Sisterdale, Texas: Difference between revisions

Coordinates: 29°58′23″N 98°43′15″W / 29.97306°N 98.72083°W / 29.97306; -98.72083
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{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name = Sisterdale, Texas
|official_name = Sisterdale, Texas
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|timezone_DST = CDT
|timezone_DST = CDT
|utc_offset_DST = -5
|utc_offset_DST = -5
|elevation_footnotes =
|elevation_footnotes = <ref name="GR3"/>
|elevation_m = 390
|elevation_m = 390
|elevation_ft = 1280
|elevation_ft =
|coordinates = {{coord|29|58|23|N|98|43|15|W|region:US-TX|display=inline,title}}
|coordinates = {{coord|29|58|23|N|98|43|15|W|region:US-TX|display=inline,title}}


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|area_code = [[Area code 830|830]]
|area_code = [[Area code 830|830]]
|blank_name = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_name = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info = 48-68060<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|accessdate=2008-01-31|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref>
|blank_info = 48-68060<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=2008-01-31|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref>
|blank1_name = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_name = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info = 1347179<ref name="GR3">{{cite web|url=http://geonames.usgs.gov|accessdate=2008-01-31|title=US Board on Geographic Names|publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]]|date=2007-10-25}}</ref>
|blank1_info = 1347179<ref name="GR3">{{GNIS|1347179}}</ref>
|website =
|website =
|footnotes =
|footnotes =
}}
}}
'''Sisterdale''' is an [[unincorporated area|unincorporated]] farming and ranching community established in 1847 and located {{convert|13|mi}} north of [[Boerne, Texas|Boerne]] in [[Kendall County, Texas|Kendall County]], in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Texas]]. The community is located in the valley of Sister Creek.<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Sister Creek| id=rbsbz| retrieved=30 April 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> The elevation is {{convert|1280|ft}}.<ref>{{cite web | title=Geographical Names Information System, Sisterdale | publisher=U.S. Dept of the Interior |url=http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=135:3:3940826407867433::NO:3:P3_FID,P3_TITLE:1347179,Sisterdale | accessdate=30 April 2010}} U.S. Dept of the Interior</ref> Like the rest of Kendall County, Sisterdale was settled by German settlers, the descendants of which are the German-Texans that still call this area home.
'''Sisterdale''' is an [[unincorporated area|unincorporated]] farming and ranching community established in 1847 and located {{convert|13|mi}} north of [[Boerne, Texas|Boerne]] in [[Kendall County, Texas|Kendall County]], in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Texas]]. The community is located in the valley of Sister Creek.<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Sister Creek| id=rbsbz| retrieved=30 April 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> The elevation is {{convert|1280|ft}}.<ref>{{cite web | title=Geographical Names Information System, Sisterdale | publisher=U.S. Dept of the Interior |url=http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=135:3:3940826407867433::NO:3:P3_FID,P3_TITLE:1347179,Sisterdale | access-date=30 April 2010}} U.S. Dept of the Interior</ref>


==Community==
==Community==
Sisterdale<ref name="Sisterdale Just Spread Out">{{cite news |title=Sisterdale Just Spread Out |last=Syers |first=Ed |newspaper=The Victoria Advocate |date=18 October 1964 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SDEKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JksDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5224,2126948&dq=sisterdale+texas&hl=en }}</ref> was settled in 1847 by [[German Texan|German]] surveyor and [[Freethought|free thinker]] [[Nicolaus Zink]].<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Zinc, Nicolaus | id=fzi01|author=Ragsdale, Crystal Sessie | retrieved=30 April 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> Originally part of [[Comal County, Texas|Comal County]], Sisterdale became part of Kendall County when the latter was formed in 1862.
Sisterdale<ref name="Sisterdale Just Spread Out">{{cite news |title=Sisterdale Just Spread Out |last=Syers |first=Ed |newspaper=The Victoria Advocate |date=18 October 1964 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SDEKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JksDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5224,2126948&dq=sisterdale+texas&hl=en }}</ref> was settled in 1847 by [[German Texan|German]] surveyor and [[Freethought|free thinker]] [[Nicolaus Zink]].<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Zinc, Nicolaus | id=fzi01|author=Ragsdale, Crystal Sessie | retrieved=30 April 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> Originally part of [[Comal County, Texas|Comal County]], Sisterdale became part of Kendall County when the latter was formed in 1862.


