On the outside walls of Josephine’s Victorian-style home there were fierce bronze dragons, carved animals, and hideous gargoyles resembling those on the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. The passerby saw a beautiful and imposing three-story dwelling with four turrets on the roofline topped by hand crafted imported tiles. On the inside, many of the rooms featured Josephine’s original artwork of delightful angels. Much like Italian artist Michelangelo did for the Sistine Chapel

Over the hill to the poor-house--my chil'rn dear, good-bye! Many a night I've watched you when only God was nigh; And God 'll judge between us; but I will al'ays pray, That you shall never suffer the half I do to-day. This is part of a poem written by Will Carleton in 1872. It captures the dread that many people felt in the late 19th Century when their finances were depleted, and friends and family could not come to their aid. When all else failed, they were con

What was painted cow patty green with buzzard blood red tips, and dotted the plains of West Texas? This vivid description was given to the revolutionary 14-foot wood-wheeled Eclipse windmills that brought life-giving water to the pioneers of the ranching industry. But the story of the windmills started in the far northern reaches of Wisconsin. Madeline Island, the largest of the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior, was located off the coast of Bayfield. 17th Century Jesuit pr

Do you remember sweet Pecos cantaloupes? For more than a century, the west Texas town of Pecos by that name harvested and shipped the sweet melons nationwide. Blue Bell ice cream even had a flavor called “Cantaloupe ‘n Cream"! Like peaches were associated with Fredericksburg and spinach with Crystal City, cantaloupe was linked with Pecos. It is rumored that key political figures like Lyndon Johnson and Dwight Eisenhower regularly ordered these luscious melons. But that was th

For almost 300 years, the acequia that serves Mission Espada in San Antonio has continued working as designed. It is truly a marvel of human engineering. The word acequia is derived from the ancient Arabic term al-sāqiyah, which means water conduit. The acequias were gravity flow ditches used by the ancient Moors of North Africa to irrigate fields and bring water to settlements. In the early17th Century, the Spanish padres brought this technology into the New World and guide

When William Meier died in 1911, he had lived a full life. Born in Germany (Prussia) in 1840, he arrived at a time when his family was facing economic hardship amid a developing revolution against the dominant wealthy nobility. In 1854, his parents made the difficult decision to immigrate to America, settling in Illinois. William helped with the farming duties and excelled in education. Sensing a call into ministry, he enrolled in a seminary founded by the German Evangelical

Texas History is rife with legends that capture the imagination. The adventures of Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, Mirabeau B. Lamar, Stephen F. Austin, and so many other Texan luminaries have filled volumes with tales of titillating romance, courageous warfare, and political intrigue. But there were recondite heroes who integrated their love for God with ingenuity to make Texas a better place to live. One of those lesser lights was James H. French. Born in Virginia in 1835 to

What did Rudolph Kleberg, William Henry Crain, and George W. Saunders have in common? These three notable Texans made a positive impact on the growth and future of the Lone Star State. What they shared in youth guided them for the rest of their lives. Born in a log cabin in 1847, Rudolph Kleberg was a popular attorney, newspaperman, and politician who was selected to serve as the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas. Later he was elected to serve in the US Congres

If you lived in Galveston in 1839, there is a high probability that you saw a noted city alderman riding his pet bull downtown. Gail Borden, Jr. was known as an eccentric inventor and inspiring lover of Texas. Born in 1801 in New York, Borden eventually made it to Galveston after starting a newspaper in San Felipe, and helping to lay out the building sites of Houston along the banks of Buffalo Bayou. In 1857, Borden founded a corporation that eventually became the world’s l

When the pioneers came to Texas in the early 1800s, they found some well-worn trails to follow. Often called traces, these pathways were possibly established by migrating Native Americans or wild animals in search of food and water. The most famous trail was the King’s Highway, also known as the Old San Antonio Road or El Camino Real. It was a diversified trail with several intersecting roads stretching from Maverick County at the Rio Grande, through Bexar and Bastrop County