The articles below appeared in A History of Texas and Texans, by Frank W. Johnson (Edited and brought to date by Eugene C. Barker with the assistance of Ernest William Winkler. To which are added historical, statistical and descriptive matter pertaining to the important local divisions of the State, and biographical accounts of the leaders and representative men of the state.), Chicago and New York: The American Historical Society, 1916.
JAMES F. CARD. Of old American families that have been identified with the material development of Texas since it was a Spanish or Mexican province, none deserve more particular mention than that represented by James F. Card, who represents pioneer Texas stock on both sides of the house. Mr. Card is a well known farmer and stock man on the Cuero and Westhoff Road.
Though most of his active career has been spent in the vicinity of Cuero, Mr. Card was born at Flatonia, in Fayette County, Texas, January 27, 1872. The Cards were of Scotch and Irish ancestry, and early in the last century lived in Tennessee. Grandfather James Card, who was born in 1804 and died in 1870, joined almost the original American emigration to Texas. Coming from Tennessee, he reached Texas soil about 1832, four years before the winning of independence, and was identified with the little settlement at LaGrange. His old home was on Buckner's Creek on the west side of Colorado River, and he lived and died in that one community. In those excursions and expeditions which began in the early '30s as part of a general conflict between the Texas Americans and the Mexicans, and which continued with little interruption for fully ten years, James Card had his part as a member of the famous Dawson Company, the slaughter of whose members has resulted in one of the most familiar events of Texas history, the "Dawson Massacre." Fortunately a lame horse caused James Card to escape from that slaughter. He was a farmer and stock man, and never held any slaves. Grandfather James Card was the only one of his particular family to come to Texas. He married Jane Anderson. Her brother, William Anderson, was also a pioneer in Fayette County, Texas, and reared a family there. To the marriage of James and Jane Card were born: Sarah, who married Henry Redfield and spent her life about LaGrange; Joseph, who lived around Flatonia and left a family there; Samuel, who died in Fayette County; William, who also died in Fayette County with a family; Ann, who married John Moore and spent her life in Coryell County; James Neal; and Mary, who became the wife of J. Mahan of Leesville, Texas.
James Neal Card was born at LaGrange, Texas, November 27, 1841, and is one of the oldest native sons of that locality. He grew up and acquired a very limited education and during the war between the states served in Colonel Breckenridge 's regiment of Texas troops. Most of his service was at Saluria Island and along the East Texas coast. After the war he took up the active life of a farmer and stock man and in 1880 moved his family to Dewitt County, locating on the Breeding Survey, where he still has his home. He has not been identified with local offices, is a republican in politics in spite of the fact that he was a Confederate soldier, and was reared in the Baptist faith. James Neal Card married Mary Merken. Her father, Ferdinand Merken, came to Texas from Germany prior to the war. Mrs. Card was born in Fayette County March 10, 1851, being one of a large family of children. To her marriage to James N. Card were born the following children: James F.; William, who was a farmer and died unmarried; Milton, who is a farmer, also in Dewitt County; Joseph, a stock man in the same locality who married Annie Howell; Samuel, a farmer around Cuero; Mary, wife of Henry Hillman of Bloomington, Texas.
Since he was eight years of age James F. Card has been identified with Dewitt County as his residence. He acquired his early training in the country schools and also attended the Nash School or Guadaloupe Academy at Cuero. Having remained at home and assisted his father in the management of the farm until past his majority, he then took up farming and stockraising on his own account, his first home being in the Breeding survey. In 1903 he moved to his present place, which had been settled before by a member of the pioneer Lane family. The previous owner, however, was James Robinson, also one of the old settlers of Dewitt County. Mr. Card's estate is situated in the Wentworth League, and he has been unusually successful in the breeding and raising of cattle, sheep, goats and hogs, and at different times has figured on the market as a shipper and dealer in live stock.
Many citizens of Dewitt County know him best for his work as a public official. He first began voting in 1892, and his first presidential ballot was given to Grover Cleveland, while in a year made famous in Texas politics by the battle between Hogg and Clark he supported James S. Hogg for governor. For twenty years or more he has exercised considerable influence in local democratic politics. In 1910 Mr. Card was elected county commissioner as the successor of A. W. Eatman. He represented Precinct No. 1 for one term, and his associates on the board were Judge Kleberg and commissioners George P. Willis, M. F. Mueller and K. C. Brown.
May 17, 1893, Mr. Card married Miss Claudia Wallace. Her father, Elias M. Wallace, was one of the early settlers of Dewitt County, having come to Texas from Mississippi prior to the Civil war, and served in the Confederate army from this state. Mr. Wallace married Saloma Stubbs. Mrs. Card is the third in a family of seven children, the others being named as follows: Ida, now Mrs. J. D. Hardy; Mrs. Abbie Hodge; Winnie, wife of S. D. Thomason of Wilson County, Texas; Elias, a farmer in Dewitt County; Bula, who died young; Martha, who married Bruce Roan of San Antonio; and William, a farmer of Dewitt County. The little family of Mr. and Mrs. Card contains the following children: Salome, Claudia, Victor, Buna and Bruce. In fraternal matters Mr. Card is only identified with the Woodmen of the World. — pp. 1336-1337.