Among the settlers were German pioneers Fritz and [[Betty Holekamp]],<ref>Morgenthaler, Jefferson; ''The German Settlement of the Texas Hill Country''; 2011</ref> geographer [[Ernst Kapp]];<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Kapp, Ernst | id=fka01|author=Jordan, Terry G. | retrieved=30 April 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> [[Anhalt]] Premier progeny<ref name="Freethinkers of the Early Texas Hill Country"/> Baron [[Ottomar von Behr]];<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Von Behr, Ottmar | id=fvo02|author=Ragsdale, Paul C. | retrieved=30 April 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> journalist [[Carl Adolph Douai]];<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Douai, Carl Daniel Adolph | id=fdo30|author=Sibley, Marilyn M. | retrieved=30 April 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> [[August Siemering]]<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Siemering, August | id=fsi06|author=Gold, Ella | retrieved=30 April 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> who later founded the ''San Antonio Express News''; author, journalist and diplomat [[Julius Fröbel]]; future [[Wall Street]] financial wizard Gustav Theissen;<ref name="Freethinkers of the Early Texas Hill Country"/> and [[Edgar von Westphalen]],<ref name="Cultural Encounters with the Environment">{{cite book |title=Cultural Encounters with the Environment |last=Haarman |first=Viola | last2=Conzen | first2=Michael P. |year=2000 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc | isbn=978-0-7425-0105-8 |pages=39, 45, 56 |url=}}</ref><ref name="Edgar von Westphalen">{{cite web | title=Edgar von Westphalen | publisher=Marxists.org |author= | url=http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/bio/family/edgar-vw.htm | accessdate=30 May 2010}} Roe Hampton University-London</ref><ref name="Jenny von Westphalen">{{cite web | title=Jenny von Westphalen | publisher=Marxists.org |author= | url=http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/bio/family/jenny-vw.htm | accessdate=30 May 2010}} Roe Hampton University-London</ref> brother to [[Jenny von Westphalen]] who was married to [[Karl Marx]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Marx, Karl-Julius Fröbel, Julius | publisher=Roe Hampton University-London |author=Simon, B. | url=http://www.roehampton.ac.uk/staff/kevin%20j.brehony/web/Julius_Froebel.html | accessdate=30 April 2010}} Roe Hampton University-London</ref>
Among the settlers were German pioneers Fritz and [[Betty Holekamp]],<ref>Morgenthaler, Jefferson; ''The German Settlement of the Texas Hill Country''; 2011</ref> geographer [[Ernst Kapp]];<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Kapp, Ernst | id=fka01|author=Jordan, Terry G. | retrieved=30 April 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> [[Anhalt]] Premier progeny<ref name="Freethinkers of the Early Texas Hill Country"/> Baron [[Ottomar von Behr]];<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Von Behr, Ottmar | id=fvo02|author=Ragsdale, Paul C. | retrieved=30 April 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> journalist [[Carl Adolph Douai]];<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Douai, Carl Daniel Adolph | id=fdo30|author=Sibley, Marilyn M. | retrieved=30 April 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> [[August Siemering]]<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Siemering, August | id=fsi06|author=Gold, Ella | retrieved=30 April 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> who later founded the ''San Antonio Express News''; author, journalist and diplomat [[Julius Fröbel]]; future [[Wall Street]] financial wizard Gustav Theissen;<ref name="Freethinkers of the Early Texas Hill Country"/> and [[Edgar von Westphalen]],<ref name="Cultural Encounters with the Environment">{{cite book |title=Cultural Encounters with the Environment |last1=Haarman |first1=Viola | last2=Conzen | first2=Michael P. |year=2000 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc | isbn=978-0-7425-0105-8 |pages=39, 45, 56 }}</ref><ref name="Edgar von Westphalen">{{cite web | title=Edgar von Westphalen | publisher=Marxists.org | url=http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/bio/family/edgar-vw.htm | access-date=30 May 2010}} Roe Hampton University-London</ref><ref name="Jenny von Westphalen">{{cite web | title=Jenny von Westphalen | publisher=Marxists.org | url=http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/bio/family/jenny-vw.htm | access-date=30 May 2010}} Roe Hampton University-London</ref> brother to [[Jenny von Westphalen]] who was married to [[Karl Marx]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Marx, Karl-Julius Fröbel, Julius | publisher=Roe Hampton University-London |author=Simon, B. | url=http://www.roehampton.ac.uk/staff/kevin%20j.brehony/web/Julius_Froebel.html | access-date=30 April 2010}} Roe Hampton University-London</ref>


The first child born in Sisterdale (and in Kendall County) was Julius Holekamp on June 10, 1849, to Fritz and Betty Holekamp.<ref>Ransleben, Guido E.; A Hundred Years of Comfort in Texas; 1954</ref>
The first child born in Sisterdale (and in Kendall County) was Julius Holekamp on June 10, 1849, to Fritz and Betty Holekamp.<ref>Ransleben, Guido E.; A Hundred Years of Comfort in Texas; 1954</ref>


One notable early colonist was [[Edward Degener]], future [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[United States House of Representatives|congressman]] from [[Texas]] during the [[Reconstruction era]]. Degener's sons Hugo and Hilmar died during the [[American Civil War]] in the [[Nueces massacre]]. To honor their memory, Degener along with Eduard Steves and William Heuermann purchased land for the establishment of the German-language [[Treue der Union Monument]], which was built in 1866 and listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Kendall County, Texas|National Register of Historic Places]] in 1978.<ref>{{cite web|title=National Register of Historic Places-Kendall Co, Tx|url=http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/TX/Kendall/state.html|publisher=U.S. Dept. of Interior, the National Park Service|accessdate=2 February 2011}}</ref>
One notable early colonist was [[Edward Degener]], future [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[United States House of Representatives|congressman]] from [[Texas]] during the [[Reconstruction era]]. Degener's sons Hugo and Hilmar died during the [[American Civil War]] in the [[Nueces massacre]]. To honor their memory, Degener along with Eduard Steves and William Heuermann purchased land for the establishment of the German-language [[Treue der Union Monument]], which was built in 1866 and listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Kendall County, Texas|National Register of Historic Places]] in 1978.<ref>{{cite web|title=National Register of Historic Places-Kendall Co, Tx|url=http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/TX/Kendall/state.html|publisher=U.S. Dept. of Interior, the National Park Service|access-date=2 February 2011}}</ref>


