Notes Toward A Post On the Influential and Singular Families of the Somerset Area
Bernard Pyron
A local history of an area like that of Somerset can be organized around the most influential and singular families and the land they owned. But it is not always easy to create accurate lists of the members of such families, especially going back to a hundred years or more. Fortunately, for a few Somerset families, there are sworn affidavits which are available in online Bexar County Clerk's Office, among the copies of deeds.
The Patrick Kenney Family of Old Bexar and Somerset:
Children of Patrick Kenney and Rosa Zensch Kenney and Some History Related to the Kenneys
http://mykindred.com/cloud/TX/getperson.php?personID=I143626&tree=mykindred01
Patrick Kenney was born in Ireland on February 1, 1839 and died in Bexar county, Texas on August 1, 1930. Rosa Zench Kenney was born on August 18, 1850 in Poland and died on December 5, 1923 in Bexar county, Texas. They were married in about 1869.
Children:
1. John J. Kenney, b. 8 Nov 1870, Texas, d. 8 Dec 1916
2. William F. Kenney, b. Jul 1872, Texas, USA d. 1959
3. Catherine "Katie" Kenney, b. 8 Oct 1875, Texas, d. 31 Jul 1915, San Antonio, Bexar county, Texas,
4. Patrick Kenney, b. Abt 1877, Texas, , d.
5. Thomas Albert Kenney, b. 31 Jan 1879, Texas, d. 11 Sep 1965, Atascosa county, Texas, USA
6. Alvena Kenney, b. 17 Mar 1881, d. 9 Jul 1903, San Antonio, Bexar county, Texas,
7. Annie Kenney, b. 15 May 1884, San Antonio, Bexar county, Texas, d. Oct 1977
8. Margie Kenney, b. Nov 1885, San Antonio, Bexar county, Texas, d.
9. James Alphonsa Kenney, b. 25 Aug 1890, San Antonio, Bexar county, Texas, d. 23 Mar 1967, San Antonio, Bexar county, Texas,
William F. Kenney (1872-1959) is Will Kenney, husband of my Aunt Jessie Pyron Kenney, and owner of two grocery stores in Somerset. The first Will Kenney store in Somerset was north across the railroad tracks on the west side of Somerset Road, in Block 29, near the Catholic Church. Patricia Kenney Anderson said the first Will Kenney store was about the size of the Tom Kenney store, and that it was built in 1915 or 1916, at about the time Will Kenney, Aunt Jessie, and their children William Pyron (Billy) and Nellie Mae moved from Old Bexar to Somerset.
Billy Kenney in his 1988 interview for the Institute of Texan Cultures talked about going to school at the Wildman School and said it was on Somerset Road, and that he ran a "school bus" to the school, meaning he took kids to school in a wagon pulled by horses. He said that one of his teachers at the Wildman School was named "Smoot" from Southerland Springs. He meant Moote, that is, Mabel Moote, my mother, who married in May of 1915 and ended her teaching career. It makes more sense that when Billy Kenney and Nellie Mae Kenney went to the Wildman School they lived in what is now Somerset, rather than over west in Old Bexar.
An online Bexar county deed says "S.H. Wildman (born 1833) deeded to Bexar county on September 27, 1889 a "Tract or parcel of land lying on the south side of Elm Creek about 1/2 mile from Elm Creek on the Somerset Road, it being a part of the S.H. Wildman tract of 470 acres...containing two acres more of less... land is deeded to the State of Texas for school purposes and the house shall be known as the (Alamo? handwriting not too clear) Creek School."
My sister Louise Pyron Poppe wrote some notes, also in 1988, saying that Mother first taught at Old Bexar apparently in the school year of 1912-1913, and that the following year she was assigned to teach at the Wildman School. Louise writes that "This building was restored and moved to our present day school grounds at Somerset where it was utilized as additional class rooms, including a band hall."