JOHN CHUPICK. The late John Chupick, of Ellinger, was for many years a factor in the agricultural life of Texas, in which state he resided from the time he was seven years of age, in 1856, until his death, December 5, 1905, As is indicated by the name, the family is of Bohemian origin, and John Chupick was born May 8, 1849, at Hostalkov, Moravia. His father was Thomas Chupick, a peasant, who brought little with him to the United States save his family, an honorable name, an eager ambition and an, indomitable determination. The family crossed the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, landing at Galveston and crossing Buffalo Bayou to Houston, from which city they went to old Ulm by ox-team, the only means of transit during that day. There the little party settled, bought some land and engaged in farming on the American plan. There the father passed his remaining years as an agriculturist, being buried at Wesley, Washington County, where he had finally removed during the declining years of his life. There were the following children in the family: John, of this notice; Jane, who became the wife of Rev. Adolph Chulumsky and some years ago returned to Moravia, but is now a resident of Svartcuch, Bohemia. The mother of these children prior to her marriage with Mr. Chupick had been united with Mr. Elsik, who died leaving her one son, Steve Elsik, who is now a resident of Cistern, Texas.
John Chupick acquired a fairly good education and among his teachers was the late Judge Teichmueller, of LaGrange. He was a farmer until grown and then moved to Brenham, Texas, and was connected with a mercantile business for a time. When he severed his connection with that concern he moved to Ellinger and purchased the farm which his widow and children now own. This was in 1884, when he had been married but a short time, and the purchase was made from Axel Meerschridt, of San Antonio, in company with his half-brother, Steve Elsik. Some eight years later he purchased the latter's interest and conducted the property actively and successfully until his death. The farm comprises 800 acres, and when he secured it it was largely covered with timber, but Mr. Chupick, with industry and energy, cleared all but about 250 acres, erected one of the best country homes to be found in Fayette County, and made other improvements of a modern and valuable character. He was a man who employed much labor in the clearing and cultivation of his farm, and among those who worked in his employ, as well as among his associates, he was always known as a man of the strictest integrity and business honor. He was a man of few words and lived rather excluively [sic.], save among his family, had little concern about political matters, save as they affected him in his capacity of a good and public-spirited citizen of. his community. He was something of a traveler, making a trip to Europe after he had attained years of maturity, and often going to various parts of Texas for both business and pleasure. He was a member of the Lutheran Church and his children were reared in that faith.
Mr. Chupick was married in Washington County, Texas, in 1876, to Miss Frances Sebesta, who was born March 19, 1859, daughter of Paul Sebesta, a farmer of Moravia, who came to the United States prior to the Civil war and settled at Wesley, Texas, where Mrs. Chupick was born. The following children were born to John and Frances Chupick: Mary, who is the wife of J. H. Novosad, of East Bernard, Texas; Frances, who married T. S. Hruska, of West, Texas; Alvina, who married Jo J. Settlemeyer, of Flatonia, this state; Annie, who married Emil J. Sulik, of LaGrange, Texas; John F.; Jo S., born December 19, 1892, and now manager of the Chupick estate and farm; and Rosa and Vlasta, twin sisters, who reside with their mother and brother on the home place.
John F. Chupick, son of John and Frances Chupick, was born March 26, 1889, and received his education in the Ellinger and La Grange schools. After completing his education he was connected for a few years with the Ellinger Mercantile Company, and when he disposed of his interests therein became one of the organizers of the First State Bank of Ellinger and was elected its cashier. He resigned from the bank August 1, 1915, and is engaged in general farming and the live stock business with his brother, J. S. Chupick. In their live stock business they raise thoroughbred Duroc Jersey hogs.
Mr. Chupick is one of the progressive, enterprising young business men of Ellinger, and is also one of his community's boosters and is found connected with every movement for the general welfare of his city and its people. Mr. Chupick is unmarried. — pp. 1589-1590.
THOMAS E. COCKRILL. The family of which the subject of this review is a prominent and popular representative is a numerous one in Fayette County, with whose history the name has been identified for more than half a century, and he whose name introduces this paragraph is a scion of the third generation of the family in Texas. Through devisement by the will of his uncle, the late Bush Cockrill, who died in 1914, at the age of seventy-five years, Thomas E. Cockrill inherited a substantial competency, and he is now the owner of a well improved farm near the Village of Cistern, Fayette County, and is successfully engaged in business as a trader and dealer in live stock, his modern and attractive residence property in the Village of Cistern being one of the best in this part of the county.