Also among the settlers was Julius Dresel (or Dressel), a member of the German Chambers of Deputies,<ref name="Freethinkers of the Early Texas Hill Country"/><ref name="Wine Industry Pioneers">{{cite web | title=Wine Industry Pioneers | publisher=The Wine Institute |author= | url=http://www.wineinstitute.org/company/library/specialcollections | accessdate=30 May 2010}} The Wine Institute</ref> who was the first to plant a Sisterdale vineyard. His brother Emil Dresel and partner Jacob Gundlach later established the [[Gundlach Bundschu|Rhein Farm Vineyard]] in [[Sonoma, California]]. Julius later moved to [[San Antonio]]. Upon the death of brother Emil, who bequeathed Julius his share of the Sonoma vineyard, Julius moved his family to California.<ref>{{cite book|last=Guinn|first=James Miller|title=History of the State of California and Biographical Record of Coast Counties, California: An Historical Story of the State's Marvelous Growth from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eMoPo5ce3IIC&pg=PA1050|year=1902|publisher=Chapman Publishing Company|page=1050}}</ref>
Also among the settlers was Julius Dresel (or Dressel), a member of the German Chambers of Deputies,<ref name="Freethinkers of the Early Texas Hill Country"/><ref name="Wine Industry Pioneers">{{cite web | title=Wine Industry Pioneers | publisher=The Wine Institute | url=http://www.wineinstitute.org/company/library/specialcollections | access-date=30 May 2010}} The Wine Institute</ref> who was the first to plant a Sisterdale vineyard. His brother Emil Dresel and partner Jacob Gundlach later established the [[Gundlach Bundschu|Rhein Farm Vineyard]] in [[Sonoma, California]]. Julius later moved to [[San Antonio]]. Upon the death of brother Emil, who bequeathed Julius his share of the Sonoma vineyard, Julius moved his family to California.<ref>{{cite book|last=Guinn|first=James Miller|title=History of the State of California and Biographical Record of Coast Counties, California: An Historical Story of the State's Marvelous Growth from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eMoPo5ce3IIC&pg=PA1050|year=1902|publisher=Chapman Publishing Company|page=1050}}</ref>


The community received a post office in 1851, and Ottomar W. Behr was the first postmaster.<ref>{{cite web | title=Sisterdale Postmasters | publisher=Jim Wheat | url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txpost/comal.html | accessdate=29 April 2010}}Jim Wheat</ref>
The community received a post office in 1851, and Ottomar W. Behr was the first postmaster.<ref>{{cite web | title=Sisterdale Postmasters | publisher=Jim Wheat | url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txpost/comal.html | access-date=29 April 2010}}Jim Wheat</ref>


Sisterdale eventually had a school house, a gas station-garage, a general store, a [[cotton gin]], and a factory for making cypress shingles. The old 1885 cotton gin in Sisterdale has been restored and is today home to Sister Creek Vineyards.<ref>{{cite web | title=Sisterdale Creek Vineyards | url=http://www.sistercreekvineyards.com/ | accessdate=29 April 2010}}</ref>
Sisterdale eventually had a school house, a gas station-garage, a general store, a [[cotton gin]], and a factory for making cypress shingles. The old 1885 cotton gin in Sisterdale has been restored and is today home to Sister Creek Vineyards.<ref>{{cite web | title=Sisterdale Creek Vineyards | url=http://www.sistercreekvineyards.com/ | access-date=29 April 2010}}</ref>


==Historical population==
==Historical population==
{{Unreferenced section|date=May 2019}}
{{US Census population
{{US Census population
|1880= 150
|1880= 150
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|align=none
|align=none
}}
}}

Source: Texas Escapes <ref>{{cite web |title=Sisterdale, Texas. |url=http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasHillCountryTowns/Sisterdale-Texas.htm |website=www.texasescapes.com |access-date=26 February 2022}}</ref>


==Free thinkers==
==Free thinkers==
Sisterdale was one of the [[Latin Settlement]]s, resulting from the [[Revolutions of 1848 in the German states]]. Those who came were [[Forty-Eighters]], intellectual liberal abolitionists who enjoyed conversing in [[Latin]] and believed in utopian ideals that guaranteed basic human rights to all.<ref name="Freethinkers of the Early Texas Hill Country">{{cite web | title=Freethinkers of the Early Texas Hill Country | publisher=Freethinkers Association of Central Texas | author=Scharf, Edwin E | url=http://www.freethinkersact.org/articles.htm | accessdate=9 May 2010 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090219213619/http://www.freethinkersact.org/articles.htm | archivedate=19 February 2009 }} Freethinkers Association of Central Texas</ref> They reveled in passionate conversations about literature, music and philosophy.<ref name="German Intellectuals on the Texas Frontier">{{cite web | title=German Intellectuals on the Texas Frontier | publisher=TexFiles |author=Kennedy, Ira | url=http://www.texfiles.com/texashistory/castell.htm | accessdate=30 April 2010}}</ref>
Sisterdale was one of the [[Latin Settlement]]s, resulting from the [[Revolutions of 1848 in the German states]]. Those who came were [[Forty-Eighters]], intellectual liberal abolitionists who enjoyed conversing in [[Latin]] and believed in utopian ideals that guaranteed basic human rights to all.<ref name="Freethinkers of the Early Texas Hill Country">{{cite web | title=Freethinkers of the Early Texas Hill Country | publisher=Freethinkers Association of Central Texas | author=Scharf, Edwin E | url=http://www.freethinkersact.org/articles.htm | access-date=9 May 2010 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090219213619/http://www.freethinkersact.org/articles.htm | archive-date=19 February 2009 }} Freethinkers Association of Central Texas</ref> They reveled in passionate conversations about literature, music and philosophy.<ref name="German Intellectuals on the Texas Frontier">{{cite web | title=German Intellectuals on the Texas Frontier | publisher=TexFiles |author=Kennedy, Ira | url=http://www.texfiles.com/texashistory/castell.htm | access-date=30 April 2010}}</ref>


