JOHANN GEORG PFEUFFER (June 26,1799--June 8, 1886)
ANNA BARBETT BROSCEL PFEUFFER (May 8, 1806--June 6, 1859)
Source: Unknown- probably a Hitzfelder
Johann George Pfeuffer was born in Kitzenburg near Wurzburg, Bavaria in Germany on June 26, 1799. He married Anna Barbett Broschel, an orphan, in Obernbriet, Bavaria on December 20, 1829. It was here in Obernbriet that their six children were born. They are as follows: Johann George, Johann Valentin, Johann Christopf, Johann Daniel, Barbette, and Anna Marie.
George Pfeuffer was a tanner by trade. He owned and operated a number of tanneries in several cities in Germany. George kept careful watch over his investments and was of ten seen traveling from city to city on a great black horse checking on the various tanneries.
One descendent remembers that George Pfeuffer owned and operated a hotel while in Germany and retained ownership of it after coming to America. It is said that one of the boys was sent back to Germany to run the hotel but soon became dissatisfied in the old country and returned to America.
The Pfeuffer family had many servants in their home while still in Germany to provide for their needs. They were also known to be quite generous with food and other charitable gifts to the needy. Life was quite comfortable for them and they were able to provide an excellent education for their children.
No one knows exactly why emigration fever struck George Pfeuffer but in 1845 he signed up to come to Texas with the German Emigration Society. He and his family were among the second group of 5200 settlers to be sent from the old country to settle in New Braunfels, Texas.
So it was that in September of 1845 George Pfeuffer sold his tanneries in Germany, packed up his possessions and set sail on the Washington which left Antwerp carrying some 169 passengers. The ship arrived in Galveston on November 25, 1845.
After so long a journey the Pfeuffer family decided to stay in Galveston and rest for a few weeks. After a rest the family then took a schooner for Indianola, Texas.
Because there were so many emigrants to be taken to Indiana and because the captains realized the bigger load, the bigger the profit, many of the captains frequently overloaded the ships. Many of these ships managed to limp into harbors and others took water and sunk.
The schooner the Pfeuffers took was overloaded. As it came into the white water in the bay at Indianola, it began to take water and sunk. The passengers managed to make it to safety but they lost most of their possessions. The special limited edition of the book, Texas and Texans, published in 1914 says that the shipwreck left the family almost penniless. They evidently were among those stranded on the coast. Every account of the family’s coming leaves off with the arrival of the family in Indianola and then tells of their arrival in Comal County in 1848. Evidently none of the family wanted to talk much of those years on the coast. Once the family arrived in Comal County they obtained land and began to cultivate and improve it.
The 1850 census of New Braunfels lists the Pfeuffer family. It reads: Pfeuffer, George 51, Barbara 44, Valentin, 18, Christopf, 16, Daniel 12, Babbette 9, and Mary 6. Both the father and Valentin are listed as farmers in one household.
Young George, who was now 20, was not listed and was now living in Corpus Christi. Shortly after his arrival in New Braunfels he had gone to work for Mr. Ferguson who was one of the owners of the Ferguson and Hessler Store which was a dry goods store. Recognizing a shrewd mind for business, the owner of this store had sent George to Corpus Christi to attend company business. While living here he met and married Susan Gravis and several children were added to their family.
It has been said that the elder George Pfeuffer had a voice that was quite loud and carried well for some distance. It seemed that he liked to discuss political questions and stated his opinions vigorously. Barbara Pfeuffer frequently complained of the embarrassment he caused her with his loud debates. There is a story that Barbara Pfeuffer was once entertaining some friends on the porch or the Pfeuffer home on Mill Street when she heard her husband’s booming voice in recognizable tones preaching firmly, "I will bow to no German flag. I will tip my hat to no German nobleman. I am an American now!" It seemed that George had been stopped by a fellow citizen and rebuked for not bowing to the flag of Prince Solms which flew over the New Braunfels Plaza at all times. A discussion had followed, a group had joined in the Plaza discussion and George had, thus, presented his views for all to hear. In the meantime at home, Barbara, a well bred European lady who bowed to the customs and good manners of her day --among which was the rule that no lady or gentlemen of good taste ever raised his voice to such loud tones --excused herself and left her guests in embarrassment.