In the village that is now his place of abode Thomas Edward Cockrill was born on the llth of March, 1869, and here he acquired his early education in the public schools. He began his independent career as a day laborer and continued his activities along this line until about 1905. Then he began trading in cattle and branching out into broader fields of endeavor, in which his success vouches for his ability in the handling of business affairs of important order.
Edward H. Cockrill, father of Thomas E., was born near the City of St. Louis, Missouri, and, the youngest child, he was a lad of six years at the time of the family removal to Texasr his death having occurred at Jeddo, Bastrop County, this state, on the 26th of June, 1913. His father, Starks S. Cockrill, came with his family to this state about the year 1852 and first settled at Milton, Fayette County, the place later becoming known as Cockrill's Hill and finally the name of Cistern being applied to the village, which has since borne this title. Starks S. Cockrill was a farmer and also conducted a modest mercantile business for a number of years, his death having occurred when he was virtually in the prime of life. His wife died just before moving to Texas. Concerning their children the following data are available: Milton, familiarly known as "Chig," devoted the major portion of his active career to mercantile pursuits, at Flatonia and Cistern, and during the Civil war he served as a soldier of the Confederacy. He married Sallie Chunn and was survived by several children. . Arthur A., commonly known by the nickname of "Pod," made the trip from Missouri to California on horseback when a young man, and after remaining a few years in that state he made the return trip to Texas by the same means of locomotion, his vocation in Fayette County having been that of a teamster and stock-raiser. He married Riddie Bishop and upon his death was survived by one daughter. Newton was a successful stockman in Fayette County, was influential and useful as a citizen and was called upon to serve as county commissioner, besides which he was a loyal soldier of the Confederacy in the Civil war. He was.survived by a large family of children. Bluford, who likewise accumulated a nickname by which he was familiarly known, that of "Bush," was one of the extensive and successful representatives of the cattle industry in this section of Texas and in the early days drove many cattle overland to Kansas. He married Mattie Chunn and they were survived by no children. The only daughter married a Mr. Williams of whom she had one child. After the death of Mr. Williams, she married James Crozier and died in Gonzales County, leaving a large family of children. Edward H., father of the subject of this sketch, was the youngest of the children, as previously stated. By his first marriage Starks S. Cockrill became the father cf three children, William, Starks S. and Susie, and they passed their active lives as representatives of the live-stock industry in Fayette County, all having married and all having passed the closing years of their lives in the vicinity of Cistern, Starks S., Jr., having served as a Confederate soldier. The daughter, Susie, married Ezra Brown.
Edward H. Cockrill received in his youth very limited educational advantages but he became a man of broad information and mature judgment, his active life was devoted principally to agricultural pursuits and he was highly respected in both Fayette and Bastrop counties, in each of which he was well known. He married Miss Sarah Wier, who still resides at Jeddo, Bastrop County, and who celebrated her sixty-seventh birthday anniversary in 1915. She is a daughter of the late John Wier, who came to Texas from Mississippi and who established his residence in the southern part of Fayette County. In the following paragraph is given brief record concerning the children of Edward H. and Sarah (Wier) Cockrill:
Etta first wedded Wiley Obar, who was survived by two children, and she later became the wife of Thomas Terrell, to whom she bore four children, who survive her, her death having occurred in Fayette County. William, who is a resident of Hays County, where he is a prosperous farmer, married Della Robbins and they have no children. Thomas Edward, of this article, was the next in order of birth. James Oliver, who is a locomotive engineer, with residence in Denver, Colorado, married Della Lang. Margaret married Joseph Hallmark and died at Jeddo, Bastrop County, leaving three children. Lulu is the wife of Shook Galloway, of [Lockart], Caldwell County, and they have two children. Bluford, a farmer and operator of a cotton gin at Jeddo, married Rhoda Fike and they have three children. Lizzie is the wife of George Bartlett, of Jeddo, and they have two children. Ulysses Owen, the maiden name of whose wife was Nora Crenshaw, resides in Hays County; Arthur A., who is a progressive farmer of Fayette County, married Jennie Davis and they have two children.
Thomas E. Cockrill was reared in the faith of the democratic party and in his mature years he has not departed or swerved therefrom, though the only public office of which he has been the incumbent was that of deputy sheriff of his precinct, under the regime of Sheriff Loessin. He takes loyal interest in the civic and material welfare of his native county and as a citizen is liberal and progressive.
On the 28th of January, 1906, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Cockrill to Miss Cora Davis, a daughter of Tip and Sarah (Hodges) Davis, who became the parents of several children. Mr. and Mrs. Cockrill have no children, but in their pleasant home is being reared Roy Alexander, a son of one of Mrs. Cockrill's sisters, this boy having been given into their care but not having been formally adopted. — pp. 1457-1458.
