Beseler Family
Welfare, Kendall County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Carl Joseph and Augusta Beseler and their two sons immigrated from Germany to Texas in 1848. They settled in Kendall County on a land grant in the 1850s. The community of Welfare was established on the Beseler land grant. The Beselers' son Ernst died in the Battle of Nueces. His brother Carl Philipp was instrumental in building Welfare into a railroad shipping point in the 1880s. Carl Philipp served as justice of the peace, postmaster, county commissioner, and tax assessor. The general store is among the few physical remnants of the community of Welfare. (1996)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Carl Joseph and Augusta Beseler brought their family from Germany to Texas in 1848 and settled on a Kendall County land grant, where the community of Welfare took root. The family's story tracks Texas's divided loyalties: their son Ernst died at the Battle of the Nueces, where Confederate forces killed German Unionists, while his brother Carl Philipp went on to build Welfare into a railroad shipping point and hold a string of county offices in the 1880s. The old general store is among the few remnants of the community they founded.
Why it matters
The Beselers embody the German immigrant experience in the Hill Country, including the wartime tragedy of Unionist Germans caught in a Confederate state.
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Related people
- · Carl Joseph Beseler
- · Augusta Beseler
- · Carl Philipp Beseler
- · Ernst Beseler
Related events
- · Battle of the Nueces
Themes & tags
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