DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker's the source here, and I'm just the voice bringin' it to you — this is the story of Idlewild, out in Bexar County. Now, July of 1867. That's where this story starts, and it does not start easy.
A farming community was growing out here — settlers putting down roots, tending land, building something from nothing. On a piece of ground belonging to a man named Michael Kauffmann, two members of the Gross family were going about their business. Romanus Gross, fifty-one years old, and his nineteen-year-old son George.
A group of Indians on horseback attacked them. Both Grosses were shot in the side. George was scalped.
A party of men from Castroville was already in pursuit of those Indians — they'd been accused of stealing horses — but that knowledge offers little comfort when you're picturing a father and his teenage son on that stretch of Texas land in the summer of 1867. That is the ground this community was built on. Literally.
The community formally organized in about 1879. And that same year, a lawyer named Thomas Dunkin arrived from New York. He landed in the home of Michael Kauffmann — yes, the same Michael Kauffmann on whose land the Grosses had been attacked a dozen years before — and Dunkin worked there as a tutor for the Kauffmann family.
Now here's a man who came a long way and kept his eyes open. He looked around, saw a settlement with room to grow, and got to work. Dunkin and Kauffmann together convinced their neighbors that a schoolhouse was necessary.
Kauffmann provided the land. Dunkin became the first teacher. He didn't just wing it, either — he brought with him an innovative curriculum, designed in New York specifically for one-room schools.
A New York idea, planted in Texas soil. Then came 1881, and the railroad. Dunkin saw his moment.
He offered twenty acres of his own land for a station and a townsite. Twenty acres. Out of his own pocket, so to speak.
But the rest of the necessary land could not be secured, and the station ended up being erected on a different site — one that became Lacoste. Competition between the communities ran high after that. Idlewild stayed what it had always been: an agricultural and livestock center.
The railroad went elsewhere. The community endured. Now, 1887.
Dunkin — still here, still building — applied for a United States postal permit. He needed a name. His first choice was Ida, honoring Michael Kauffmann's daughter.
Rejected. Already in use somewhere else in Texas. He tried Ivanhoe.
Also rejected. Same reason. You can almost picture the man sitting there, pen in hand, working through a list.
He finally reached back to where he came from. He named the community Idlewild — after Idlewild, New York. The postal service accepted it.
The post office opened and remained in service until 1902. Idlewild's second school closed in 1955. That's the full arc of it — from a violent July morning in 1867 to a schoolhouse that finally went dark nearly a century later.
A community that lost the railroad, lost the post office, lost its schools, but never lost the name a New York lawyer settled on after two tries. Idlewild, Texas. Still on the marker.
Still on the map of memory.
What the marker says
This farming community was a growing settlement in July of 1867 when a group of Indians on horseback attacked Romanus Gross, age 51, and his 19-year-old son George on land belonging to the elder Gross' son-in-law, Michael Kauffmann. A party of men from Castroville was in pursuit of the Indians, who had been accused of stealing horses. Both Grosses were shot in the side; George was scalped. The community was formally organized in about 1879, the same year that Thomas Dunkin, a lawyer, arrived from New York. Dunkin lived and worked as a tutor in the home of Michael Kauffmann and his family. Seeing the growth of the community, Dunkin and Kauffmann convinced their neighbors of the need for a schoolhouse. Kauffmann provided the land and Dunkin became their first teacher. He taught an innovative curriculum designed in New York for one-room schools. Dunkin welcomed the railroad in 1881 by offering twenty acres of his own land for a station and townsite, but other necessary land could not be secured and the station was erected on a site that became Lacoste. Competition between the communities was high, and Idlewild remained an agricultural and livestock center. In 1887, Dunkin applied for a U. S. postal permit. He first chose the name Ida, for Michael Kauffmann's daughter, and then tried Ivanhoe, but both names were rejected by the postal service because they were already in use in other Texas locations. He finally named the community Idlewild after Idlewild, New York. The post office remained in service until 1902. Idlewild's second school closed in 1955. (1999)