The Junior Historian, Volume 20, Number 2, November 1959 Page: 2
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THE JUNIOR HISTORIAN
they also set aside a choice parcel of land
for their own final resting places.Although Fredericksburg was founded
on May 8, 1846, the county records were
burned in a courthouse fire and remain-
ing records begin in the year 1850. This
year also coincides with the year of the
terrible cholera epidemic which hit the
little settlement with terrifying results.
Besides the cabinetmakers, there were
others who rendered services, menial and
manual as well as spiritual, to the dead.
References to their work and records of
remuneration are found in the Probate
Records of Gillespie County. A few of
these records are listed below, and it is
interesting to note how costs rose as the
years passed.
1850-To 1 coffin $6.00. Washing and mend-
ing during sickness $5.00. Hauling to
burying ground $1. Burying and watch-
ing $2.45.
November, 1850-J. Schmidtzinsky for mak-
ing 3 coffins $12.50. For making 3 graves
$2.50. Hauling 3 corpses to grave yard
$2.50.
December, 1850-John Schmidtzinsky for cof-
fin $4.75. Ernest Jordan for hauling the
corpse 75. Kuenemann for digging grave
75.
1872-J. M. Loeffler for coffin $10.00. Protes-
tant church and graves $5.25. Peter
Schmidt for digging grave $1.75.
1879--Cash paid for services in preparing
body for burial, $2.50. Cash paid Staats
for coffin $4.35. Cash paid Schuler for
digging grave $2.50.
In May, 1896, Robert Penniger, edi-
tor of the Fredericksburger Wochenblatt,published Fest-A usgabe zum 50-jahrigen
Jubiliium der Griindung der Stadt Fried-
richsburg, or the Festival Edition on the
Fiftieth Jubilee of the Founding of the
City of Fredericksburg, which contains
much information of historical impor-
tance about the early days of Fredericks-
burg. Several of the articles were written
by persons who were among the first
settlers and could recall firsthand many
of the events which transpired in the first
fifty years.
In this jubilee edition, Julius Splitt-
gerber recalled that the winter of 1847-
1848 was one of great trial and tribula-
tion for the new community. Persons in
great numbers fell sick with "scurvy and
the accompanying sicknesses" because of
a lack of vegetables in the diet. He also
remembered that the settlers had no
medicine, and even if medicine had been
available, they had no money with which
to buy it. So many victims died that an
ox cart was in operation all day long
taking bodies to the city cemetery, and
Ludolf Meier was kept busy from sunrise
to sunset opening and closing graves.
In this same book, B. Blum wrote that
the two greatest problems of the early
years were finding adequate shelter and
combatting the illnesses and epidemics
which resulted from inadequate diet and
lack of sanitary facilities. He said that
the settlers' diet of corn bread and meat
caused epidemics of scurvy and dysen-
tery. Another shortage Blum speaks of
is that of finished lumber with which to
build coffins. He said the corpses were
"sewed into old pieces of clothing or
spreads (quilts or covers) and buried
without ceremony."
The hardest blow of all from which
the new colony of Fredericksburg suf-
fered was the cholera epidemic of 1850.
The heartaches which accompanied the
earlier scurvy and dysentery epidemics
were repeated, only in more severe na-
ture. One of the tragedies was the great
number of children who were orphaned.
When Fredericksburg observed the
centennial of its founding in 1846, a
granite marker was erected at the edge
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Texas State Historical Association. The Junior Historian, Volume 20, Number 2, November 1959, periodical, November 1959; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth391541/m1/4/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 9, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.