Sometime between the years of 1850 and 1860 George Pfeuffer began a tannery in the basement of his home. This house still stands at 230 W. Mill Street and the old vats are still in the basement.
The church records of the First Protestant Church of which the Pfeuffers were members lists the arrival of a son. Herman, born August 31 , 1848 to the older George Pfeuffers. Those records also show that this child died at the age of three years. This child is not listed on any of the family records, it was not listed in the 1850 census at which time it would still have been alive and it is not buried with other members of the family.
Barbara Pfeuffer, accustomed to having servants do her work, was deeply unhappy in her new life. She missed friends at home and the life of comfort she had known there. Not being able to adjust to pioneer hardships she frequently mourned for her homeland. Many of her descendants believe that her deep unhappiness brought about her early death on June 6, 1859 at the age of 53 years.
On July 1 , 1851 George Pfeuffer along with his young son, Daniel, became charter members of the New Braunfels Athletic Club. The purpose of this club was to encourage physical training and the creative use of the intellect. The members spent much time debating political questions.
On December 9, 1860 a mass meeting was called to determine the stand of New Braunfels on secession. Those present signed a petition calling for secession. Among those who signed was the name of George Pfeuffer.
Johanne George Pfeuffer died at the age of 85 on June 8, 1886 and is buried in Comal Cemetary in New Braunfels.
George Pfeuffer’s children and their children became well known in New Braunfels. Perhaps the most prominent of all the Pfeuffer children was the eldest son, George.
In 1861 when the Civil War broke out George Pfeuffer returned to New Braunfels feeling it would be a safer place to reside than the coastal town of Corpus Christi.
In 1877 George Pfeuffer became the County Judge in Comal County and served in this office until 1860. He was appointed a director of A. and M. College at Bryan. While serving in this position he put the cafeteria, which was losing money, back on the gaining side and did much to keep the school going. He fought for and won the fight to have the Texas State Capitol built of Texas granite in the place of Georgia marble.
In 1862 George was elected to a seat in the Texas Senate. During the two terms that he served in the state senate he became quite well known throughout the state. It was while in the Senate that George Pfeuffer was able to push through a bill that literally saved A. and M. College but also made many enemies for him.The speech which he made in the Senate at this time supporting hisbill is published in its entirety in the book, Texas and Texans, 1914. This speech was praised by many for its excellence.
While still serving in his second term in the senate, George Pfeuffer died as the result of a stroke.
Senator Pfeuffer owned and operated a dry goods store in New Braunfels on the corner of San Antonio and Castell Streets, a lumber yard, a saw mill in East Texas and several other lumber yards through out the state of Texas.
A second son of the elder George Pfeuffer, Christopher Pfeuffer, at the age of 27 years became a member of Captain Podewils Company of the Texas Mounted Riflemen during the Civil War. This company was also called the 32nd Woods Texas Calvary. It was instrumental in repulsing Bank's Red River Expedition and fought at the battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill. It was written of this group-- "They came speaking German since many of them had reached Texas as completely grown men and the rest as boys. These men were completely European in their ideas. Anyone riding into their camp at night might have guessed that he had entered an encampment of the Astro-Prussian War." They were held in high regard by Woods who felt that they acted with great skill and coolness. Christopher was seriously wounded in the war and as a result was impaired the remainder of his life.
Christopher Pfeuffer along with George Pfeuffer obtained several leagues of land called Pfeuffer's League. This land was located in the now Bulverde area. It was divided up by them and sold in smaller tracts to homesteaders.
Sommers Pfeuffer, the son of Senator George Pfeuffer, served on a Committee which founded the first New Braunfels Fire Department in 1886 and in 1892 he became one of the stockholders which founded the New Braunfels Herald, the first English newspaper.
Among the descendants of George Pfeuffer today will be found doctors, accomplished musicians, prominent lawyers, post masters, merchants, ranchers, and teachers.
One writer records that in 1860 a wealthy Bavarian merchant was asked why he left Germany where life was so easy for him and came to Texas and lived a life of hardships. He replied that the old world did not hold the many opportunities that the new world provided for his children. He wanted his children and their children to have an opportunity to succeed and if they had this, the hardships didn’t matter. This might well have been George Pfeuffer- willing to pay the price of hardships and allotting his heirs an inheritance of opportunities of which many took advantage.