Tagged: Communities

Gruetzners Come to Texas

Prologue A man and his small family exit the carriage that has transported them from the train station to the Hamburg American shipping company’s pier in the port of Hamburg. As they huddle together against the cold wind coming off the Elbe River, they gaze at the steamship...

Serbin

How do you get to Serbin? Here are the directions Pastor Johann Kilian gave to Pastor Th. Brohm in 1870 for finding his way from New Orleans to Serbin: “When you come to Galveston go to J. Kauffman & Co. with whom I have dealt for many years....

Wendish Communities Fedor – Part I

The early names for the Fedor community were Bluff Creek, Moab, and West Yegua (YEHwah). Yegua is the Spanish name for mare and became the name for a creek. The name change to Fedor began when August Polnick, an early Wendish settler, decided to move to Thorndale, and...

The Wends at Thorndale and Noack

The Wendish road to Thorndale first led to Hochkirch, or Noack, as it is called today. The distance separating the two communities is about 9 miles. On September 21, 1871, 7 years before Thorndale even existed, Peter Zieschang purchased 440 acres of land on Brushy Creek in southern...

The Wendish Lutheran Church of Texas

The early Wendish Lutherans in Texas have left an interesting history of Lutheranism in North America. One can discern the classic factors which may effect the outward unity of a church, though in a microcosm, even among these faithful Lutherans. Religious identity, national identity, pastoral leadership, language, personality,...

History of Holy Cross, Warda, Texas – Daughter of Serbin, 1873-1905

The beginnings of Holy Cross lie in the dissensions within the Serbin congregation. After Ernst Leuber, teacher at St. Paul’s, Serbin, and his party left to organize St. Peter’s Church, it did not take long for Karl Teinert, one of the other dissenters, to air his grievances against Pastor Kilian. He used his influence to persuade a number of farmers near the Rabbs Creek section that their interests would be best served if they should separate from the two Serbin congregations and organize their own parish.

Daughters of Serbin, 1870-1905 – History of the Lutheran Churches at Fedor and Warda, Texas

During the late sixties of the past century a number of Wends and Germans settled about twenty miles north of Serbin along the Yegua creeks, particularly near the West Yegua. At first these settlers, especially the Wends, traveled the long distance to Serbin for their spiritual needs. As the number increased, it became evident that a separate congregation with its own pastor and school would be more practical. Gradually the sentiment became strong enough to make an attempt to obtain a minister who might teach and preach to the settlements scattered in the vicinity.