Elm Creek crosses Somerset Road about half a mile north of where the road to the Frank Hoffman house exits Somerset Road. The Wildman School was probably close to that turn off to the Hoffman place.
The William Pyron Kenney 1988 interview is at:
http://digital.utsa.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15125coll4/id/1663/rec/19
Nellie Mae Kinney wrote a History of Old Bexar in 1986
Nellie Mae Kinney and her older brother, William Pyron Kinney, known
as Billy, are shown in the above photo of Mabel Moote, my mother,
and her Bexar students in about 1915. Nellie Mae has on a bonnet and
Billy is a taller boy standing. Nellie Mae and Billy were children of
Will Kinney and my aunt Jessie Pyron Kinnney and they apparently lived in the
new town of Somerset in 1914 to 1915, the last school year Mabel Moote, my Mother,
taught before getting married in May of 1915.
Bernard Pyron
A local history of an area like that of Somerset can be organized around the most influential and singular families and the land they owned. But it is not always easy to create accurate lists of the members of such families, especially going back to a hundred years or more. Fortunately, for a few Somerset families, there are sworn affidavits which are available in online Bexar County Clerk's Office, among the copies of deeds.
The Patrick Kenney Family of Old Bexar and Somerset:
Children of Patrick Kenney and Rosa Zensch Kenney and Some History Related to the Kenneys
http://mykindred.com/cloud/TX/getperson.php?personID=I143626&tree=mykindred01
Patrick Kenney was born in Ireland on February 1, 1839 and died in Bexar county, Texas on August 1, 1930. Rosa Zench Kenney was born on August 18, 1850 in Poland and died on December 5, 1923 in Bexar county, Texas. They were married in about 1869.
Children:
1. John J. Kenney, b. 8 Nov 1870, Texas, d. 8 Dec 1916
2. William F. Kenney, b. Jul 1872, Texas, USA d. 1959
3. Catherine "Katie" Kenney, b. 8 Oct 1875, Texas, d. 31 Jul 1915, San Antonio, Bexar county, Texas,
4. Patrick Kenney, b. Abt 1877, Texas, , d.
5. Thomas Albert Kenney, b. 31 Jan 1879, Texas, d. 11 Sep 1965, Atascosa county, Texas, USA
6. Alvena Kenney, b. 17 Mar 1881, d. 9 Jul 1903, San Antonio, Bexar county, Texas,
7. Annie Kenney, b. 15 May 1884, San Antonio, Bexar county, Texas, d. Oct 1977
8. Margie Kenney, b. Nov 1885, San Antonio, Bexar county, Texas, d.
9. James Alphonsa Kenney, b. 25 Aug 1890, San Antonio, Bexar county, Texas, d. 23 Mar 1967, San Antonio, Bexar county, Texas,
William F. Kenney (1872-1959) is Will Kenney, husband of my Aunt Jessie Pyron Kenney, and owner of two grocery stores in Somerset. The first Will Kenney store in Somerset was north across the railroad tracks on the west side of Somerset Road, in Block 29, near the Catholic Church. Patricia Kenney Anderson said the first Will Kenney store was about the size of the Tom Kenney store, and that it was built in 1915 or 1916, at about the time Will Kenney, Aunt Jessie, and their children William Pyron (Billy) and Nellie Mae moved from Old Bexar to Somerset.
Billy Kenney in his 1988 interview for the Institute of Texan Cultures talked about going to school at the Wildman School and said it was on Somerset Road, and that he ran a "school bus" to the school, meaning he took kids to school in a wagon pulled by horses. He said that one of his teachers at the Wildman School was named "Smoot" from Southerland Springs. He meant Moote, that is, Mabel Moote, my mother, who married in May of 1915 and ended her teaching career. It makes more sense that when Billy Kenney and Nellie Mae Kenney went to the Wildman School they lived in what is now Somerset, rather than over west in Old Bexar.