N. M. Cockrill's 1882 Certificate of Election courtesy of Kathryn Cooper.
DIETRICH A. CORDES. In the year 1873 there came from Oldenburg, Germany, to the United States an ambitious young man of sterling character, well equipped for assimilation into the civic body of the land of his adoption and for the achieving of success through his own well directed efforts. This sturdy son of the German Fatherland was Dietrich Andreas Cordes, who made Texas his objective point and who has here found an inviting field for the exercise of his mental and physical powers in such a way as to achieve distinctive independence and prosperity, the while he has gained the good will and confidence of those with whom he has come in contact in the various relations of life and stands exponent of loyal and progressive citizenship. For nearly a quarter of a century he was a successful representative of the agricultural industry in the Lone Star State and he is now one of the leading business men of the village of Paige, Bastrop county, where he controls a prosperous and substantial enterprise as a dealer in lumber and other building material.
Mr. Cordes was born in the village of Bardenfleth, Oldenburg, Germany, on the 3d of January, 1849, and in the same locality was born his father, Andreas Cordes, who there followed the blacksmith trade for many years and who was a member of the one military regiment maintained in Oldenburg. His wife, whose maiden name was Eliza Holtz, was likewise born and reared in Oldenburg, where her father, Klaus Holtz, followed the trade of shoemaker, both families having long been identified .worthily with the industrial and civic affairs of that section of Germany. Upon coming to America, in 1873, Dietrich A. Cordes, subject of this review, prevailed upon his venerable parents and his only sister to accompany him, and thus the entire immediate family embarked on a vessel that sailed from the port of Bremen and bore them across the Atlantic. This vessel, the ''Frankfort," made its way to the city of New Orleans, where the little family disembarked but whence its members soon afterward continued their voyage across the Gulf of Mexico to Galveston, Texas. From that city they made their way to the fine German settlement at Schulenburg, in the eastern part of Fayette County, and at High Hill, that county, the parents passed the remainder of their lives, though they were not long permitted to enjoy the advantages and attractions of the new home, for they died within a week of each, other, in the closing month of the year 1878, so that their residence in the United States compassed a period of only five years. Andreas Cordes was sixty-two years of age when he came to America and thereafter lived retired from active business until his death, both he and his wife having been zealous communicants of the Lutheran Church and having exemplified their abiding Christian faith in their kindly and gracious lives. Of their two children the subject of this review is the elder, and Eliza is the wife of Albert Horstmann, of Buckholts, Milam County.
Dietrich A. Cordes duly availed himself of the advantages of the common schools of his native land and as a youth he there served a thorough apprenticeship to the trade of baker, in which he became a skilled workman. He also gained the usual quota of experience and discipline in the local military-organization, in 1869, and when, in the following year, the Franco-Prussian war was initiated he went to the front as a member of the Ninety-first Regiment, which became a part of the army commanded by Prince Friederich Karl. He took part in a vigorous battle on the 16th of August of that year and in several minor engagements in the district around the city of Metz. Thereafter was with his regiment in engagement at Ladon, in the battle of Bonarolando, on the 28th of November, 1870, and in the engagement at Orleans, besides having been a participant in the less important engagements at Mezeres and Lemanc, early in January, 1871, and in the battle of Congly, on the 18th of that month. Though he was thus in the thick of the fray in numerous spirited engagements it was his good fortune to go through all without wounds, and finally he proceeded with his command to the French frontier, his regiment having been stationed at Luneville for a period of six months, at the expiration of which he received his honorable discharge, after having made an admirable record as an efficient and loyal soldier.
After the close of this noteworthy military service Mr. Cordes continued in the work of his trade until he came with the other members of the family to the United States, as already noted. After the home had been established in Texas he became the virtual head of the family, as his father had already attained to venerable age, and he continued his operations as a farmer near Schulenburg, Fayette County, for seven years, at the expiration of which he removed to Lee County and purchased a farm about five miles east of Paige, where he continued his operations as a farmer for the ensuing sixteen years, within which he developed and improved one of the excellent farms of that county. In 1898 he sold this property in an advantageous way and then removed to the Village of Paige, Bastrop County, where he has since continued to be actively engaged in the retail lumber trade. He became associated with Christian Fishback in establishing the second lumber yard in the village, and the enterprise continued to be conducted under the firm name of D. A. Cordes & Company until the autumn of 1914, when Mr. Fishback sold his interest in the business to Richard C. Hertle, who is proving a valued and able coadjutor in the firm, the original title of which is still retained. Mr. Cordes has gained authoritative knowledge of all details of the business and gives to the enterprise his undivided time and attention, this being the only lumber yard in the village at the present time and its trade being of extensive and representative order.
