Tewes, Edward and Texanna, House

The ca. 1870 Edward and Texanna Tewes House is named for its original builder and inhabitants. The house achieves significance through its associations with building and settlement patterns of 19th-century German immigrants and for its association with Edward Tewes, whose efforts in the areas of settlement, commerce, education, and government service all had a great impact on the settlement and founding of the German community of New Berlin. The period of significance dates from the approximate construction date of the house to 1894, when the family moved to a new primary residence in San Antonio. The house meets Criterion B in the area of Exploration/Settlement at the local level of significance for its association with Edward Tewes, who played a significant role in the establishment of New Berlin.

The history of Edward Tewes' family and the establishment of New Berlin fits into the context of settlement and socialization patterns of German immigrants who came to Texas and established communities, primarily keeping to themselves and trading with other German settlers. The immigrants left Germany primarily to escape economic privation and political persecution yet encountered on their arrival in Texas many of the same problems cloaked in new forms. Starvation and disease, a devastating cholera epidemic, the ever-present threat of Comanche Indian raids, the hostility of their slave-holding neighbors, and, not the least, the loneliness of the rock-hard region they had settled all affected these settlers' lives.'

Most of the German immigrants who settled in central Texas probably experienced the exact same immigration pattern as the Tewes family. The family arrived in Texas, debarked at Indianola, and rode in a wagon to New Braunfels to live with German family or friends for a period of time before establishing places of their own.

Carl August Edward "Ed" Tewes was born in Furstenberg, Waldeck, Province of Hessen, Germany, on March 16, 1842. He immigrated to Texas at the age of twelve with his mother Christiana Emden Tewes, age 44; his brother Louis, age 8; and half-sisters, Auguste, age 18; and Marie, age 16. They came to America on the U.S.S. Minerva, which landed at Fort New Orleans, Louisiana on June 26, 1854.

The family took a ship to Galveston and then a smaller boat to Indianola, Texas. They then went by stagecoach to New Braunfels to join their father and older brother. Ed's father, Louis Johann Christian Ludwig Tewes, had previously immigrated to Texas with his eldest son, William, on the ship Colchi in 1846. They lived in Texas for eight years prior to the arrival of the rest of the family.

Within a year (1854), Ed's mother died, probably of the dysentery epidemic of that time, and was buried at Yorktown. A year later (1855), Commanches ambushed Ed and his father between Cibolo Creek and San Antonio. Ed hid in a mesquite thicket and saved himself, but his father was scalped. Ed took his father's body to Lindeneau in a wagon (a 3-day journey) and buried him. Now orphaned, Ed went to live with his half-sister Auguste, who by then married. His other half-sister, Mattie, took Ed's brother Louis."

Ed Tewes served in the Civil War for three years as a Confederate soldier as a member of Company One of the Third Texas Volunteers. He joined the regiment in San Antonio at the headquarters where the Gunter Hotel now stands. After the war, he returned to Texas and established the first store in New Berlin in 1867. As one of the original settlers, Tewes was instrumental in founding the town of New Berlin in 1868. The small community served as a shipping point for cotton, cotton seed, corn, and oats. In 1878, the town acquired a post office and Tewes became the first postmaster. He was appointed Postmaster of New Berlin on 1 April 1878 and held this position for 26 consecutive years.' By the mid-1880s, New Berlin had seventy residents, two steam grist mills, a cotton gin, the Tewes general store, and the Tewes stables. New Berlin is best viewed as an outcropping of German people who first settled in New Braunfels. Well into the 1940s, the town consisted almost exclusively of Germans and still prides itself on its relationship to its namesake in Germany.
Tewes' store was so small it was called the Speckbox. Later, a larger store and dance hall were built." Tewes' wealth and influence in the New Berlin area can be clearly traced through records of his transactions at the Guadalupe County Courthouse, Seguin, TX.

The first recorded deed involving Edward Tewes was recorded in August of 1867 when he was granted a mortgage by J.J. Dunn for horses and mules for his stables. "

In 1870 he purchased 137 acres on the Cibolo Creek, the land on which the house is built, from Rudolph Hellman." Tewes brought his bride Texanna Wooten Newton Tewes to the home after their marriage in 1876, placing the construction of the house between 1870 and 1876." Harry Stanz, great-grandson of Edward Tewes, relates that he had been told by his grandfather, Walter Edward "Ed" Tewes, who was born in and later inherited the house, that the house was built by gathering rocks from the Cibolo Creek. The stones were piled and a mud mortar was mixed to build the walls of the house." Four children were born in the house: Annie in 1877, Walter Edward in 1878, Mary Auguste in 1879, and Robert Emden in 1880." Annie, the first child born in the house, died in infancy.16 After the births of the children, in about 1880, Tewes added three rooms to the northwest corner of the house, giving it its current L-shape configuration.

Over the course of the next 15 years, Tewes amassed 1,356 acres, essentially the entire town of New Berlin." He established three general stores: one in New Berlin, one in LaVernia, and one in Karnes City.18 In the Beginning: A History of Marion, indicates that after 1883 Tewes also had a store in Marion." The brick stores in Marion and La Vernia, built in the 1900s, still stand and are currently used by businesses.

In 1891 he and several others petitioned the county to organize a school community in New Berlin. The petition was granted, establishing New Berlin School Community #53, with the new school built on land donated by Tewes. Tewes served as a trustee until 1894.

In 1894, Ed and Texanna Tewes moved with their children to 133 Crofton Ave in San Antonio's King William District so that the children could attend high school in town." They kept the house in New Berlin. From 1894 until Tewes' death in 1936, Emil Brietzkie, an employee of Ed Tewes, lived in the house and ran the store at New Berlin." The Teweses retained the room in the rear of the house for Mr. Tewes when he came to New Berlin to check the store."

Ed Tewes died in December of 1936, leaving the "country home" in New Berlin to his son, Walter Edward "Ed" Tewes. Walter "Ed" had been born in what is now the kitchen of the house in 1878. He and his wife, Elsie Clara Wagner Tewes, owned and occupied the house for the remainder of their lives. Ed died, leaving the house to Elsie. When she died in 1976 the house was sold.

The house was then purchased by the Kunde family of New Berlin and occupied by the Meadows family, Mrs. Meadows being a Kunde daughter. They ran additional electricity in rooms in the house and lowered the kitchen ceiling. They lived in the house from 1977 to 1979 when it was sold to Roy Vizza."

Roy Vizza owned and occupied the house with his son Donovan from 1979 to 1987. His efforts on the property were focused mainly on the grounds. He tore down the old garage and several chicken houses. Luckily, he did not throw anything away, and the original shutters, which he found in the garage, were stored in the attic. Very few repairs on them were necessary, and they were returned to service in their original location by following the Roman numerals carved on each shutter. Vizza also saved the original French doors which hung in the main entrance of the dogtrot. Vizza placed carpeting in the dogtrot and screened porch areas and replaced the porch's screens with glass. He did not change the configuration of the original window openings.

Michael and Kathleen Hale, the current residents, purchased the house from Roy Vizza in July of 1987 and have restored the house following guidelines for historic restoration, as described in Section 7.