Klemcke Houses and Family Story, Von Ormy, TX

There are two historic homes on the William Klemcke property in what was known as Senior, TX although the property’s address is now shown as Von Ormy, TX.  Janie Cadena and her husband, Herman purchased the property from Ethel Klemcke, the widow of William S. Klemcke, Jr.   William’s mother, Amelia Smith Klemcke (widow of William S. Klemcke, Sr.) had deeded the property to their oldest son, William S. Klemcke, Jr.   Janie Klemcke Cadena is the 6^th child of William S. Klemcke, Sr. and Amelia Smith Klemcke.

It appears the property can be traced back to the original settler, Charles Frederick William Klemcke and his wife, Amelia (also known as Emilie). The Klemckes were colonists with the Castro Colony and arrived on the coast of Texas in 1846.  Early records show Mr. Klemcke as F.W. Klemcke.  Later records refer to him as W.F. Klemcke or William Klemcke.  William Klemcke died in 1860.  Emilie died in 1893.

Emilie and William had 2 children:

(1)   Mary Klemcke who married  (Andrew J.?) Avant, and

(2)   William Frederick Klemcke who married Martha Jane Williams. William Frederick “Fred” died in 1892 and Martha died in 1932.  They had 8 children.  The property transferred down through their son, William S. Klemcke, Sr., to the son, William S. Klemcke, Jr, then to William S. Klemcke, Jr’s, wife, Ethel Uhl Klemcke, then to Janie Klemcke Cadena and her husband, Herman Cadena.

Charles Frederick William Klemcke and his wife, Emilie came to this country with the Castro Colony.  Charles Frederick William Klemcke was born in Ohlen, Silesia which is now southwestern Poland. Emilie was born in Oranienburg, just north of Berlin, Germany. Frederick AKA William Klemcke was a candle and soap maker.  Many of the Castro colonists arrived by ship in Galveston and were then transferred to Indianola.  Although it is unknown if the Klemckes were first in Indianola, it is known that by December of 1846, they were in Galveston.

Colonists were required to bring tools of their trade in order to provide a means of existing financially for the first year.  The Klemckes brought along vats and soap making tools.

The Klemckes were originally given 640 acres west of Lytle as set forth in the Castro Colony Agreement. They never lived on this land. Initially, they chose to live in San Antonio. They later moved to Castroville for a period of time. By early 1849 the Klemckes were back in San Antonio and were operating a soap factory on San Pedro Creek    In July 1851, Frederick William Klemcke sold the soap works including the land, building, and the soap making utensils to Johann Nicolaus Menger (Bexar County Deed Records, Vol. K1, pages 58-59, Article 78, dated: July 12, 1851.  In 1873, Menger replaced the original structure with a limestone building. This became known as the Menger Soap Works.

After selling the soap factory, William Klemcke returned to Castroville to claim his land designated in the Castro Colony Agreement.  Frederick William Klemcke was now being known as William Klemcke.  He sold the 640 acres, officially designated as the William Klemcke Survey and settled his family in an area a few miles east of Old Somerset that later became known as Senior.

William Klemcke was required to build a house and to homestead for three years in order to obtain title to 136 acres of land under preemption provisions. The pre-emption certificate dated Dec. 27, 1860 from the State of Texas to W.S. Klemcke which was relinquished to the Heirs of W.S. Klemcke descendants, describes the acreage as being situated on the waters of Cottonwood Creek, a tributary of the Medina River about 18 miles 27 degrees from San Antonio.  It was known as Survey #332 in Section #5.  (Bexar County Deed Book, S2, p.76.)  William died in 1860 at the age of 44 prior to the finalization of the legal papers in Austin.

After William’s death, his widow, Emilie moved into San Antonio and operated another soap works on the San Pedro Creek some distance south of the original factory, in the vicinity of the present day Piedras Negras Restaurant.

There are two historic houses on the property owned by Janie Klemcke and Herman Cadena.

1)      Older house (exact date unknown) – probably built before 1870 or 1880

Has square metal nails and hand hewn beams.  The Cadena’s have restored this house.  In one area where the plaster had fallen off the original construction of large rocks with small rocks could been seen.  There was no mortar.  The Cadena’s left a portion of this open so that the original construction would be visible. This house was used by Janie’s mother to house her baby chicks and was also where she made her wine.

2)      Residence occupied by Janie and Herman Cadena – constructed in 1890.  The date was established when Janie’s father, William S. Klemcke, Sr. who was born in 1887 told her that he was about 3 years of age at the time the house was built by his father, William F. Klemcke (died Sept. 22, 1892)

The house is unique in that it has a full basement or cellar under the house with the exception of the kitchen and the first bathroom that were added later.  The outside walls of the house are stones covered with stucco.  These walls extend down into the ground into bedrock.  They are 18” thick and are made with big rocks and small rocks.  An architect told the Cadena’s this is the German Schmier technique.  The original cellar floor was dirt.  One of the wood beams in the cellar has an inscription “From F.J. Beitel”.  The family subsequently learned this stands for the F.J. Beitel Lumber Company from which the beams were obviously purchased.

Inside the house is a big hallway with a large room off to the left and a large room off to the right.  The room to the left was probably a living room.  It opens into the kitchen.  The room to the right would have been a bedroom. The ceilings are high and at about 10 feet, there is a picture railing.  Two feet above the picture railing is the ceiling molding.  The coffered ceiling is divided into squares with 4” molding and each square has a square inside made up by 1” molding. The baseboards are 8 inches wide and are of dark wood.  The facings around the windows and doors are also of dark wood.

Family members have reported that the children lived in the new house and the parents stayed in the older house. There may have been a bed in the living room and in the summer many of the family members may have slept on the porches that were added later.  The Klemcke sisters attended Ursuline Academy in San Antonio as boarding students and did not always need sleeping quarters in the house.

Through the years, additions were made.  A kitchen and an indoor bathroom and front and back porches were added. Columns were added to the front porch.

This house has been restored and modified by the Cadena’s. They added an addition to the southern part of the house that includes two extra rooms and another bathroom. They also added a concrete floor and electricity in the basement. 

The area in which the Klemcke’s settled developed into a town called Senior.  The name “Senior” was used because the Mexican people referred to William Klemcke as “El Senor”.  The town had a post office, a general store, a school, a cotton gin, a Catholic Church, and a church referred to as “Rambie Grove.” The Rambie Grove cemetery is next to to church and is the Klemcke family cemetery. The little Catholic Church was built by Janie Cadena’s Uncle George Klemcke. At one point mail was delivered to the Klemcke home by two different postal carriers.  Janie has an old photo taken of the family standing in front of the home in which there are two separate mailboxes visible.

Prepared by:

Pat Ezell with the assistance of Janie Klemcke Cadena

April 28, 2006

Sources:

(1)   Janie Klemcke Cadena, 4/28/2006

(2)   Supplemental notes from the article written by Fount Rambie, “San Antonio’s First Soap Maker”, published in Our Heritage, volume 35 #2, Winter 1993-1994, pub. by the San Antonio Genealogical and Historical Society

(3)   Bexar County, Texas Deed Books

(4)   Social Security Death Index