Adolph (Ad) Toepperwein
Boerne, Kendall County, Texas
Marker Inscription
ADOLPH TOEPPERWEIN IN THE 1880s, ELEMENTS OF THE OLD WEST WERE FADING AND BECAME ROMANTICIZED THROUGH WILD WEST SHOWS. THESE PROMOTIONS CREATED OPPORTUNITIES FOR THOSE WITH SKILLS, INCLUDING SHARP-SHOOTERS. ADOLPH (AD) TOEPPERWEIN WAS BORN IN BOERNE ON OCTOBER 16, 1869 TO JOHANNA (BERGMANN) AND EMIL ALBRECHT FERDINAND TOEPPERWEIN, WHO IMMIGRATED TO TEXAS FROM PRUSSIA IN 1850. AD’S FATHER WAS A GUNSMITH WHO BUILT AND DESIGNED GUNS AND, BECAUSE OF THIS, AD BECAME PROFICIENT WITH FIREARMS AT A YOUNG AGE. BY THE AGE OF TEN, HE COULD OUTSHOOT MANY VETERAN MARKSMEN. AFTER HIS FATHER’S DEATH, AD MOVED TO SAN ANTONIO TO PERFECT HIS SHOOTING SKILLS. IN 1889, HE QUIT HIS CARTOONIST JOB AT THE SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS AND WENT TO NEW YORK SEEKING A VAUDEVILLE JOB. FOR TWO YEARS, HE SHARED THE STAGE WITH MANY VAUDEVILLE ACTS. HE THEN JOINED THE ORIN BROTHERS CIRCUS, WITH WHICH HE TOURED FOR EIGHT YEARS. IN 1901, THE WINCHESTER REPEATING FIREARMS COMPANY SIGNED HIM TO A LONG-TERM CONTRACT AS AN EXHIBITION SHOOTER. ON A VISIT TO THE WINCHESTER PLANT IN CONNECTICUT IN 1902, AD MET A CARTRIDGE ASSEMBLER NAMED ELIZABETH SERVATY. AFTER A SHORT COURTSHIP, THEY WERE MARRIED. AD TAUGHT HER HOW TO SHOOT AND THEY BEGAN TOURING AS A HUSBAND AND WIFE SHOOTING TEAM KNOWN AS THE WONDERFUL TOEPPERWEINS. THEY TRAVELED FOR OVER FORTY YEARS UNTIL ELIZABETH DIED IN 1945. AD RETIRED IN 1951 AND DIED ON MARCH 4, 1962. AD WAS A LONG-TIME MEMBER OF THE BOERNE SCHUETZEN VEREIN, WAS INDUCTED INTO THE TEXAS SPORTS HALL OF FAME IN 1966, MADE RIPLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT AND THE GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS. ONE OF BOERNE’S MOST FAMOUS SONS IS REMEMBERED AND RESPECTED FOR HIS MANY SHOOTING RECORDS OVER THE YEARS.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Born in Boerne in 1869 to Prussian immigrants, Adolph "Ad" Toepperwein learned to shoot from his gunsmith father and could outshoot seasoned marksmen by age ten. After stints as a cartoonist, vaudeville performer, and circus act, he signed with the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1901 as an exhibition shooter. With his wife Elizabeth—whom he taught to shoot—he toured for over forty years as "The Wonderful Toepperweins," setting records that landed him in Ripley's, the Guinness Book, and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.
Why it matters
Toepperwein turned the fading skills of the Old West into national spectacle, embodying the era when Wild West showmanship became a beloved form of American entertainment.
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Related people
- · Adolph "Ad" Toepperwein
- · Elizabeth Servaty Toepperwein
Themes & tags
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