Anna Schneider|b. 20 MAY 1825\nd. 16 DEC 1878|p358.htm#i3574|John Schneider||p358.htm#i3573|Rosina Kainer||p358.htm#i3572|||||||Karl Kainer||p358.htm#i3571||||
Magdalena Bednarz|b. 22 JAN 1844\nd. 2 MAR 1897|p358.htm#i3575|Anton de Padua Bednarz|b. 13 JUN 1818\nd. 18 OCT 1901|p357.htm#i3570|Anna Schneider|b. 20 MAY 1825\nd. 16 DEC 1878|p358.htm#i3574|John B. Bednarz||p319.htm#i3184|Rosinna Glatz||p357.htm#i3568|John Schneider||p358.htm#i3573|Rosina Kainer||p358.htm#i3572|
Ferdinand Bednarz|b. 8 NOV 1845\nd. 4 JUL 1931|p358.htm#i3576|Anton de Padua Bednarz|b. 13 JUN 1818\nd. 18 OCT 1901|p357.htm#i3570|Anna Schneider|b. 20 MAY 1825\nd. 16 DEC 1878|p358.htm#i3574|John B. Bednarz||p319.htm#i3184|Rosinna Glatz||p357.htm#i3568|John Schneider||p358.htm#i3573|Rosina Kainer||p358.htm#i3572|
Franz Joseph Bednarz|b. 11 SEP 1847\nd. 5 MAY 1917|p358.htm#i3577|Anton de Padua Bednarz|b. 13 JUN 1818\nd. 18 OCT 1901|p357.htm#i3570|Anna Schneider|b. 20 MAY 1825\nd. 16 DEC 1878|p358.htm#i3574|John B. Bednarz||p319.htm#i3184|Rosinna Glatz||p357.htm#i3568|John Schneider||p358.htm#i3573|Rosina Kainer||p358.htm#i3572|
Franz Bednarz came from Neudek, Austria to Texas at the age of 13 with his parents, a brother and three sisters in 1860. He was also called Franz Binder, but on legal papers he always used Bednarz. We do not know the significance of Binder. His wife Maria Blaschke from Hermitz, Austria came to Texas at the age of 12 with her parents, a brother and three sisters in December 1867. While living in Hermitz they made pilgrimages on certain occasions to Olmutz that was about an hour's walk away. Franz and Maria were married in 1874 and were the parents of 13 children, three of whom died in infancy and are buried in St. Mary®s Catholic Cemetery at High Hill, Texas. They lived on his father®s farm east of High Hill, which he later inherited. After the death of his mother Anna in 1878 his father Anton lived with Franz and Maria until his death in 1901. Times were hard but with a large family to share the work, things went quite well. Franz acquired several farms; one just west of his homestead and another at Poth, Texas; and later on in the Slaton area. As the children married and set out on their own they usually rented one of his farms the first few years, or until the next child married and they were sort of "pushed off". All prairie and forest land was open to grazing and farmers had to build fences to protect the crops and home from roaming animals. Franz split rails in the woods to fence his property. He always turned his oxen out to graze at night and sometimes found them the next morning over near where Swiss Alp Hall now stand, a distance of about three miles. It took considerable time and effort to drive them home before he could start the days plowing. When there was spare time between planting and harvest of crops the boys were sent to the forest to cut wood for use in the cook stove and heaters. It took a great amount of wood, and sawing by hand with one person on each end of a long saw was time consuming and hard labor. Logs were cut in stove lengths, usually about eighteen inches, and hauled home. There were later split into smaller pieces and stacked in the wood shed to keep them dry in the rainy season. Later mules and horses were used for farming. Six or eight cows supplied milk, butter, cream and cottage cheese. This cheese was made by allowing the milk to sour and clabber. It was then poured in a flour sack and hug on the limb of a tree or on the clothes line for the whey to drip out. The girls in the family did the milking while the boys were responsible for feeding the stock and other heavy labor. In hay making time the grass was mowed and was raked together with horse drawn rakes and hauled home. Here it was put into dome shaped stacks with a pole in the center. In later years it was forked into the loft of the barn. They bought only a few staples such as flour in barrels, sugar, salt, rice, whole black pepper and coffee beans which were ground at home. Everyone had a coffee mill. Maria always had a large garden. She raised many vegetables, including cauliflower which she sold at the grocery store for 15 cents a pound. Her favorite way to serve cauliflower was to cook it until tender in salted water, drain and put it in a bowl, and topped with a hard boiled egg which with half cup beef or chicken gravy and poured this over the top. She also raised geese and they had a stuffed