The free thinkers petitioned the [[Texas Legislature]] in 1853 for a charter to operate a German-English college to be built at Sisterdale, but the petition did not come to fruition.<ref>{{cite web | title=Freethinkers of the Early Texas Hill Country | publisher=Free Thinkers Association of Texas | author=Scharf, Edwin E. | url=http://ffrf.org/legacy/fttoday/1998/april98/scharf.html| accessdate=30 April 2010}}</ref>
The free thinkers petitioned the [[Texas Legislature]] in 1853 for a charter to operate a German-English college to be built at Sisterdale, but the petition did not come to fruition.<ref>{{cite web | title=Freethinkers of the Early Texas Hill Country | publisher=Free Thinkers Association of Texas | author=Scharf, Edwin E. | url=http://ffrf.org/legacy/fttoday/1998/april98/scharf.html| access-date=30 April 2010}}</ref>


Irene Marschall King, granddaughter of [[John O. Meusebach]], remembered how her grandfather enjoyed the intellectual stimulation of visits to Sisterdale,<ref name="German Intellectuals on the Texas Frontier"/> where a man of his aristocratic background could relate to such cultured free thought discourse, and where the air filled with concert music, singing, dancing and an ambience of general ''[[Gemütlichkeit]]''.
Irene Marschall King, granddaughter of [[John O. Meusebach]], remembered how her grandfather enjoyed the intellectual stimulation of visits to Sisterdale,<ref name="German Intellectuals on the Texas Frontier"/> where a man of his aristocratic background could relate to such cultured free thought discourse, and where the air filled with concert music, singing, dancing and an ambience of general ''[[Gemütlichkeit]]''.


In 1853, August Siemering was elected Secretary, and Ernst Kapp the President, of the freethinker [[abolitionist]] organization Die Freie Verein<ref>{{cite book | last = Goyne | first =Minetta Algelt | title = Lone Star and Double Eagle: Civil War Letters of a German-Texas Family | publisher =Texas Christian Univ Press | year = 1982 | page =14 | isbn =978-0-912646-68-8}}</ref> (The Free Society),<ref name="Bexar County Chief Justice August Siemering, 1830-1883 ">{{Cite web | title=Bexar County Chief Justice August Siemering, 1830–1883 | author=Puglisi Jr., Richard L | publisher=University of the Incarnate Word | url=http://www.uiw.edu/sanantonio/AugustSiemerling.html| accessdate=9 May 2010}} University of the Incarnate Word</ref> which called for a meeting of abolitionist German Texans<ref name="German Attitude Toward the Civil War">{{Handbook of Texas | name=German Attitude Toward the Civil War | id=png01 |author=Biesele, Rudolph L. | retrieved=09 May 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> in conjunction with the May 14, 1854, Staats-[[Saengerfest]] (State Singing Festival) in [[San Antonio]]. [[Wilhelm Victor Keidel]] was elected Vice President of the convention, which adopted a political, social and religious platform,<ref name="The Texas State Convention of Germans in 1854">{{Cite web | title=The Texas State Convention of Germans in 1854 | author=Biesele, R L | publisher=The Texas State Historical Association | url=http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101090/m1/273/| accessdate=22 November 2010}} The Texas State Historical Association</ref> including:
In 1853, August Siemering was elected secretary, and Ernst Kapp the president, of the freethinker [[abolitionist]] organization {{lang-de|Der Freie Verein|label=none}} (The Free Society),<ref>{{cite book | last = Goyne | first =Minetta Algelt | title = Lone Star and Double Eagle: Civil War Letters of a German-Texas Family | publisher =Texas Christian Univ Press | year = 1982 | page =14 | isbn =978-0-912646-68-8}}</ref><ref name="Bexar County Chief Justice August Siemering, 1830-1883 ">{{Cite web | title=Bexar County Chief Justice August Siemering, 1830–1883 | author=Puglisi Jr., Richard L | publisher=University of the Incarnate Word | url=http://www.uiw.edu/sanantonio/AugustSiemerling.html| access-date=9 May 2010}} University of the Incarnate Word</ref> which called for a meeting of abolitionist German Texans<ref name="German Attitude Toward the Civil War">{{Handbook of Texas | name=German Attitude Toward the Civil War | id=png01 |author=Biesele, Rudolph L. | retrieved=9 May 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> in conjunction with the May 14, 1854, Staats-[[Saengerfest]] (State Singing Festival) in [[San Antonio]]. [[Wilhelm Victor Keidel]] was elected vice president of the convention, which adopted a political, social and religious platform,<ref name="The Texas State Convention of Germans in 1854">{{Cite web | title=The Texas State Convention of Germans in 1854 | author=Biesele, R L | publisher=The Texas State Historical Association | url=http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101090/m1/273/| access-date=22 November 2010}} The Texas State Historical Association</ref> including:


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One of the most tragic episodes in the history of Kendall County happened in 1862 after Texas joined the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]]. The Confederacy considered the free thinkers of Sisterdale and like communities to be a threat.<ref name="German Attitude Toward the Civil War"/> A number of Kendall County Germans became [[conscientious objector]]s to the military draft. Confederate authorities reacted by imposing [[martial law]] on central Texas. 61 conscientious objectors attempted to flee to Mexico. Confederate irregular James Duff<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Duff, James | id=fdu06|author=Shook, Robert W. | retrieved=30 April 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> and his [[Texas Civil War Confederate units|Duff's Partisan Rangers]] pursued them. At the [[Nueces River]], 34 were killed, and some executed after being taken prisoner. In 1866, Kendall County erected the [[Treue der Union Monument]] ("Loyalty to the Union") monument<ref>{{cite web | title=Treue der Union Monument | publisher=Texas Escapes – Blueprints For Travel, LLC. | url=http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasHistory/Treue-Der-Union-Loyalty-to-the-Union.htm | accessdate=30 April 2010}} Texas Escapes – Blueprints For Travel, LLC.</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Treue der Union Monument | publisher=TexGenWeb, Kendall Co | url=http://www.txgenweb2.org/txkendall/treue.htm | accessdate=30 April 2010 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226175800/http://www.txgenweb2.org/txkendall/treue.htm | archivedate=26 February 2012 }} TexGenWeb, Kendall Co</ref> dedicated to the German Texans slain at the [[Nueces massacre]].
One of the most tragic episodes in the history of Kendall County happened in 1862 after Texas joined the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]]. The Confederacy considered the free thinkers of Sisterdale and like communities to be a threat.<ref name="German Attitude Toward the Civil War"/> A number of Kendall County Germans became [[conscientious objector]]s to the military draft. Confederate authorities reacted by imposing [[martial law]] on central Texas. 61 conscientious objectors attempted to flee to Mexico. Confederate irregular James Duff<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Duff, James | id=fdu06|author=Shook, Robert W. | retrieved=30 April 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> and his [[Texas Civil War Confederate units|Duff's Partisan Rangers]] pursued them. At the [[Nueces River]], 34 were killed, and some executed after being taken prisoner. In 1866, Kendall County erected the [[Treue der Union Monument]] ("Loyalty to the Union") monument<ref>{{cite web | title=Treue der Union Monument | publisher=Texas Escapes – Blueprints For Travel, LLC. | url=http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasHistory/Treue-Der-Union-Loyalty-to-the-Union.htm | access-date=30 April 2010}} Texas Escapes – Blueprints For Travel, LLC.</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Treue der Union Monument | publisher=TexGenWeb, Kendall Co | url=http://www.txgenweb2.org/txkendall/treue.htm | access-date=30 April 2010 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226175800/http://www.txgenweb2.org/txkendall/treue.htm | archive-date=26 February 2012 }} TexGenWeb, Kendall Co</ref> dedicated to the German Texans slain at the [[Nueces massacre]].


==Darmstadt Society of Forty==
==Darmstadt Society of Forty==
Some of the early settlers in Sisterdale migrated from the collapsed [[Fisher–Miller Land Grant]] experimental colonies of the Darmstadt Society of Forty.{{details|List of Darmstadt Society of Forty}}
Some of the early settlers in Sisterdale migrated from the collapsed [[Fisher–Miller Land Grant]] experimental colonies of the Darmstadt Society of Forty.{{further|List of Darmstadt Society of Forty}}


==Sisterdale Valley District==
==Sisterdale Valley District==
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The '''Sisterdale Valley District''' is a {{convert|2893|acre|adj=on}} [[historic district (United States)|historic district]] in Sisterdale, Texas that was listed on the U.S. [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1975. It included 15 [[contributing buildings]] and six other [[contributing structures]].<ref name=nris/> The historic buildings include an 1890s dance hall.<ref name=viewform>{{cite web |url=http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/viewform.asp?atlas_num=2075001996&site_name=Sisterdale+Valley+District&class=2002 |title=Sisterdale Valley District }}</ref>
The '''Sisterdale Valley District''' is a {{convert|2893|acre|adj=on}} [[historic district (United States)|historic district]] in Sisterdale, Texas that was listed on the U.S. [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1975. It included 15 [[contributing buildings]] and six other [[contributing structures]].<ref name=nris/> The historic buildings include an 1890s dance hall.<ref name=viewform>{{cite web |url=http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/viewform.asp?atlas_num=2075001996&site_name=Sisterdale+Valley+District&class=2002 |title=Sisterdale Valley District }}</ref>