In 1878 Mr. Cordes took out his final papers of naturalization and his name was duly entered on record as that of a full-fledged citizen of .the United States. He forthwith became affiliated with the republican party, and his first presidential vote was cast for James A. Garfield. Thereafter he voted for each successive presidential candidate of the party until the election of 1912, when he gave his support to the democratic candidate, Woodrow Wilson. He has never consented personally to appear as a candidate for public office of any description, but is liberal and progressive in his civic attitude and has done much to aid in the upbuilding of the Village of Paige, where he has erected a number of excellent business buildings, some of which were destroyed by fire in 1915, but promptly were replaced by even better structures. He is affiliated with the local lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and both he and his wife are members of the Lutheran Church, as communicants of which they are influential factors in the various activities of the church of this denomination in their home village.
On the 26th of November, 1874, in Fayette County, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Cordes to Miss Dorothea Grote. Mrs. Cordes was born in Lippe-Detmoldt, Germany, in 1849, and was a small child at the time of her parents' immigration to America. She was reared and educated in Fayette County, Texas, but had not yet attained to years of maturity at the time of the death of her parents, who had established their home in the vicinity of the Town of Industry. She is one of two surviving children and was the youngest in a family of four. Her brother Frederick, the firstborn, is in the Soldiers' Home in Indiana; Maria became the wife of August Mischer and was a resident of Fayette County at the time of her death; and in the same county occurred the death of Emalia, who was the wife of Herman Ahrens.
Mr. and Mrs. Cordes have a pleasant home in Paige and there delight to extend hospitality to their wide circle of friends. Mr. Cordes has never failed in appreciation of the advantages which have been afforded him in the state and nation of his adoption and is one of the loyal citizens who believes in the still greater precedence of Texas as one of the foremost of the commonwealths of the Union. — pp. 1741–1743.
FREDERICK G. CORDES. At the time of his death, on the 27th of February, 1916, Frederick G. Cordes was the oldest merchant at Warrenton, and a citizen of this locality since 1869. He was a native of Oldenburg, Germany, where he was born May 8, 1858, a son of Henry Cordes, a native of the same place, and a grandson of Gerhardt Cordes. Gerhardt Cordes was a farmer in Germany and came to the United States after his son, Henry, spending his final years in Texas, where he died at Rutersville, his last years being passed in retirement. He never became a citizen of the United States, and his wife died in the Fatherland. They were the parents of several children, a daughter and several sons remaining in Germany, while Henry and Bernhard came to America.
Heinrich, or Henry, Cordes was born November 26,1833, and acquired a fair education in his native land, where he was not called upon for military service. He married Anna Ott, who died in 1870, at the age of thirty-four years, and their children were: Frederick G., of this notice; Bernhard, who is engaged in farming near Warrenton; Eilert, who is also a farmer near this place; Helena, who married John Koepke, of Fayetteville; and Hermann, who was adopted by Doctor Shaw, of Nacogdoches, Texas, and renamed Horace Shaw. Henry Cordes was married a second time to Annie Mueller (now Miller), and they became the parents of two children: Henry, who is a farmer southeast of Warrenton, and one of the commissioners of Fayette County; and Antone, a farmer engaged in operations at Oldenburg, Fayette County. The family was induced to emigrate to America by the presence here of friends from the Fatherland, and sailed from the City of Bremen on the maiden voyage of the steamship Hanover, eventually landing without untoward incident at New Orleans. At that city they took the train to Brazier, Louisiana, and there took passage on a steamer to Galveston and went on to Houston by boat. From there they went by the Houston & Texas Central Railway to Brenham, the end of the line, from whence they made their way to Fayette County by ox-team.
In his native country Mr. Cordes, Sr., had been a farmer, raising rye, oats and potatoes, but in his new location he readily adapted himself to conditions and became a grower of cotton and corn, in which he made an excellent success. After a few years he bought a farm just south of Warrenton, and there the remaining years of his life were passed in agricultural pursuits. Although he had not acquired a mastery of the English language, his' business and executive ability made him a valuable official, and he served his community efficiently in the capacity of school trustee. When he became a citizen, he identified himself with the republican party on national matters, and always supported its policies and candidates. His religious affiliation was with the Lutheran Church; he died July 9, 1897.
The education of Frederick G. Cordes was acquired first in his native land and later in Fayette County, although he hardly could be said to have secured a common school training, for he went to school but three months in Texas during two years. He learned English readily, however, and at the age of twenty-one years began his business career as a clerk in the store of Asa Lenert, of Warrenton. During the ten years that he was associated with Mr. Lenert his wages were raised from $20 a month and board to $45 a month and board, so faithful and efficient were his services.
In 1880 Mr. Cordes opened his own business, general merchandise, in a small store, as F. G. Cordes. During his period of clerkship he had formed a wide acquaintance in Fayette County and his success was almost assured from the start. He gradually expanded his business as his patronage demanded and reached a prominence hitherto unexcelled by any other merchant of the village, continuing actively until failing health compelled him to dispose of his interests, when his stock was sold to G. Ahlrichs. For a time after this, Mr. Cordes merely purchased farm implements in a small way to occupy his mind, without having complete idleness forced upon him, but in September, 1910, he resumed business operations when he associated himself with his son-in-law, M. A. Tiemann, in the implement, harness, saddlery and furniture trade, with the active operation of the store under the latter's direction.
