Lewis Kraatz

Brenham, TX

Born in Ireland, Moses Baine emigrated to the United States in 1819 and, with his wife Cecilia, joined Stephen F. Austin's colony at San Felipe in 1830. He fought in the decisive Battle of San Jacinto and afterward built a permanent home near Brenham in 1837, later serving in the Somervell Expedition as a soldier of the Republic of Texas. Returning home in 1843, he prospered as a stock raiser and farmer.

Burton, TX

The Evangelical St. John's congregation, formed by German settlers near Burton in 1894, established this hilltop cemetery in 1899, its early records naming German families like Wolff, Arndt, and Rogas. A children's section holds some 53 young graves from the cemetery's first decade, and a central plot honors the church's ministers. Seven matching monuments in a row mark young men who died in France during World War I, joined by veterans of the world wars, Korea, and Vietnam.

Independence, TX

Fritz Paul Schroeder built this one-and-a-half-story farmhouse in 1914 on land he bought from his stepfather, using locally sourced materials and the vernacular building traditions of his community. It stood in Sandy Hill, a rural settlement north of Brenham that at the time was made up entirely of German immigrants. The home reflects the close bond between builder, family, and the traditions of a German-Texan farming world.

Brenham, TX

Wilhelm Reue, who grew up in the Sandy Hill area, married Alma Muegge of the William Penn Community in 1914 and finished this home near Prairie Hill the following year. For decades it hosted community parties, dances, and meetings before the couple sold it in 1950 to Wilhelmina and Henry Eickenhorst, who kept farming the land. The Queen Anne house still shows its original L-shaped porch, roof cresting, star-and-ribbon porch brackets, and an oval glass inset in the front door.