Kendall County, Texas: History
=== Before 1850 ===
Early Native American inhabitants included Kiowa, Comanche, and Lipan Apache.
In the 1700s, Lipan Apaches discovered Cascade Caverns.
1842
April 20 – Adelsverein organized in Germany to promote emigration to Texas.
June 7 – Fisher-Miller Land Grant set aside 3,000,000 acres (1.2×1010 m2) to settle 600 families and single men of German, Dutch, Swiss, Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian ancestry in Texas.
1844, June 26 – Henry Francis Fisher sold his interest in the land grant to Adelsverein.
1845
Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels secured title to 1,265 acres (5.12 km2) of the Veramendi grant, including the Comal Springs and River, for the Adelsverein.
February – Thousands of German immigrants were stranded at their port of disembarkation, Indianaola on Matagorda Bay. With no food or shelters, living in holes dug into the ground, an estimated 50% died from disease or starvation. The living began to walk to their destinations hundreds of miles away.
May – John O. Meusebach arrived in Galveston.
December 20 – Henry Francis Fisher and Burchard Miller sold their rights in the land grant to Adelsverein.
1847
Meusebach–Comanche Treaty
Sisterdale was established.
1849 Freethinkers Bettina colonists from Llano County settled Tusculum, named after Cicero's home in ancient Rome. The initial community banned any churches from being erected. The town was later renamed Boerne, for German-Jewish political writer Ludwig Börne, who influenced Karl Marx.
1850s George W. Kendall introduced sheep ranching to the county.
1854
John O. Meusebach received an appointment as commissioner from Governor Elisha M. Pease.
May 14–15, San Antonio – The Texas State Convention of Germans adopted a political, social, and religious platform, including: 1) Equal pay for equal work; 2) Direct election of the President of the United States; 3) Abolition of capital punishment; 4) "Slavery is an evil, the abolition of which is a requirement of democratic principles.."; 5) Free schools – including universities – supported by the state, without religious influence; and 6) Total separation of church and state.
Comfort is founded by German immigrant Freethinkers and abolitionists.
1860 Boerne Village Band was formed by Karl Dienger.
1861 Unionists from Kerr, Gillespie, and Kendall Counties participated in the formation of the Union League, a secret organization to support President Abraham Lincoln's policies.
1862
Kendall County was established from Kerr and Blanco Counties, named for journalist George Wilkins Kendall. Boerne was made the county seat.
The Union League formed companies to protect the frontier against Indians and their families against local Confederate forces. Conscientious objectors to the military draft were primarily among Tejanos and Germans.
May 30 – Confederate authorities imposed martial law on Central Texas.
August 10 – The Nueces massacre occurred in Kinney County. Jacob Kuechler served as a guide for 61 conscientious objectors attempting to flee to Mexico. Scottish-born Confederate irregular James Duff and his Duff’s Partisan Rangers pursued and overtook them at the Nueces River, 34 were killed, some executed after being taken prisoner. Jacob Kuechler survived the battle. The cruelty shocked the people of Gillespie County; 2,000 took to the hills to escape Duff's reign of terror.
Spring Creek Cemetery near Harper in Gillespie County has a singular grave with the names Sebird Henderson, Hiram Nelson, Gus Tegener, and Frank Scott. …