Bishop's First Families - Thiele and Bertram

May 14 - 16, 2010

[The following is from the Bishop News of 1960 in a series written by Mrs. Gail Tubbs for Bishop's

then upcoming Golden Jubilee celebration.]

~~H. A. Thiele Family~~

The trek from Austin to Bishop began for the H. A. Theile family in November, 1911, after Thiele

had come back from an excursion to the new section and purchased a 160-acre farm about five

and a half miles east of Bishop.

Mr. and Mrs. Thiele, their sons, Henry, Louis and Ben, and daughters Malinda (Mrs. Sam Gentry

of Fort Worth) and Frieda (Mrs. George Theiss), made the trip wagon train style in one wagon

and two buggies. Camp was made at night, beside the road, in the wide open spaces or an

occasional wagon yard. Meals were cooked on the open fire.

"Traveling conditions were fair until San Antonio was reached. The family made their first night's

lodging there in a wagon yard which was on a vast expanse of mud and slush. The women and

children had to be carried from the wagon into the shelters, and the night was spent on beds

made of baled hay," wrote members of the family.

Next day to lighten the load the children walked along the railroad tracks running parallel to the

road.They were on constant alert for rattlesnakes and coyotes. When they reached Poth, even

the gravel roads ended, and there were dirt toads ahead for the rest of the trip.

Things went well until they reached

the Nueces River. "The wagon and

buggies were driven onto a ferry to

cross the river. As the last buggy

rolled on, a skittish horse became

frightened and backed off the edge

of the ferry into the river. The men

cut the harness quickly and the

horse reached the other side, none

the worse except for a dunking."

When they reached Robstown it

was found that there was no direct

route to Bishop. "The trip was made

by way of Petronila via Old

Brownsville road, which paralleled

the farm which became our home after nine days of traveling."

"Living was very primitive," the Thiele's continued. "Wagon beds were removed and placed on the

ground for beds. Running gears were used to haul lumber from Bishop. The first building put up

was a 10 by 12 shed to use as cooking quarters. The wagon beds continued as sleeping quarters

until a barn and then a house were built. We were plagued by rattlesnakes, coyotes and an

occasional pack of wolves," they said.

"The going was rough those first years. Cattle were herded on the open ranges and the greater

part of the food was produced on the farm, hogs butchered and cured, vegetables canned and

stored. Then came the hurricanes that destroyed crops, and a searing drought. The cattle were

kept alive by the rice straw and peanut hay that was shipped in.

"Through all this the Thiele's lived--or rather existed. Due to crop failures because of hurricanes

and droughts the 160-acre farm was sold, but the family continued to rent and live on the place.

They bought an adjoining 80 acres, and after a few years and several good crops they bought

back the original farm and sold the 80-acre place. By this time they had numerous neighbors and

the community was growing.

* * *

~~Henry Bertram Family~~

It was person-to-person advertising that brought Henry Bertram to Bishop in 1911. He received a

letter praising the fast growing town from his wife's cousin, Bruno Bettge, who had settled here

the previous year. In September, 1911, Bertram and his father-in-law came from Staples to look

over the Bishop land.

Bertram liked what he saw and contracted for a 160 acre farm seven miles northeast of Bishop.

He sold his farm in Staples for $100 an acre and paid only $50 an acre for the better Bishop land.

The family arrived in Bishop Dec. 8, 1911. Elnora (Mrs. R. W. Henke) and Edwin had no chance

to attend school the remainder of the year. Their little sister, Erma (Mrs. John G. Michalk), was

not old enough to go to school.

The family liked Bishop, but it took some time to get accustomed to the wind. On Sunday they

drove their horse and buggy seven miles cross country, except where a few farms were fenced, to

attend church upstairs over the present Moerbe & Michalk Grocery.

"The first year Mrs. Bertram helped with the planting," their

grandson, Leon Bertram, writes. "Bertram opened the

furrows with the plow and she did the planting. The three

children stayed at the house alone, and Elnora, then 10, did

the cooking.

"Steam plows had first plowed the land and the farm

Mexicans gathered the roots to use for firewood. When a

plow went through a prickly pear patch, pack rats would run

in all directions. There might have been as many as 100 rats

in one nest. In a prickly pear rat colony during the fall there

might be 100 pounds of cotton collected by the rats.

"They made a good crop that first year and were able to

build two additional rooms to their four-room farm house.

They hauled their water from an artesian well on a

neighboring farm with a two-wheeled cart pulled by a mule,

until 1913, when they drilled a well on their own farm.

"In September Elnora, Edwin and Erma started the school

year in Bishop schools, driving the seven miles in an open

buggy. Later a small school was built nearer their home. A two-

room brick school, the East Ward School, was built at the same location.

"When the two younger children, Annie and Alvin, were born their father had to drive to town to

get the doctor. The doctor did not have a horse and buggy of his own. When Annie was baptized

the family came to town in two buggies. On the way home the older children and their Aunt Annie

were in one buggy and the horse ran away. It took all four of them pulling on the reins to stop him.

"The year 1916 was a dry year," Leon Bertram continues. "Enough moisture was received to plant

during the first week in July. It was beginning to square when the 1916 hurricane hit on Aug. 18.

Salt spray from the Gulf totally killed the cotton plants.

"The Bertrams lost their water tank, the wheel off the windmill and a tin roof from the barn. About

6 o'clock at the height of the storm as the family was watching the tin coming off the barn roof, a

family of neighbors crawled out of the mud, wind and rain, and ran onto the porch. They had

crawled against the wind about a half mile after losing most of their house." There wasn't much

rain accompanying the storm.

"The 1919 storm, however, brought much rain. Mrs. Bertram's father was visiting here at the time,

and while not so worried about the high wind, he was greatly concerned that the Gulf would come

up and carry them all out to sea. A terrific amount of water accumulated from the rain and in the

low places the water was almost chest deep.

"In 1926 the Bertrams sold their farm and moved to a new 378-acre farm nine miles west of

Bishop.

"Bertram was active in community affairs," his grandson writes. "He was elected to the Bishop

Independent School District board of trustees in 1913 and was serving on the board when the

three-story brick school building was built in 1914. He was a charter member of the St. John

Lutheran Church and served as this congregation's first president. He also served as president

and secretary of the fraternal organization, the Sons of Herman, during its early years.

"Bertram died in November, 1927, and is interred in the Zorn Cemetery north of Seguin. His

widow lives today in New Braunfels."

Bishop, Nueces County, Texas 1910 - 2010 One Hundred Years of South Texas Heritage!

Swimming Pool and Bath House at City Park

Pictured are Janna Thornberry, Leon

Bertram and Holly Thornberry, third

and fifth generation Bertram Pioneer

Family descendants.