As a builder of Warrenton, Mr. Cordes held the record, nearly all of the important houses, both business and residence, having come into existence from his hand. His late home, the conspicuous residence of Warrenton, is the old Neese (Naze) stone house, which he really finished, and in addition to which he erected three store or business houses. He began buying land some years after he engaged in business for himself, and cultivated some 400 acres of his 750-acre tract in this locality, in addition to which he owned land in the Shaw League, where his homestead lies, in the Williamson League, in the Vanderworth League, in the Colton League and in the J. Phillips League. In addition he owned 100 acres in Runnells County, Texas, in the Jacob Schiwitz League; 100 acres in the George H. Paul Subdivision, "farm tract No. 14," Nueces County; 80 acres in section 64, of the same county, and 126 1/2 acres in the Willis Stanley League, in Austin County.
Mr. Cordes' large mercantile matters prevented his becoming immersed in politics, and as he believed that a man can do but one thing well at a time he refrained from being associated with active politics. He was a democrat and cast his first presidential vote for Gen. W. S. Hancock, in 1880, and never failed to vote for a president since. Mr. Cordes served a few times as a trustee of his school district; his religious affiliation was with the Lutheran Church.
On December 7, 1887, Mr. Cordes was married to Miss Lucy Lenert, a daughter of Ernst A. Lenert, who came to America from Hanover, Germany, previous to the Civil war and was a Confederate soldier of Texas. Mr. Lenert married Miss Sophie Werbach, who bore him a family of ten children: Mrs. Cordes, born April 8, 1868; Julia, who married Henry Oltmann; John; Fannie, the wife of Gus Ahlrichs; Robert, of Brenham; Annie; who married August Oltmann; Andrew, of New Braunfels, Texas; and Antoinette, who married Jesse E. Tiemann. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Cordes: Annie, who is the wife of Milton A. Tiemann, of Warrenton, and they have three children, Cordes Frederick, Annie Louise Carrie, and an infant, Gerhardine, who was born April 5, 1916; and Norma, who married Fred Hueske, Jr., and has four children—Emanuel, Gerhardt, Frederick Robert, and Edmond Carl.
Milton A. Tiemann belongs to one of the oldest German families of Fayette County, and was born at Warrenton, January 16, 1883, a son of Louis F. Tiemann, and a grandson of Conrad Tiemann. He was educated at Walhalla and at [Blinn] Memorial College, Brenham, and completed his schooling at Tyler Commercial College. He began teaching at the age of eighteen years and spent twelve years in the schoolroom in Fayette County, following which he associated himself with Mr. Cordes in the firm of Cordes & Tiemann, merchants at Warrenton. He is postmaster of the village and a notary public.
Mr. Cordes, while somewhat retired from active participation in business affairs at the time of his death, still took a keen and active interest in the welfare of the community in which he lived for so many years. His chief pleasure was found in visiting, as he said, with friends of his locality who remembered the olden time here, as well as with persons also who brought a new message to his ear. His life was a full and helpful one, and no citizen of his community was more deserving of the esteem and regard of his fellowmen. — pp. 1850-1852.
HENRY CORDES. Of the native sons of Fayette County who have passed their entire lives in this community and have assissted in the development of its varied interests, Henry Cordes, of the Warrenton community, is deserving of more than passing mention. He is the owner of a handsome far, developed under his direction, and while his private interests have been numerous and important, he has found time to devote to the material welfare of his locality, and since 1910 has served as commissioner for Precinct No. 2, of Fayette County.
Mr. Cordes was born April 6, 1872, and is a brother of Frederick G. Cordes, in whose sketch in another part of this work will he found a history of this old and prominent Texas family. His childhood was passed on the old Cordes home of his father, about two miles south of Warrenton, and his education was secured in the old Speckels public schoolhouse during the winter terms, the summer mouths being passed in the work of the home farm, on which he remained until he attained his majority. At the age of twenty-one years Mr. Cordes left the parental roof and embarked in business on his own account as a driller of wells for water in Fayette and Colorado counties, an enterprise which had been a prominent part of his business until his election to the commissionership. His record of getting water for the people of these counties covers a period of eighteen years when he was following the work up closely, and during that time he drilled approximately 150 wells. In all this experience he found but one spot, on Cummings Creek, that indicated an ore deposit, but not having followed this up it is only an opinion. The petroleum indications have been noticed, but the only other substance found of geological or zoological interest was a human bone at a depth of seventy feet, being, as it appeared, the forearm of a person. This yielded to the power of the sun after some exposure and crumbled.