An online Bexar county deed says "S.H. Wildman (born 1833) deeded to Bexar county on September 27, 1889 a "Tract or parcel of land lying on the south side of Elm Creek about 1/2 mile from Elm Creek on the Somerset Road, it being a part of the S.H. Wildman tract of 470 acres...containing two acres more of less... land is deeded to the State of Texas for school purposes and the house shall be known as the (Alamo? handwriting not too clear) Creek School."
My sister Louise Pyron Poppe wrote some notes, also in 1988, saying that Mother first taught at Old Bexar apparently in the school year of 1912-1913, and that the following year she was assigned to teach at the Wildman School. Louise writes that "This building was restored and moved to our present day school grounds at Somerset where it was utilized as additional class rooms, including a band hall."
Elm Creek crosses Somerset Road about half a mile north of where the road to the Frank Hoffman house exits Somerset Road. The Wildman School was probably close to that turn off to the Hoffman place.
The William Pyron Kenney 1988 interview is at:
http://digital.utsa.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15125coll4/id/1663/rec/19
Nellie Mae Kinney wrote a History of Old Bexar in 1986
Nellie Mae Kinney and her older brother, William Pyron Kinney, known
as Billy, are shown in the above photo of Mabel Moote, my mother,
and her Bexar students in about 1915. Nellie Mae has on a bonnet and
Billy is a taller boy standing. Nellie Mae and Billy were children of
Will Kinney and my aunt Jessie Pyron Kinnney and they apparently lived in the
new town of Somerset in 1914 to 1915, the last school year Mabel Moote, my Mother,
taught before getting married in May of 1915.
.Nellie Mae writes that "She says "The first store was owned by John Connoly and Dr.
Matthews, who was the only MD in Bexar at that time."
"There was also a theater - Mrs John Connoly directed the plays,
an excellent orchestra - directed by a Mr Priest, a post office and a
cotton gin."
"Pat Kenney owned 600 acres of land, part of which was in downtown Bexar.
Others had ranches further out."
"Among the original families were the Connoly's, the Matthew's,
McMonagles, Longs, McCoys, Malones, James's, Scanlons, McConnels,
Pyrons, Kenneys, and the Norris's who owned the land where Somerset is
now located."
William McMonagle, the father of James Connell and Shorty, or Kenneth, lived in or near Bexar. The only child, a son of James Connell McMonagle, James Joseph McMonagle, known to me as Joe, was a classmate in the Somerset grade school in the early forties. Joe is a graduate of Notre Dame and retired as a Marine Corps Major General.
The James family of Old Bexar included Luther M. James 1888-1965 and Jesse Christopher James 1859-1919, who were cousins. Luther James lived on Kenney Road just south of Old Bexar for many years, near Jessie Garfield James 1897-1942, son of Jessie Christopher James. The wife of Jessie James was Clara Muriel McCoy, of the Old Bexar McCoys. Jessie was shot dead in the coal mine at Old Bexar by George Leonard in 1942. Luther James was one of the Somerset area "Wolf Hunters," and father of Bill James, or William Marshall James , 1915-2004, who was the Somerset School Superintendent for many years.
Nellie Mae mentions the Norris family as one of the Old Bexar families. I only know about Eugene S. Norris, who owned a part of the John Christopher Republic of Texas land grant, at the south end, a tract which was sold by Carl Kurz to the First Townsite Company to create Somerset.
Matthews, who was the only MD in Bexar at that time."
"There was also a theater - Mrs John Connoly directed the plays,
an excellent orchestra - directed by a Mr Priest, a post office and a
cotton gin."
"Pat Kenney owned 600 acres of land, part of which was in downtown Bexar.
Others had ranches further out."
"Among the original families were the Connoly's, the Matthew's,
McMonagles, Longs, McCoys, Malones, James's, Scanlons, McConnels,
Pyrons, Kenneys, and the Norris's who owned the land where Somerset is
now located."
