are about battles and border crossings, and some are about a man who just showed up and stayed. This is the second kind, and don't you underestimate it.

William Christian Papenberg was born in 1870, out in Illinois. He got himself educated as a teacher, and in 1899 he came to Texas in that very profession. Four years later the county seat of Columbus called to him, and in 1904 he moved there.

Then in 1908 he became clerk, district clerk for Colorado County. Thirty-eight years he held that post. Thirty-eight years.

Think about the deeds recorded, the cases filed, the documents passing through those hands, season after season. And somewhere in the middle of all that steady, serious work, William and his wife Emma, born a Buescher, built themselves a house. The year was 1914.

They put it up right there in Columbus, and it wasn't just a house they were building. It was a fact they were planting in the ground. William Christian Papenberg was born in 1870 and died in 1958.

The house he built with Emma is still standing. Still in the family. Some men leave monuments.

William Papenberg left a house and thirty-eight years of good work, and turns out, that's enough.

What the marker says

(1870-1958) District clerk for 38 years in Colorado County. Born in Illinois. Educated as a teacher, came to Texas (1899) in that profession. Moved to Columbus (1904) and became clerk in 1908. This house that he and his wife Emma (Buescher) built in 1914 remains in the family. RTHL - 1973