Theis (Theiss) Family

Duane's take

The official marker tells this story, and I'm passing it right along to you. Now settle in, because this one's got roots that go deep into the northwest corner of Harris County, and a twist at the end that only the postal service could've pulled off. Back in 1846, a man named Johann Heinrich Theis arrived in Texas.

He was born in 1800, his wife Katherina, born in 1804, came right along with him, and they brought four children in tow. That's a family betting everything on a new country, and they made the bet stick. The very next year, Johann acquired two hundred acres of land out in the Rosehill community.

He and Katherina didn't come alone into that wilderness, either. They joined other German settlers, and together those families organized the Salem Lutheran Church. Community from the start.

That's worth noting. Then comes 1854, and Johann and Katherina's oldest son Jacob makes his own move. Jacob purchases five hundred and fifty-seven acres nearby, and he settles in among other German immigrants in a place that would later be known as the Klein community.

Rosehill on one side, Klein on the other, and Theises in both. Now here's where the story takes that little turn I promised you. Come the 1890s, some confusion developed in mail delivery to the Theis families spread across Rosehill and Klein.

Two communities, one name, and apparently more mix-ups than anyone cared to tolerate. So the family worked it out in the most practical way imaginable. The Theis family members in Rosehill came to spell their name with a single S.

The ones out at Klein started spelling it with a double S. Theiss. Same blood, different mailboxes, different spelling.

You have to admire the ingenuity, even if you feel for the postman who started the whole mess. Now, right here at the edge of Jacob Theis' original acreage sits a small graveyard. The tombstones are missing.

The graveyard is small. But buried in that ground are Johann Heinrich and Katherina Theis themselves, and their son Christian. The marker puts it plainly: the site is a memorial to these early German immigrants.

And the family tradition of community involvement and leadership didn't stop with those first settlers. Several descendants went on to serve as trustees of the Klein Independent School District. Two hundred acres in 1847.

A church. Five hundred and fifty-seven more acres. A spelling dispute settled by necessity.

And a cemetery with no stones left standing, holding the people who started all of it. That's how a family leaves a mark on a place, even when the markers themselves have gone quiet.

What the marker says

Among the first German settlers in northwest Harris County was Johann Heinrich Theis (b. 1800), who arrived in 1846 with his wife Katherina (Benner) (b. 1804) and their four children. The following year, Johann acquired 200 acres of land in the Rosehill community, where the Theis family joined other German settlers in organizing the Salem Lutheran Church. In 1854 Johann and Katherina's oldest son Jacob purchased 557 acres nearby, and settled among other German immigrants in what later was known as the Klein community. In the 1890s some confusion developed in mail delivery to the Theis families in the Rosehill and Klein communities. As a result, Theis family members in Rosehill came to spell their name with a single "S," and those at Klein with a double "S." Buried in this cemetery at the edge of Jacob Theis' original acreage are Johann Heinrich and Katherina Theis and their son Christian. Although the graveyard is small and the tombstones are missing, the site is a memorial to these early German immigrants. In the family tradition of community involvement and leadership, several descendants have served as trustees of the Klein Independent School District.