William McMonagle, the father of James Connell and Shorty, or Kenneth, lived in or near Bexar. The only child, a son of James Connell McMonagle, James Joseph McMonagle, known to me as Joe, was a classmate in the Somerset grade school in the early forties. Joe is a graduate of Notre Dame and retired as a Marine Corps Major General.
The James family of Old Bexar included Luther M. James 1888-1965 and Jesse Christopher James 1859-1919, who were cousins. Luther James lived on Kenney Road just south of Old Bexar for many years, near Jessie Garfield James 1897-1942, son of Jessie Christopher James. The wife of Jessie James was Clara Muriel McCoy, of the Old Bexar McCoys. Jessie was shot dead in the coal mine at Old Bexar by George Leonard in 1942. Luther James was one of the Somerset area "Wolf Hunters," and father of Bill James, or William Marshall James , 1915-2004, who was the Somerset School Superintendent for many years.
Nellie Mae mentions the Norris family as one of the Old Bexar families. I only know about Eugene S. Norris, who owned a part of the John Christopher Republic of Texas land grant, at the south end, a tract which was sold by Carl Kurz to the First Townsite Company to create Somerset.
Patricia Kenney
Anderson, daughter of Billy Kenney, my first cousin, said the first Will
Kenney store was just south of the Kenney house. The brick store on
the east side of Somerset Road, on and south of the railroad tracks,
which was taken over in 1948 by Blake and George Pyron, was built in
about 1931.
Thomas Albert Kenney (1879-1965) or Tom Kenney, had the grocery store on the west side of Pyron Strret at the point where it runs into Somerset Road at an angle, across from what is now the El Gallo Mexican Restaurant. I am still not certain about whether the A.E. Shannon Drug Store was in a separate building beside the Tom Kenney store in lot 7 of block 36 or if Tom Kenney took over the building from A.E. Shannon. If Tom Kenney took over the building the drug store was in this probably happened sometime from the late thirties to the time of the early years of World War II, because I remember being in both stores, which might have been in the same building, during this period of time.
I have no certain memory of the other children of Patrick and Rosa Kenney, other than George had me tell a man who then lived on Highway 81 - Interstate 35 - not far east of Lytle that Will Kenney had died. That must have been in 1959, and the man, I think, was Will's brother.
Patrick Kenney owned the land which became Old Bexar, and sold some parts of his land to individuals in the area between Bexar and Benton City Roads about two miles west of what became Somerset.
Online Bexar county land transactions show that on September 28, 1893, Patrick Kenney deeded an acre and a half to John Conoly, out of the Clemente Bustillo survey. The deed says the land joined "...the Bexar school lot on the west...beginning at a stake on the Benton City Road." Patrick Kenney deeded on March 22, 1881 a tract of land to Jane Kirkwood, out of the eastern half of Survey No 134, known as the coal mine tract.
La Colorada was the name the Hispanics gave to Old Bexar. Patrick Kenney hired Hispanics to work his coal mines and many of them lived in the north part of old Bexar. The Kenney coal mines, or mine,, on the hand drawn map in the book, Patchwork: Lytle Folks Facts & Fables, is shown to be northwest of the more recent Saint Mary's Catholic Cemetery on the north side of Bexar or Kenney Road, at the intersection of Bexar and Benton City Roads. I am not sure exactly where the mine was.
One interesting land transaction of Patrick Kenney was a tract of land he sold to the Elm Creek Comet Band on March 29, 1889, from Survey No 348 granted to Clemente Bustillo. Probably no one has heard anything about the Elm Creek Comet band in many years..
On May 18, 1891 Patrick Kenney deeded land to the Bishop of the Diocese, one acre of the Clemente Bustillo grant. This land was probably for the building of the St. Patrick's Catholic Church, a branch of the first Catholic Church at the Medina River community, then called Garza's Crossing. Nellie Mae Kinney's History of Old Bexar, The History of Somerset and the Old Bell at Bexar (1986), says that St Patrick's Catholic Church was built in 1892.
