Site of Geier and Schmid Farm

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, if you were to stand at this spot today, you might not guess that two families once carved whole lives out of this ground. But the marker at this site has a story to tell, and it goes back a long way.

It starts in Germany. Specifically, in a place called Wolfenbuettel, where a man named Wilhelm Geier, his wife Theodora, and their daughter Johanna made a decision that a lot of folks were makin' in those days. They were going to Texas.

They came through the Port of Galveston in 1849, made their way inland, and settled first in New Braunfels. That's where things got interesting for young Johanna. In New Braunfels, she met a man named Martin Schmid, who had come over from the state of Wuerttemberg.

The two of them married in 1854. And then, one year later, the whole extended family, Martin and Johanna and her parents Wilhelm and Theodora, picked up and moved together to a new community called Selma, though folks knew it then as Cibolo. They bought 127 acres of land and established a farm for each family.

Two households, one piece of ground, side by side. For a while, that arrangement worked just fine. But in 1869, Wilhelm Geier and Martin Schmid agreed to split the land, each one taking a portion.

A handshake between two immigrant farmers, dividing up what they'd built together. Martin and Johanna Schmid raised four children on their share of that land. William, Sam, Sedonia Haile, and Mary Elizabeth Wuest grew up in Selma.

Martin himself was a Civil War veteran, having served under Captain Theodore Podewils in the 32nd Regiment of the Texas Cavalry. He died in 1880, and was buried right here in this immediate area. That burial established what would become the Schmid family cemetery.

Johanna stayed on. She worked the farm and kept things going until 1894, when she finally sold it and moved to San Antonio. By the time it was all said and done, the family cemetery held Johanna herself, her parents Wilhelm and Theodora, two of her infant children, her son William, and her daughter Sedonia.

Generations of that family, resting in the same soil they once farmed. But here's the part that settles in on you quiet-like. All the original fencing is gone.

All the tombstones have disappeared. The Schmid family cemetery is still out there, but the markers that once named the dead have vanished. And they're not alone in that.

A hundred yards to the northwest lies the Kincaid family cemetery, and it's the same story. David Kincaid, a Kentucky native, moved his family to this area and served as the town blacksmith. His wife Talitha, their daughters Esther Ada Kincaid Wallace and Josephine P.

Kincaid, and Talitha's father John Davis are all buried there. Their stones are gone too. Two cemeteries, two families, one piece of Texas ground.

The marker puts it plainly: their stories reflect the patterns of settlement and rural life in this part of Texas in the nineteenth century. Patterns. That's a careful word.

It means they weren't alone in any of this, the coming, the building, the burying, the forgetting. But it also means someone thought it mattered enough to say their names out loud one more time. Wilhelm.

Theodora. Johanna. Martin.

David. Talitha. John Davis.

Names on a marker now, since the stones that once held them are long gone.

What the marker says

This site was once the farm of German immigrants Martin Schmid and Wilhelm Geier. Wilhelm, his wife, Theodora, and their daughter, Johanna, immigrated to Texas from Wolfenbuettel, arriving at the Port of Galveston in 1849. They moved inland and settled first in New Braunfels, where Johanna Geier married Martin Schmid, from the state of Wuerttemberg, in 1854. Martin, Johanna and her parents moved to the new community of Selma, then known as Cibolo, in 1855. They bought 127 acres of land and established a farm for each family. In 1869, Geier and Schmid agreed to split the land, each receiving a portion. Martin and Johanna Schmid reared four children in Selma: William, Sam, Sedonia Haile and Mary Elizabeth Wuest. Martin, a Civil War veteran who served under Capt. Theodore Podewils' 32nd Regiment of the Texas Cavalry, died in 1880 and was buried in this immediate area, thus establishing the Schmid family cemetery. Johanna remained on the farm until 1894, when she sold it and moved to San Antonio. She, along with her parents, two of her infant children, son William and daughter Sedonia, were buried in the family cemetery. All original fencing and tombstones have disappeared from the Schmid family cemetery, as they have from the Kincaid family cemetery, which lies 100 yards northwest. Kentucky native David Kincaid moved his family to this area and was the town blacksmith. His wife, Talitha; their daughters Esther Ada Kincaid Wallace and Josephine P. Kincaid; and Talitha's father, John Davis, are buried in the Kincaid cemetery. Their stories reflect the patterns of settlement and rural life in this part of Texas in the 19th century. (2001)