goose every Sunday for dinner. She served her fresh lettuce with a dressing of vinegar, sugar, and cream. Sweet potatoes were stored in a box and covered with dry sand, and they kept all winter. She3 bought dry yeast squares, then she crumbled one and soaked it in water; added cornmeal to make a thick dough; let it ferment and rise, then added flour to make it stick together. It was put in a flat pan and cut in squares and dried. She used one of these squares for each batch of homemade bread, which she made almost daily. They never ate corn, roasting ears or otherwise as it was considered hog and horse feed. They always ate the fresh tomatoes from the garden but never used them in cooking or canning. We must remember that canning and preserving was limited at that time. They had a molasses press a short distance from the house and always raised cane to make a large supply of molasses. Not only custom but necessity called for Maria to make many quilts, pillows, and featherbeds. She held the geese, head downward between her knees and picked the soft downy feathers while the geese occasionally nipped at her ankles. The feather beds were made by sewing two bed side pieces of feather proof ticking together like a pillow case; filling them with feathers and stitching them across the top. These were used on top of the mattress which sometimes was made of corn shucks and a second one was used as a cover, topped with several quilts in the winter. Maria sewed most of the family®s clothing. She carded and spun wool and knitted many garments. Some of the grandchildren recall wearing socks and gloves that "Grandma" made for Christmas. Kerosene lamps were a great improvement over the candles used by her parent. Before the advent of the kerosene cook stove they used wood burning stoves for both booking and heating. The outdoor toilet was always located a short trot from the back door and the previous years Sears catalogs provided an everlasting supply of paper. From 1889 to 1899 High Hill was a mission parish of the St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Schulenburg. The people did not like the idea of not having a resident priest so a delegation consisting of Franz Bednarz, Franz Stanzel and Joseph Ripper traveled in 1898, most likely by train, to San Antonio to see Most Reverend Bishop John Forest, who eventually granted their petition and send Rev Henry Gerlach as the new pastor in January 1989. Franz and Maria®s thirteen year old son John was the organist at the dedication of the St. Rose of Lima Church in Schulenburg, October 23, 1899. Franz and Maria raised Pauline Mendel, one of a family of eleven children who were orphaned. She was two years old when she came to live with them. When she was about ten she moved to Slaton to live with Franz®s daughter, the Carl Kahlich family. She attended school in Slaton and later married Joe L Shiver and lived near Hempstead. Franz died on the operating table of appendicitis May 15, 1917. In those days the hearse was pulled by horses. Maria lived her last years in the home of her daughter®s family Christina and Ferdinand Berger, who had bough the old homestead, and later bought a home near the church in High Hill. She suffered from arthritis and spent the last fifteen years of her life in a wheel chair. She passed away August 4, 1952 having reach the ripe old age of 96 years, 8 months, and 7 days.
Carolina Bednarz|b. 6 NOV 1856\nd. 15 DEC 1936|p358.htm#i3578|Anton de Padua Bednarz|b. 13 JUN 1818\nd. 18 OCT 1901|p357.htm#i3570|Anna Schneider|b. 20 MAY 1825\nd. 16 DEC 1878|p358.htm#i3574|John B. Bednarz||p319.htm#i3184|Rosinna Glatz||p357.htm#i3568|John Schneider||p358.htm#i3573|Rosina Kainer||p358.htm#i3572|
Aloisia Bednarz|b. 25 JUN 1859\nd. 22 NOV 1948|p358.htm#i3579|Anton de Padua Bednarz|b. 13 JUN 1818\nd. 18 OCT 1901|p357.htm#i3570|Anna Schneider|b. 20 MAY 1825\nd. 16 DEC 1878|p358.htm#i3574|John B. Bednarz||p319.htm#i3184|Rosinna Glatz||p357.htm#i3568|John Schneider||p358.htm#i3573|Rosina Kainer||p358.htm#i3572|
Marvin Thomas Heinrich|b. 30 SEP 1931|p358.htm#i3580|Herbert Carl Heinrich|b. 4 NOV 1904\nd. 7 MAY 1990|p111.htm#i1107|Marie Theresia Angerer|b. 2 OCT 1908\nd. 1 SEP 1990|p221.htm#i2205|Ferdinand K. Heinrich|b. 31 DEC 1881\nd. 29 MAR 1964|p144.htm#i1438|Alvina K. Kahlich|b. 22 OCT 1883\nd. 31 JAN 1972|p133.htm#i1327|George Angerer|b. 11 JAN 1865\nd. 1 AUG 1944|p14.htm#i137|Mary Neumeir|b. 2 FEB 1874\nd. 8 JUN 1946|p15.htm#i148|