Various sources discuss Sisterdale.<ref name=voices>{{cite web|url=http://voicesofthetexashills.org/vthtown0008.htm |author=Joe Cooper |year=2009 |title=Sisterdale}}</ref><ref name=roots>{{cite web|publisher=RootsWeb.com |title=Sisterdale |url=http://www.rootsweb.com/~txkendal/sisdle.htm}}</ref><ref name=handbook>{{cite web|title=Handbook of Texas Online: Sisterdale, TX |url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hns51 |author=Glen E. Lich |accessdate= September 8, 2013 |publisher=Texas State Historical Association}}</ref><ref name=scapes>{{cite web|url=http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasHillCountryTowns/Sisterdale-Texas.htm |title=Sisterdale}}</ref><ref name=cemetery>{{cite web|title=Sisterdale Cemetery |url=http://www.rootsweb.com/~txkendal/csis.htm}}</ref>
Various sources discuss Sisterdale.<ref name=voices>{{cite web|url=http://voicesofthetexashills.org/vthtown0008.htm |author=Joe Cooper |year=2009 |title=Sisterdale}}</ref><ref name=roots>{{cite web|publisher=RootsWeb.com |title=Sisterdale |url=http://www.rootsweb.com/~txkendal/sisdle.htm}}</ref><ref name=handbook>{{cite web|title=Handbook of Texas Online: Sisterdale, TX |url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hns51 |author=Glen E. Lich |access-date= September 8, 2013 |publisher=Texas State Historical Association}}</ref><ref name=scapes>{{cite web|url=http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasHillCountryTowns/Sisterdale-Texas.htm |title=Sisterdale}}</ref><ref name=cemetery>{{cite web|title=Sisterdale Cemetery |url=http://www.rootsweb.com/~txkendal/csis.htm}}</ref>


== Photo gallery ==
== Photo gallery ==
<gallery>
<gallery>
File:Sisterdale3.JPG|Grounds of the Sisterdale dancehall
File:Sisterdale3.JPG|Grounds of the Sisterdale Dance Hall & Opera House
File:Sisterdale9.JPG|Old building
File:Sisterdale9.JPG|Original Settler Cabin Circa 1859
File:Sisterdale13.JPG|Sisterdale dancehall
File:Sisterdale13.JPG|Sisterdale Dance Hall & Opera House
File:Sisterdale TX Winery.jpg|Sister Creek Vineyards
File:Sisterdale TX Winery.jpg|Sister Creek Vineyards
File:Sisterdale TX Cemetery.jpg|Sisterdale Cemetery at RM 473 and 1376
File:Sisterdale TX Cemetery.jpg|Sisterdale Cemetery at RM 473 and 1376
File:SisterdaleLine (1 of 1).jpg|Sisterdale Bar
File:SisterdaleLine (1 of 1).jpg|Sisterdale Bar
File:House-animated.gif|Marlowe Candle Company
</gallery>
</gallery>


Line 164: Line 167:
*[[Texas Hill Country]]
*[[Texas Hill Country]]
*[[National Register of Historic Places listings in Kendall County, Texas]]
*[[National Register of Historic Places listings in Kendall County, Texas]]

⚫
==Further reading==
⚫
*{{Cite news |title=Sisterdale Just Spread Out |last=Syers |first=Ed |newspaper=The Victoria Advocate |date=18 October 1964 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SDEKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JksDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5224,2126948&dq=sisterdale+texas&hl=en }}
⚫
*{{Cite book |title=Cultural Encounters with the Environment |last=Haarman |first=Viola | last2=Conzen| first2=Michael P | chapter=The Clash of Utopias: Sisterdale and the Six-Sided Struggle for the Texas Hill Country |year=2000 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc | isbn=978-0-7425-0105-8 |pages=39–58 |url=}}


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=20em}}
{{Reflist|colwidth=20em}}

⚫
==Further reading==
⚫
*{{Cite news |title=Sisterdale Just Spread Out |last=Syers |first=Ed |newspaper=The Victoria Advocate |date=18 October 1964 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SDEKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JksDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5224,2126948&dq=sisterdale+texas&hl=en }}
⚫
*{{Cite book |title=Cultural Encounters with the Environment |last1=Haarman |first1=Viola | last2=Conzen| first2=Michael P | chapter=The Clash of Utopias: Sisterdale and the Six-Sided Struggle for the Texas Hill Country |year=2000 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc | isbn=978-0-7425-0105-8 |pages=39–58 }}


==External links==
==External links==

Latest revision as of 05:35, 29 July 2023

Sisterdale, Texas
Sisterdale is located in Texas
Sisterdale
Sisterdale
Location in Texas and the United States
Sisterdale is located in the United States
Sisterdale
Sisterdale
Sisterdale (the United States)
Coordinates: 29°58′23″N 98°43′15″W / 29.97306°N 98.72083°W / 29.97306; -98.72083
CountryUnited States
StateTexas
CountyKendall
Elevation
[1]
1,280 ft (390 m)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code
78006 (Boerne)
Area code830
FIPS code48-68060[2]
GNIS feature ID1347179[1]

Sisterdale is an unincorporated farming and ranching community established in 1847 and located 13 miles (21 km) north of Boerne in Kendall County, in the U.S. state of Texas. The community is located in the valley of Sister Creek.[3] The elevation is 1,280 feet (390 m).[4]

Community[edit]

Sisterdale[5] was settled in 1847 by German surveyor and free thinker Nicolaus Zink.[6] Originally part of Comal County, Sisterdale became part of Kendall County when the latter was formed in 1862.