And on August 2, 1883 Patrick Kenney deeded two acres of land out of the Peter (really Petra) Bustillo, widow of Domingo Bustillo, of Survey No 348, for $37.50, for the purpose of establishing a public school. The deed is in Book 34, page 6. This may have been for the school which was built at Old Bexar.
On an October 13, 1905 Bexar county land transaction, the trustees - like members of a school board - of the school district number 33 of Bexar county, which was Old Bexar, were H.P. Drought, B. McConnell, A.M. Pyron, and J. C. James, probably Jessie Christopher James, the father of the younger Jessie James (1897-1942).
Thomas Albert Kenney (1879-1965) or Tom Kenney, had the grocery store on the west side of Pyron Strret at the point where it runs into Somerset Road at an angle, across from what is now the El Gallo Mexican Restaurant. I am still not certain about whether the A.E. Shannon Drug Store was in a separate building beside the Tom Kenney store in lot 7 of block 36 or if Tom Kenney took over the building from A.E. Shannon. If Tom Kenney took over the building the drug store was in this probably happened sometime from the late thirties to the time of the early years of World War II, because I remember being in both stores, which might have been in the same building, during this period of time.
I have no certain memory of the other children of Patrick and Rosa Kenney, other than George had me tell a man who then lived on Highway 81 - Interstate 35 - not far east of Lytle that Will Kenney had died. That must have been in 1959, and the man, I think, was Will's brother.
Patrick Kenney owned the land which became Old Bexar, and sold some parts of his land to individuals in the area between Bexar and Benton City Roads about two miles west of what became Somerset.
Online Bexar county land transactions show that on September 28, 1893, Patrick Kenney deeded an acre and a half to John Conoly, out of the Clemente Bustillo survey. The deed says the land joined "...the Bexar school lot on the west...beginning at a stake on the Benton City Road." Patrick Kenney deeded on March 22, 1881 a tract of land to Jane Kirkwood, out of the eastern half of Survey No 134, known as the coal mine tract.
La Colorada was the name the Hispanics gave to Old Bexar. Patrick Kenney hired Hispanics to work his coal mines and many of them lived in the north part of old Bexar. The Kenney coal mines, or mine,, on the hand drawn map in the book, Patchwork: Lytle Folks Facts & Fables, is shown to be northwest of the more recent Saint Mary's Catholic Cemetery on the north side of Bexar or Kenney Road, at the intersection of Bexar and Benton City Roads. I am not sure exactly where the mine was.
One interesting land transaction of Patrick Kenney was a tract of land he sold to the Elm Creek Comet Band on March 29, 1889, from Survey No 348 granted to Clemente Bustillo. Probably no one has heard anything about the Elm Creek Comet band in many years..
On May 18, 1891 Patrick Kenney deeded land to the Bishop of the Diocese, one acre of the Clemente Bustillo grant. This land was probably for the building of the St. Patrick's Catholic Church, a branch of the first Catholic Church at the Medina River community, then called Garza's Crossing. Nellie Mae Kinney's History of Old Bexar, The History of Somerset and the Old Bell at Bexar (1986), says that St Patrick's Catholic Church was built in 1892.
And on August 2, 1883 Patrick Kenney deeded two acres of land out of the Peter (really Petra) Bustillo, widow of Domingo Bustillo, of Survey No 348, for $37.50, for the purpose of establishing a public school. The deed is in Book 34, page 6. This may have been for the school which was built at Old Bexar.
On an October 13, 1905 Bexar county land transaction, the trustees - like members of a school board - of the school district number 33 of Bexar county, which was Old Bexar, were H.P. Drought, B. McConnell, A.M. Pyron, and J. C. James, probably Jessie Christopher James, the father of the younger Jessie James (1897-1942).
Above:
Four Generations: Virginia Blackburn Pyron, Seated, Standing At Right,
Jessie Pyron Kenney, Aunt Jessie, Standing at Left, William Pyron (Billy
Kenney), and In Front of Aunt Jessie, Patricia Kenney, Daughter of
Billy Kenney.