Mr. Cordes' farm is in the Benjamin Greenville League, and comprises 376 acres, together with a small tract in the Colton League. Of his holdings, sixty-five acres are in cultivation and the balance is devoted to cattle, he having bred up the Durham stock. His reputation in business circles is an excellent one, and his entire career has been one characterized by the strictest integrity and fidelity to engagements. Mr. Cordes began his political life as a democrat, casting his first vote for Mr. Bryan in 1896 and supporting him in all his subsequent political campaigns, and in 1912 was a Wilson supporter in the presidential primary. He has served in county conventions as a delegate and his first office elected to was commissioner in 1910, succeeding Kossuth Zapp, of Walhalla. He was a candidate against two competitors for the nomination and defeated Mr. Zapp, who ran as a republican and who had held the office for ten years previously. Mr. Cordes served first on the board with Frank Lidiah, J. H. Allen and J. J. Fietsam. The present board, organized in November, 1914, consists of Mr. Cordes, William Johnson, H. Williams and J. H. Allen. The work going on since Mr. Cordes became a commissioner has been the building by him of a steel bridge over Bear Creek, and the grading and graveling of roads in his precinct, he having graveled and made good, with his limited funds, roads over some four or five miles. Also, in his precinct, six steel bridges have been erected and much bridge work has been going on in the other precincts of the county as well. In fraternal work Mr. Cordes is a Woodman of the World and a Hermann Son at Warrenton. He is a Lutheran in his religious belief and was confirmed at Warrenton by the Reverend Hermes.
On December 28, 1894, Mr. Cordes was united in marriage with Miss Annie Moellenberg, whose father passed away in Oldenburg, Germany. Mrs. Moellenberg brought her family to America in 1890, settling near Warrenton, Texas, where she engaged in agricultural pursuits. In her family there were the following children: Minnie, who is the wife of H. Hackebeil; William; Mrs. Cordes; Helena; and Gerhard. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Cordes: Alfred, Harry, Leonora, Nellie, Lorenz, Weldon and Henry. — pp. 2522-2523
EDWARD GODDARD COWDIN. It has been in the building up and extending of the Cowdin Grocery Company of Flatonia and its affiliated interests that Mr. Cowdin has expended the best efforts of his years and through which his success as a business man would be best measured. It is all a worthy achievement, and it is not surprising that it represents many years of consecutive endeavor.
Edwin Goddard Cowdin, who has lived at Flatonia since 1878, came to the state from the vicinity of Liberty, Mississippi, where he was born October 25, 1857. That part of his life when he gained his schooling fell in reconstruction days, and for the most part he attended private schools. His first regular enlistment in the army of self-support came at the age of eleven, when he entered the printing shop of the Southern Herald at Liberty, and spent about four years in learning and working at the printer's craft. There followed other employment as bookkeeper with a local store and work in various parts of the state.
It was in company with his mother and family that he came to Flatonia in 1878. His very first work here was as compositor on the Flatonia Argus, after which he did common labor and then began buying hides and wool. As a day laborer he was employed on almost all the brick buildings still standing as the old landmarks of the village. For a few years he was a farm renter near Flatonia, and while he pursued success earnestly he was far from being satisfied.
Finally the New Orleans wholesale grocery house of Zuberbier & Behan sent him on the road as their traveling representative in South Texas. He covered the territory well and built up a good trade during the thirteen years he sold goods for this house. In the same capacity and over the same country he next represented Wallis, Landes & Company of Galveston. When they first established a branch house in Flatonia in 1900 Mr. Cowdin was made manager, and some years later he bought the business and organized the Cowdin Grocery Company, of which he has since been president and manager. This is a wholesale grocery and coffee roasting concern, one of the chief business houses of Flatonia, and with a large connection with the retail trade in that section of the state. In 1914 a branch was established at Giddings, and five men are now employed on the road. Thus as a result of steadily pursued ambition, Mr. Cowdin has pulled himself from the position of day laborer to the head of a business employing a number of men and large assets of capital.
A few years ago he erected the present home of the company, a one-story brick store 50 by 125 feet. In an effort to stimulate local growing of cabbages he established a kraut factory in Flatonia, and this plant has the reputation of making the best kraut in the country, and the output is distributed through the Cowdin Grocery Company. The raw material consumed in this plant is the chief product of the experimental farm which Mr. Cowdin owns near Flatonia. He undertook its operation largely for the purpose of demonstrating to local farmers what amount of produce an acre of ground would yield under intensive cultivation. In one case he sold $54 worth of potatoes from one acre and $68 of cotton from the same ground in the same season. Both crops were growing at the same time. The potatoes were planted first, and in the water furrow he later planted the cotton. Another acre produced 20,000 pounds of cabbage, which was sold for $100, and when these were removed from the ground he planted cotton and secured a pick of half a bale the same year.
