Since we began these
newsletters last year, we have found that the new subjects we decide to discuss
are derived from further research into old subjects we wanted to know more
about. Since we took another look at the
stone fences here in BWR, we have been on the lookout for more stone fences in
Hays County. In the meantime, having found no books written exclusively about
stone fences built in Texas and fired up by reading Robert M. Thorson’s book Stone By Stone: The Magnificent History
in New England’s Stone Walls[1]
we were ready to see what else we could find.
In May after we’d had a
big rain, we took a ride north of Wimberley and while noting the high water
marks on the streams in that vicinity, we also noted several examples of old
stone fences. However these were not
“tossed” limestone fences, made of crudely placed fieldstones, but elegant
stone on stone dry-laid fences in the English or European style. The Wimberley
and San Marcos libraries
Figure 1 Double stone fences north of Wimberley
had no information online
and we later visited the library in
Dripping Springs to speak with their staff.
Tammy couldn’t find anything about the fences and who had built them while
we were there, but later she emailed some interesting information. I found Mike Cox’s article on Rock Fences on
TexasEscapes.com. Cox says “…the Hill
Country is noted for its numerous rock fences, stock pens and cemetery
enclosures.” He goes on to mention the
settlements of German immigrants and the availability of suitably shaped rocks.
Down the road on Bear
Creek near Driftwood in 1947 Roy Bedichek wrote his book Adventures of a Texas Naturalist and had the following to say about
the building of the old stone fences.
“Some idea of the cheapness of labor in that period may be gained by the
knowledge that it was profitable to enclose five-dollar-an-acre land in a fence
weighing not less than a ton per linear yard.
Besides, the stone was often hauled a mile or two and much of it
required chipping to make it serve. It
is true that there was a little offset in the cost of this enormous task, since
some of the land selected for fields had to be cleared of loose stone anyway.”
Figure 2 A chinked rock
fence on Mt. Gaynor road north of Wimberley.
According to the authors
of Clear Springs and Limestone Ledges, the
settlers of the communities of Mt. Gaynor and Gatlin were mainly English.
German-built stone fences
can be seen on Hunter Rd. as it leaves 1102 and veers off to the right before
reaching 306.
Figure
3 Fence on Hunter Road
Some of these fences on
Hunter Rd. extend for long distances.
This one turns the corner onto one of the ends of the High Low Loop Rd.
Described in the book
Built in Texas[2],
the fences were many times built by the owners including wives and
daughters. If hired men were contracted,
according to a Comal County letter of 1870, the cost was $.10 to $.12 a yard if
the farmer supplied the stones and rose to $.35 a yard for builder-supplied
stones. A substantial chinked fence began with a shallow trench in which the
largest, flat stones were laid. The next
largest stones were laid crosswise on top and this was repeated for three to
four feet. If the builders were
supplying the stones, they hauled them to the site with an ox-drawn sledge. And
if a higher fence was required, the builders had to stand on a wagon to place
the stones.
The faces of the chinked
fence were to be as smooth and high as possible to deter climbing animals, keep
the large stones balanced and in place and to create a long-lasting fence. To
this end, smaller stones were forced into spaces between the larger ones. That’s called chinking.
Another reference to the
cost of the fences was found on the internet in the Eckert Record,[3]
a family history self published by Estella Hartmann Orrison in 1957. According to the book, an 18 year old young
man arrived in Galveston from Hueffenhardt, Baden, Germany and learned the
stone fence building trade in order to pay off his uncle’s loan of $50.00
passage money. His day began at dawn and
ended at dark and he earned $.50 a day
This fence builder was named
Louis Grosz and I learned that Germans were definitely among the stone fence
builders in Texas. But as I read about
these hardy people, I found that they also came from a grape-growing region in
Germany and the founder of the Texas Eckert clan, Georg Bernhardt grew grapes
as his farm’s main crop.
 |
| Figure 4..
Georg Bernhardt Eckert
1793-1874
|
As
to whether the grapes were table grapes or a wine grape was evident when I read
about his eldest son, Karl Friedrich who also had a vineyard and operated a winery.
I won’t go over the
history of New Braunfels and how it originated as I’m sure it is a familiar
story to everyone. The Germans, many of
whom already had relatives in Texas were well informed about how things were
progressing here in the 1850s and many were anxious to leave the old country
and its political and industrial problems for new opportunities.
