History

During the winter of 1838, the Cherokees in Tennessee began their forced march on the “Trail of Tears”. The march began in Red Clay, Tennessee, capital of the Cherokee Nation. Chief John Ross’s wife, Daniel Ross Coodey’s aunt, died on the trail. Daniel Ross Coodey, a leader in the Cherokee nation came to Bexar County, Texas and purchased the site of Cottage Hill.

Arriving in Texas in 1841, Joseph Dornstin was a pioneer who blazed the trail that would be followed by Silesian settlers in the decades that followed.

There are lines that when crossed result in irrevocable commitment. Soldiers instinctively know these lines where...

Since its founding in 1853 the Historical Post Office in present day La Vernia has had three official names: Post Oak, Lavernia and La...

James H. McMahon served the medical needs of residents in Wilson and East Bexar County.  His...

In 2005, the Texas Historical Commission designated the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Roman-Catholic Church Cemetery of...

The Historical Post Office in present day St. Hedwig has been located at several sites and has possessed two official names: Cottage Hill and...

Historians struggle with the fear that an error or omission will produce faulty conclusions. The contributions of Joseph N. Dornstin were attributed to another good man by an historian who claimed that Dornstin changes both his given and surnames.

Read about unusual life of Constable Arthur Casanovas of St. Hedwig, Texas who witnessed the killing of King Fisher and Ben Thompson.

Historians struggle to identify sources of information that have first hand knowledge. Eyewitnesses to historical events...

James M. Trainer was Justice of the Peace for precinct #4 of East Bexar County.  He served at a time when the rule outlaws...

Robert James (R. J.) Lennix was a pillar of the East Bexar Community of Mount Olive....

In 1854, slave owners from east Bexar County,...

In 1855, the Goodloes settled in Bexar County, Texas, purchasing 1500 acres of land in the...

Anton would say: ‘Trust God but get a receipt from the priest.” 

Colonel E. H. Cunningham had created a trail herd of 3,000 head of cattle on his...

...As Martin arrived at the middle of the bridge Scarborough assured him that he would have safe passage. The two then proceeded toward El Paso and the meeting with Beulah. As they reached the American side, two men, hidden in a patch of sunflowers, stood with guns in hand. Martin jerked his pistol and was hit by eight slugs. His last words were reported to be, “Boys, I think you’ve killed me.” Beulah and John Wesley Hardin were the only mourners present when Martin was buried in Concordia Cemetery in El Paso. A few months later John Wesley Hardin joined him in eternity a couple of graves away. Hardin, it is believed, was killed by the very lawmen with whom he had failed to divide Martin’s bankroll...

James Nipper was a pillar of the Mount Olive community of East Bexar County. He was...

“A son is a son till he takes him a wife, a daughter is a daughter...

On December 15th 1900, Blas “Bill” Tudyk was thirty-three years old, 5’11” tall, and weighed one hundred and sixty-five pounds. He had light brown...