As to politics Mr. Cowdin does not even vote. He was reared in a home of Union sentiments so far as his father was concerned, although the family furnished five sons for the Confederacy. His father was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, and was married at Liberty, Mississippi, to Miss Virginia Poindexter. He died there but his wife died in Flatonia. Their children were: Thomas, who became a physician and died at Tangipahoa, Louisiana, leaving a family; Frank, who died at Liberty, Mississippi; Eugene, a Government specialist in agriculture at Bozier Parish, Louisiana, and the head of a family; Herbert, who married and died at Liberty, Mississippi; Louisa, who died unmarried; Carter, who died at Liberty; and Edwin G.
Mr. Cowdin was married at Moulton, Texas, in August, 1889, to Miss Bettie Thomasson, whose father was Buck Thomasson, a farmer and native of Fayette County, Texas. The three children of Mr. and Mrs. Cowdin are: Miss Lucile, who was educated in the Flatonia High School and graduated from the Denton School of Industrial Arts, now a teacher in the Flatonia schools; Miss Virginia, whose education came from,the same sources as her sister's and is also a teacher in the local schools; and Edwin, now five years of age. Mr. Cowdin is a lodge and chapter Mason, a past master of Flatonia lodge, is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and is a member of the Sons of Hermann. — pp. 1416-1417.
WILLIAM DIETRICH.While the well-directed labors of William Dietrich are a part of the past rather than the present history of Fayette County, he is still remembered by members of the older generation as a steady, reliable and industrious man of business, a citizen who while unobtrusive and unassuming was earnest and even zealous in his support of good men and measures, and a true and helpful friend in time of need. Mr. Dietrich, who passed away at Fayetteville, in January, 1891, at the age of sixty-four years, was an early settler of Fayette County, whence he came about the year 1855.
Born in Prussia, William Dietrich received only a fair education in his native land, and there as a youth served an apprenticeship to the saddler's trade. He sailed from Bremen, Germany, for Galveston, Texas, in a sailing vessel, crossing the waters alone, save perhaps for a few friends making the journey for settlement as he did. later, Mr. Dietrich was followed by a sister, Mrs. Amberg, who has posterity in Fayette County. Having friends in this locality who had come some years before, Mr. Dietrich took up his residence here and carried on his trade from the time of his arrival until the outbreak of the war between the North and the South, when he gave his services to the army of the Confederacy in the capacities which his knowledge of harnessmaking and saddlery allowed him to assume. When his military service was completed he returned to his trade, located at Fayetteville where he opened an establishment of his own, and continued to be engaged in saddle and harness making during the remaining years of his life. When he came to this country Mr. Dietrich had determined to make himself a part of American affairs in his community, and he accordingly proceeded to learn the English language. On taking out his citizenship papers, he allied himself with the dominant political party in Texas, and while he never held office, he always endeavored to perform in every way the duties of good citizenship. He mingled little with people and had but little to say, but was a kind and loving husband and father, and a man of large heart and generous spirit. From the time of his boyhood he belonged to the Lutheran Church, and while a resident of Texas assisted in the affairs of the congregation as church secretary.
In 1856, Mr. Dietrich was married in Fayette County to Miss Caroline Neumann, a daughter of Ferdinand Neumann, an Austrian settler of a date somewhat later than Mr. Dietrich. Mr. Neumann was a cabinet maker by trade, and for a number of years followed that vocation at Fayetteville, although his death occurred at Columbus, Texas. Mrs. Dietrich still survives and lives in Dallas, Texas. Her children were as follows : Ida, who is the widow of W. F. Zwiener, of Columbus, Texas; Lena, who is the wife of J. D. Meyer, of Dallas; Mrs. Isolda Zapp, who resides at Fayetteville; Emma, who died unmarried in young womanhood; and William F., a resident of Cleburne, Texas.
Isolda Dietrich was born at Fayetteville, Texas, January 9,1864, was here reared and educated, and married here, November 19, 1885, Hermann William H. Zapp, a son of Hugo Zapp, who impressed his personality forcibly upon Fayetteville and the County of Fayette during a long period of years as a merchant and prominent citizen. Hermann W. H. Zapp was born May 9, 1857, and passed his life as a merchant at Fayetteville, where he died December 20,1910. He was a man of affairs here and besides his store, he was an extensive land dealer and stockman, and for a quarter of a century was agent for the Lone Star Brewery at Fayetteville. Politically a democrat, he took some active interest in the affairs of his party, as well as in public matters, and served two terms in the capacity of postmaster.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Zapp were as follows: Edna, who died July 10, 1915; Robert, of Fayetteville, who married Matilda John; Arthur, of Fayetteville; Hugo, who married Glendora Otto, and lives at LaGrange, Texas; and Nola, Herbert, Lillie, Leona and Ervin, who live with their mother. Mr. and Mrs. Zapp manifested a liberal spirit and tendency in the education of their children, giving several of them the advantages of training at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. — pp. 1725-1726.