Karl Eckert, informed by a cousin named
Yonkers living in Fredericksburg, was one of those anxious to move his family
to Texas. However he could not persuade
his widowed father Georg Bernhardt, age 60, to join them. Georg, who had fought in his youth to save
Prussia from Russia, loved his country and apparently enjoyed living with his
eldest daughter, Katharina, and her family.
 |
| Figure 5..
Karl
and Eva Christina Eckert
|
In 1853, Karl, his wife,
Eva, and their 4 children were joined by Karl’s two brothers Georg Philipp and
Bernhardt for the journey to Texas. They
landed at Indianola and were met by cousin Yonkers. Their route roughly followed
US 87 north. Bernhardt became ill and Georg
stayed with him in Meyersville in DeWitt County. During their short stay in Meyersville, Georg
apparently also continued his courtship of ship passenger Margareda Vogler and
he
 |
| Figure 6.. |
married her with Bernhardt (perhaps) as his
best man. The three of them joined the
rest of the family in Fredericksburg soon after.
Two years later Georg and
his older brother, Karl, moved their families to a less settled area near
Beaver Creek N.W. of Fredericksburg and S.E. of Mason where the community of
Hilda is now. Time passed and by the
1870’s the original log house became a neighbor to a new home built of
sandstone. More land was acquired and
rock fences replaced rail fences and pens.
Figure 7-- Examples of Stone Fences in Mason Co.
Family members built rock[4]
fences to hold a couple thousand sheep and
hundreds of cattle. Half
of the sheep were kept near the house and the rest were tended on land over on
the Salt Branch Loop. The children mostly
took care of the shearing. Georg tended
his grapes, made wine, was a carpenter, built furniture and worked at his
blacksmith forge. In later years rockwork
building and maintenance was contracted out. 
Figure 8-- See how far this fence travels across the land
Karl Eckert was Louis
Grosz’s uncle and the generous provider of passage money for Louis and his 21
year old sister, Katharina. Karl had
written his nephew advising him what tools to bring with him as he and
Katharina were expected to find work and pay him back after they arrived in
1871. They worked hard, retired their
loans, married locally and lived in the area.
Once Louis had retired his
debt he left the backbreaking masonry business and turned his efforts to stone
cutting, farming, furniture building and black- smith jobs. In following years
when his sons were older, they did take on some fence building jobs farther
afield and camped out until the job was done.
The young men hauled the stone and Louis dry-laid them to add to the
family’s income.
Now one hundred and
sixty-six years later after this branch of the Eckert family arrived in Texas,
stone fences can still be observed in Mason County and grapes are still being
grown to make wine. Some of the grapes go to Fredericksburg wineries, but some
wine tastings are now being held in the Mason area as well.
Back again closer to home;
it’s so nice to see old artifacts being preserved as progress changes the land to
new uses. The following photos were taken
in the 1200 acre Rockwall Ranch subdivision on 1863 east of Bulverde and north
of Schertz. It was the Tschoepe Ranch originally and the entire perimeter has
remnants of a 100-year-old dry-laid rock wall.
 |
| Figure 10--Rock Wall Subdivision in Comal County |
The developers appear to
be doing a good job of saving not only the walls but the beautiful trees such
that their sites seem serene and appealing even though small. Not very far from Schertz and I-35; it’s a
beautiful little country oasis.[6]
-----Follow
Up-----
It now appears certain from the records at hand, that the Reuben Pierce family never lived on their land that eventually made up part of Bridlewood Ranches.
------Sightings------
David F. reports that they have found an old concrete water trough and the foundation of a windmill tower on their property. They plan to clear out around it this winter when the snakes are asleep.
 |
| Figure 11..Relic Concrete tub for cattle water |
The cicadas are loud again this year and this time we managed to catch a male singing his heart out for his mate. You can see and hear this on YouTube as we posted it there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDYlzplieOg
The phoebes always produce
at least two batches of birds each year and they stick around to amuse us all
year. Here is a photo of the phoebe with
lunch for the new birds.
 |
| Figure 12.. Phoebe with green worm |
R & D
Tusch
[1]
Mr. Thorson is a University of Connecticut geology professor. And his fascinating book begins with the Big
Bang, ancient continents, the formation of ice sheets and the rock materials
they left behind as they melted and receded.
[2]
Edited by Francis Edward Abernathy and published by the Texas Folklore Society
number XLII. Page 182.
[3] Many
thanks to Charles Eckert in Mason for permission to illustrate this article
using members of his family.
[4] We
were told in Mason that Northerners say stone fences and farms, Texans say rock
fences and ranches.
[5]
Formerly spelled Grosz
[6]
And no, we don’t own an interest in it.
