Where There’s a Will

Where There’s a Will  From 1820 to 1870, a second wave of German immigrants landed on the shores of Galveston Bay, seeking a new life. The collapse of the old agricultural society and the dawn of the industrial age displaced peasants, and artisans found themselves jobless. Improvements in medical care led to a reduced death …

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52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Blended Family

The following entry is about the Stork family. They were one of the first pioneer families to settle in the Washington County area.  Barry Graul, great-grandson of the Reverend Doctor Jacob Graul (a neighbor of Peter Jaeger), and I have been in contact for nearly five years. Barry has visited his ancestors’ farms and became …

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52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Courting

Henry C. Jaeger & Lillie Neumann's Wedding My grandparents, Henry and Lillie, were married on September 18, 1929, one day after Grandpa’s 19th birthday. Granny was 16. They were married, in Shelby, Texas at the home of Granny’s father and step-mother, Theodore and Selma. Because Granny spoke only German, Pastor Henry Brunotte of Martin Luther …

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52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: In the Kitchen

Elsie Teufel (née Jaeger) was Grandpa Henry's older sister. She married Henry Teufel in 1914 and lived in Balaton, Minnesota, which was Henry's hometown. After deciding that it was too cold to stay, the couple and their son Earl moved to Port Arthur, Texas, where Henry took a job working in the Gulf Refinery with …

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52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Stormy Weather

Stormy Weather From 1949 until 1957, severely deficient rainfall plunged Texas into a devastating water shortage. Wells and reservoir dried up, crops withered, and thirsty cattle bawled in the scorching heat.  The number of farms and ranches shrank from 345,000 to 247,000 and the rural population declined to just one fourth of the state population …

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