The Carl Kurz Family
Children of Carl Kurz (1855-1940) and Auguste Kurz:
Louise Kurz Schmidt (died in 1910)
A.A. Kurz
Gus W. Kurz (Gustav W. Kurz)
Mary Kurz Kay
Walter Kurz
Paul Kurz
Galloway C. Kurz.
Carl Kurz was a founder, with A.M. Pyron, of the First Town Site Company which sold lots to create Somerset. A.A. Kurx and Paul Kurz were involved
in selling and repairing cars in Somerset in block number 37 which included the Old Bank and later the Post
Office. Walter Kurz was the Somerset Postmaster in that Old Bank Building. Walter Kurz is listed on a 1929
Bexar county transaction as a Trustee of the Somerset First State Bank in which parts of lots in Somerset block 40 were deeded from
The Somerset Masonic Lodge to the bank. The Masonic Lodge was represented by Garland Owens,Lee Knight and H.W. Caruthers.
Page 18 of San Antonio Express , February 29, 1936 "Garland Owens indicted by a Bexar County Grand Jury."
Page 19 of San Antonio Light , August 2, 1936," Garland Owens placed under $55,000 bond following the filing of a federal charge of embezzlement."
Page 10 of San Antonio Express , October 14, 1936, "Garland Owens former Somerset State Bank officer charged with embezzlement."
Carl Kurz discovered oil on his land which led to the Somerset Oil Field. On http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerset,_Texas
They claim that "The present site was named Somerset when the First Townsite Company was formed on the Artesian Belt Railroad right-of-way on May 25, 1909, by A. M. Pyron, Carl Kurz, and Jonas A. Kerr. In 1913, while drilling for artesian water, Kurz discovered oil."
"Jonas" A. Kerr is probably John A. Kerr. On a February 25, 1913 online Bexar county Clerk's land transactions, involving release of oil leases, the President of the Somerset Oil and Gas Co is Jno A. Kerr. But on a September 20, 1917 document the President of the Somerset Oil and Gas Co is listed as John A. Kerr. This 1917 document is also about releasing land owners from oil leases. The abbreviation "Jno" may have been thought to be Jonas.
http://books.google.com/books?id=7pgtAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA114&lpg=PA114&dq=history+of+the+Somerset+Oil+Field&source=bl&ots=Qv2UHwj_qp&sig=MBLvav03FVtZTLdIAkXD3WSp8_4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=hfLZUNrhL4HLqgHPxoCYDg&ved=0CEcQ6AEwAzgK#v=onepage&q=history%20of%20the%20Somerset%20Oil%20Field&f=false
The Oil Weekly, January 21, 1922
"The Somerset, Texas shallow oil pool completed its tenth year with the close of 1921 without a single dry hole in proven territory since the discovery of the field........the field had only eight or ten very small wells and development did not really start until three years ago...the older wells finished around 900 feet with from one to four barrels production."
If ten years went by up to the end of 1921, then the beginning of the Somerset Oil Field would have been in 1912, so the date in the above wikipedia article saying Carl Kurz hit oil in 1913 is too late a date.
This Oil Weekly information on the ten years at the end of 1921 from the start of the Somerset Oil Field supports the earlier date of the discovery of oil by Carl Kurz according to the oil leases that A.M. Pyron contracted in 1912 for the Somerset Oil & Gas Co, seen in online Bexar county land transaction records. These records show that A.M. Pyron contracted 17 oil leases in 1912-1913. The list of land owners in a Bexar county transaction on June 9, 1913 that A.M. Pyron as the Trustee for the Somerset Oil and Gas Company signed leases with include R.B. Touchstone, 133 acres, C. Kurz, 129 acres, S.S. Wildman 286 acres, Aug. F. Ernst 480 acres, John Eastwood, 234 acres, C.H. Long, 111 acres, W.B. Kilborn, 78 acres. The oil and gas leases were signed from November 12, 1912 to January 6, 1913.