Among the settlers were German pioneers Fritz and Betty Holekamp,[7] geographer Ernst Kapp;[8] Anhalt Premier progeny[9] Baron Ottomar von Behr;[10] journalist Carl Adolph Douai;[11] August Siemering[12] who later founded the San Antonio Express News; author, journalist and diplomat Julius Fröbel; future Wall Street financial wizard Gustav Theissen;[9] and Edgar von Westphalen,[13][14][15] brother to Jenny von Westphalen who was married to Karl Marx.[16]

The first child born in Sisterdale (and in Kendall County) was Julius Holekamp on June 10, 1849, to Fritz and Betty Holekamp.[17]

One notable early colonist was Edward Degener, future Republican congressman from Texas during the Reconstruction era. Degener's sons Hugo and Hilmar died during the American Civil War in the Nueces massacre. To honor their memory, Degener along with Eduard Steves and William Heuermann purchased land for the establishment of the German-language Treue der Union Monument, which was built in 1866 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.[18]

Also among the settlers was Julius Dresel (or Dressel), a member of the German Chambers of Deputies,[9][19] who was the first to plant a Sisterdale vineyard. His brother Emil Dresel and partner Jacob Gundlach later established the Rhein Farm Vineyard in Sonoma, California. Julius later moved to San Antonio. Upon the death of brother Emil, who bequeathed Julius his share of the Sonoma vineyard, Julius moved his family to California.[20]

The community received a post office in 1851, and Ottomar W. Behr was the first postmaster.[21]

Sisterdale eventually had a school house, a gas station-garage, a general store, a cotton gin, and a factory for making cypress shingles. The old 1885 cotton gin in Sisterdale has been restored and is today home to Sister Creek Vineyards.[22]

Historical population[edit]

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
1880150—
191026—
19205092.3%
197063—
198010058.7%
199060−40.0%
200025−58.3%
2010110340.0%

Source: Texas Escapes [23]

Free thinkers[edit]

Sisterdale was one of the Latin Settlements, resulting from the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states. Those who came were Forty-Eighters, intellectual liberal abolitionists who enjoyed conversing in Latin and believed in utopian ideals that guaranteed basic human rights to all.[9] They reveled in passionate conversations about literature, music and philosophy.[24]

The free thinkers petitioned the Texas Legislature in 1853 for a charter to operate a German-English college to be built at Sisterdale, but the petition did not come to fruition.[25]

Irene Marschall King, granddaughter of John O. Meusebach, remembered how her grandfather enjoyed the intellectual stimulation of visits to Sisterdale,[24] where a man of his aristocratic background could relate to such cultured free thought discourse, and where the air filled with concert music, singing, dancing and an ambience of general Gemütlichkeit.

In 1853, August Siemering was elected secretary, and Ernst Kapp the president, of the freethinker abolitionist organization Der Freie Verein (The Free Society),[26][27] which called for a meeting of abolitionist German Texans[28] in conjunction with the May 14, 1854, Staats-Saengerfest (State Singing Festival) in San Antonio. Wilhelm Victor Keidel was elected vice president of the convention, which adopted a political, social and religious platform,[29] including:

1) Equal pay for equal work; 2) Direct election of the President of the United States; 3) Abolition of capital punishment; 4) Slavery is an evil, the abolition of which is a requirement of democratic principles...; 5) Free schools – including universities – supported by the state, without religious influence; and 6) Total separation of church and state.

One of the most tragic episodes in the history of Kendall County happened in 1862 after Texas joined the Confederacy. The Confederacy considered the free thinkers of Sisterdale and like communities to be a threat.[28] A number of Kendall County Germans became conscientious objectors to the military draft. Confederate authorities reacted by imposing martial law on central Texas. 61 conscientious objectors attempted to flee to Mexico. Confederate irregular James Duff[30] and his Duff's Partisan Rangers pursued them. At the Nueces River, 34 were killed, and some executed after being taken prisoner. In 1866, Kendall County erected the Treue der Union Monument ("Loyalty to the Union") monument[31][32] dedicated to the German Texans slain at the Nueces massacre.

Darmstadt Society of Forty[edit]

Some of the early settlers in Sisterdale migrated from the collapsed Fisher–Miller Land Grant experimental colonies of the Darmstadt Society of Forty.

Further information: List of Darmstadt Society of Forty

Sisterdale Valley District[edit]

Sisterdale Valley District
Sisterdale Bed and Breakfast
LocationFM 1376, Sisterdale, Texas
Area2,893 acres (1,171 ha)
NRHP reference No.75001996[33]
Added to NRHPJanuary 8, 1975

The Sisterdale Valley District is a 2,893-acre (1,171 ha) historic district in Sisterdale, Texas that was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1975. It included 15 contributing buildings and six other contributing structures.[33] The historic buildings include an 1890s dance hall.[34]

Various sources discuss Sisterdale.[35][36][37][38][39]

Photo gallery[edit]

  • Grounds of the Sisterdale Dance Hall & Opera House
    Grounds of the Sisterdale Dance Hall & Opera House
  • Original Settler Cabin Circa 1859
    Original Settler Cabin Circa 1859
  • Sisterdale Dance Hall & Opera House
    Sisterdale Dance Hall & Opera House
  • Sister Creek Vineyards
    Sister Creek Vineyards
  • Sisterdale Cemetery at RM 473 and 1376
    Sisterdale Cemetery at RM 473 and 1376
  • Sisterdale Bar
    Sisterdale Bar
  • Marlowe Candle Company
    Marlowe Candle Company

