DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Keller-Grunder House in DeWitt County. Now, some houses just sit there. Four walls, a roof, a porch if you're lucky.
But this house — this house has moved. Literally picked up and carried down the road. And that's before we even get to the family inside it.
It starts in 1846, when a German native named Antone Keller arrived in Texas as a colonist with the German Emigration Company. He came in through Indianola — a port city sixty-five miles southeast of where we're standing right now. He brought his family with him, and he put down roots.
Opened a crockery, glassware, and grocery store right there in Indianola. Man knew how to make himself useful. By 1851, Keller had built a house — this house — for his second wife, Charlotte, born Charlotte Kuester, in 1824.
Solid construction. Good bones. Which, as it turns out, was going to matter enormously.
Antone Keller died in 1857. Now here is where the story takes a turn that would raise an eyebrow at any dinner table. Three years after his death, Charlotte married her stepson — Antone Keller, Jr., born in 1836.
Same family, new chapter. You can make of that what you will; the marker doesn't editorialize, and neither will I. Antone Junior was a Confederate veteran, and he carried on his father's Indianola store.
He and Charlotte were settled in, life was moving along — and then 1875 arrived. A destructive hurricane struck Indianola. And when that storm was done, Antone and Charlotte made a decision that takes a certain kind of nerve: they moved the house.
The whole house. To this site. They kept the store going back in Indianola, though.
Right up until the second major hurricane hit in 1886. After that one, Antone moved the business to Cuero. Even a stubborn man knows when the coast has made its point.
Charlotte Keller passed in 1897. Antone Junior followed in 1900. And that same year, 1900, the house passed to Augusta Keller Grunder — born in 1863, the daughter of Antone Keller, Jr.
She and her husband Victor J. Grunder, also born in 1863, made it their home. Victor was a prominent Cuero businessman and civic leader, and during their years here, alterations were made to the residence.
The house kept evolving, same as the family inside it. Victor Grunder passed in 1940. Augusta held on all the way until 1951.
But the house had one more story left to tell. A boy named John Junior Bell was born inside these walls in 1910 — the grandson of Victor and Augusta Grunder. He passed in 1963.
And in between, he built a career in public service that would've made any family proud. First elected to public office in 1936, he went on to serve in the Texas Legislature from 1937 to 1947, then the Texas Senate from 1948 to 1954, and then the United States Congress from 1955 to 1957. A house that survived two hurricanes, crossed the Texas coast on its own foundation, and gave the country a United States Congressman.
Not bad for four walls and a roof.
What the marker says
German native Antone Keller (d. 1857) came to Texas in 1846 as a colonist with the German Emigration Company. He arrived with his family at the port city of Indianola (65 miles southeast), where he later opened a crockery, glassware, and grocery store. He built this house there in 1851 for his second wife Charlotte (Kuester) Keller (1824-1897). Three years after Keller's death, Charlotte married her stepson Antone Keller, Jr. (1836-1900). Following a destructive hurricane that struck Indianola in 1875, they moved the house to this site. Antone, a Confederate veteran, continued to operate his father's Indianola store until after the second major hurricane in 1886, when he moved the business to Cuero. Augusta (Keller) Grunder (1863-1951), the daughter of Antone Keller, Jr., acquired the home in 1900. Her husband Victor J. Grunder (1863-1940) was a prominent Cuero businessman and civic leader. Alterations were made to the residence during their ownership. John Junior Bell (d. 1963), the grandson of Victor and Augusta Grunder, was born in the house in 1910. First elected to public office in 1936, he served in the Texas Legislature (1937-47), the Texas Senate (1948-54), and the United States Congress (1955-57). Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1980