HistoricSiteMarkers
Early RepublicCivil War

Site of Geier and Schmid Farm

Universal City, Bexar County, Texas

Marker Inscription

This site was once the farm of German immigrants Martin Schmid and Wilhelm Geier. Wilhelm, his wife, Theodora, and their daughter, Johanna, immigrated to Texas from Wolfenbuettel, arriving at the Port of Galveston in 1849. They moved inland and settled first in New Braunfels, where Johanna Geier married Martin Schmid, from the state of Wuerttemberg, in 1854. Martin, Johanna and her parents moved to the new community of Selma, then known as Cibolo, in 1855. They bought 127 acres of land and established a farm for each family. In 1869, Geier and Schmid agreed to split the land, each receiving a portion. Martin and Johanna Schmid reared four children in Selma: William, Sam, Sedonia Haile and Mary Elizabeth Wuest. Martin, a Civil War veteran who served under Capt. Theodore Podewils' 32nd Regiment of the Texas Cavalry, died in 1880 and was buried in this immediate area, thus establishing the Schmid family cemetery. Johanna remained on the farm until 1894, when she sold it and moved to San Antonio. She, along with her parents, two of her infant children, son William and daughter Sedonia, were buried in the family cemetery. All original fencing and tombstones have disappeared from the Schmid family cemetery, as they have from the Kincaid family cemetery, which lies 100 yards northwest. Kentucky native David Kincaid moved his family to this area and was the town blacksmith. His wife, Talitha; their daughters Esther Ada Kincaid Wallace and Josephine P. Kincaid; and Talitha's father, John Davis, are buried in the Kincaid cemetery. Their stories reflect the patterns of settlement and rural life in this part of Texas in the 19th century. (2001)

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

German immigrants Wilhelm Geier and his family arrived at Galveston in 1849 from Wolfenbüttel, and after settling in New Braunfels their daughter Johanna married fellow immigrant Martin Schmid. In 1855 the families moved to the community then called Cibolo (later Selma), buying 127 acres they eventually split between them. Martin, a Confederate cavalry veteran, was buried here in 1880, founding a family cemetery; the neighboring Kincaid graves hold a Kentucky-born blacksmith and his kin. Fences and headstones have long since vanished from both burial grounds.

Why it matters

These intertwined immigrant and settler families illustrate the German-Texan migration that reshaped south-central Texas, where European newcomers and American-born pioneers built rural communities side by side.

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Related people

  • · Wilhelm Geier
  • · Martin Schmid
  • · Johanna Geier Schmid
  • · David Kincaid

Themes & tags

ImmigrationWestward ExpansionFrontier HistoryLandmark

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