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Sisterdale, Texas
  2. ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  3. ^ Sister Creek from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 30 April 2010. Texas State Historical Association
  4. ^ "Geographical Names Information System, Sisterdale". U.S. Dept of the Interior. Retrieved April 30, 2010. U.S. Dept of the Interior
  5. ^ Syers, Ed (October 18, 1964). "Sisterdale Just Spread Out". The Victoria Advocate.
  6. ^ Ragsdale, Crystal Sessie: Zinc, Nicolaus from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 30 April 2010. Texas State Historical Association
  7. ^ Morgenthaler, Jefferson; The German Settlement of the Texas Hill Country; 2011
  8. ^ Jordan, Terry G.: Kapp, Ernst from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 30 April 2010. Texas State Historical Association
  9. ^ a b c d Scharf, Edwin E. "Freethinkers of the Early Texas Hill Country". Freethinkers Association of Central Texas. Archived from the original on February 19, 2009. Retrieved May 9, 2010. Freethinkers Association of Central Texas
  10. ^ Ragsdale, Paul C.: Von Behr, Ottmar from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 30 April 2010. Texas State Historical Association
  11. ^ Sibley, Marilyn M.: Douai, Carl Daniel Adolph from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 30 April 2010. Texas State Historical Association
  12. ^ Gold, Ella: Siemering, August from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 30 April 2010. Texas State Historical Association
  13. ^ Haarman, Viola; Conzen, Michael P. (2000). Cultural Encounters with the Environment. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. pp. 39, 45, 56. ISBN 978-0-7425-0105-8.
  14. ^ "Edgar von Westphalen". Marxists.org. Retrieved May 30, 2010. Roe Hampton University-London
  15. ^ "Jenny von Westphalen". Marxists.org. Retrieved May 30, 2010. Roe Hampton University-London
  16. ^ Simon, B. "Marx, Karl-Julius Fröbel, Julius". Roe Hampton University-London. Retrieved April 30, 2010. Roe Hampton University-London
  17. ^ Ransleben, Guido E.; A Hundred Years of Comfort in Texas; 1954
  18. ^ "National Register of Historic Places-Kendall Co, Tx". U.S. Dept. of Interior, the National Park Service. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  19. ^ "Wine Industry Pioneers". The Wine Institute. Retrieved May 30, 2010. The Wine Institute
  20. ^ Guinn, James Miller (1902). History of the State of California and Biographical Record of Coast Counties, California: An Historical Story of the State's Marvelous Growth from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time. Chapman Publishing Company. p. 1050.
  21. ^ "Sisterdale Postmasters". Jim Wheat. Retrieved April 29, 2010.Jim Wheat
  22. ^ "Sisterdale Creek Vineyards". Retrieved April 29, 2010.
  23. ^ "Sisterdale, Texas". www.texasescapes.com. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
  24. ^ a b Kennedy, Ira. "German Intellectuals on the Texas Frontier". TexFiles. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
  25. ^ Scharf, Edwin E. "Freethinkers of the Early Texas Hill Country". Free Thinkers Association of Texas. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
  26. ^ Goyne, Minetta Algelt (1982). Lone Star and Double Eagle: Civil War Letters of a German-Texas Family. Texas Christian Univ Press. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-912646-68-8.
  27. ^ Puglisi Jr., Richard L. "Bexar County Chief Justice August Siemering, 1830–1883". University of the Incarnate Word. Retrieved May 9, 2010. University of the Incarnate Word
  28. ^ a b Biesele, Rudolph L.: German Attitude Toward the Civil War from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 9 May 2010. Texas State Historical Association
  29. ^ Biesele, R L. "The Texas State Convention of Germans in 1854". The Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved November 22, 2010. The Texas State Historical Association
  30. ^ Shook, Robert W.: Duff, James from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 30 April 2010. Texas State Historical Association
  31. ^ "Treue der Union Monument". Texas Escapes – Blueprints For Travel, LLC. Retrieved April 30, 2010. Texas Escapes – Blueprints For Travel, LLC.
  32. ^ "Treue der Union Monument". TexGenWeb, Kendall Co. Archived from the original on February 26, 2012. Retrieved April 30, 2010. TexGenWeb, Kendall Co
  33. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  34. ^ "Sisterdale Valley District".
  35. ^ Joe Cooper (2009). "Sisterdale".
  36. ^ "Sisterdale". RootsWeb.com.
  37. ^ Glen E. Lich. "Handbook of Texas Online: Sisterdale, TX". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved September 8, 2013.
  38. ^ "Sisterdale".
  39. ^ "Sisterdale Cemetery".

Further reading[edit]

  • Syers, Ed (October 18, 1964). "Sisterdale Just Spread Out". The Victoria Advocate.
  • Haarman, Viola; Conzen, Michael P (2000). "The Clash of Utopias: Sisterdale and the Six-Sided Struggle for the Texas Hill Country". Cultural Encounters with the Environment. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. pp. 39–58. ISBN 978-0-7425-0105-8.

External links[edit]

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