Again, the 1913 date for the discovery of oil by Carl Kurz is not consistent with the online Bexar county transactions showing A.M. Pyron contracted oil and gas leases as early as November of 1912.
W.B. Kilborn is likely the father of Ernest Kilborn, Elgin and a third Kilborn, all of whom were lawmen. Ernest Kilborn married Mother's Sister, Betsy Moote, my aunt. A Kilborn house could be seen from the Pyron Homestead tract in the forties. It was to the SE, and apparently not far from the Carl Kurz home, so probably W.B. Kilborn, being a neighbor of Carl Kurz and A.M. Pyron, knew both of them.
In a Bexar county transaction of August 1915 John A. Kerr was president of the Somerset Oil and Gas Company.
John A. Kerr worked with A.M. Pyron and others in the Somerset Oil and Gas Company, and was once its president. But I have seen no evidence that John A. Kerr was also president, at one time of the First Townsite Company. The plat map which was used to create the town of Somerset, Texas was drawn up on May 25, 1909 for C. Kurz. Carl Kurz was President of the First Townsite Company in 1909. In 1912 A.M. Pyron was President as shown on
a November 2, 1912 deed from the First Townsite Company to W. Kenney. Then, on an April 16, 1914 deed involving the First Town Site Company its president was Jas. G. Boles. I have found no other president of that company in those early years of the teens and twenties.
There are questions about the Carl Kurz discovery of oil, other than exactly when it happened. Billie Kurz McCord, grand-daughter of Carl Kurz said in early 2013 on the phone that the first oil well, which in oil field lingo would be Kurz Number One, was near the home of her grandfather which is the place that her family occupied and where she lived while in the Somerset area.
There is also a segment of the William Pyron (Billy Kinney) 1988 Institute For Texas Cultures interview which deals with the Carl Kurz discovery of oil.
Here is the section of the transcript where Billy Kenney talks about the discovery of oil in Somerset
http://digital.utsa.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15125coll4/id/1663/rec/19
THE INSTITUTE OF TEXAN CULTURES
ORAL HISTORY PROGRAM
INTERVIEW WITH: Mr. Kenney
PLACE: Somerset, Texas
INTERVIEWERS: Sarah and Hardy Cannon
SC: Mr. Kenney, when were you born?
KENNEY: 1904.
SC: Here in Somerset?
KENNEY:: No, mam, Bexar
.
"SC: Now, Kurtz, wasn't Carl Kurtz diggin'
for water?
KENNEY
That's right. The way I understand it, he and my
grandfather, of course, - there was just a road separatin'
them.
HC: That's grandfather Pyron.
KENNEY: Grandfather put in with him to dig a thousand foot
well.
SC: Water well.
KENNEY:: See if they could get some water. That would be good
for irrigating, see?
HC: Yeah.
KENNEY:: And they got that oil and they was the maddest ole men.
I remember that day they were really put out. They didn't
want no damned oil, they wanted a water well. (laughter)
HC: That's what happened when Walter Drake dug up in
Pennsylvania. He was diggin' a water well and got oil.
KENNEY:: They'd shut that end and get a little gas pressure ,
good gas pressure.
SC: Yes.
KENNEY:: But they'd shut it down over night, say 24 hours and
then get these suckers (men from San Antonio) out here next
day to open that thing up and they'd blow oil up there about
30, 40 feet. And man, they sold that stuff 'til the world
looked level.
SC: Well, how did they, did they cap it like they do now
and put it in a big container or did they ••• how did they
• • • ?
KENNEY:: They was just selling there. They had a big earthern
KENNEY:: tank and caught the oil that blowed out and pump it
into a tank."
Since Billy Kenney was born in 1904, he would have been about seven if Carl Kurz hit oil in 1911, or about eight it it was in 1912.
There is a good change that a San Antonio newspaper article was written about Carl Kurz's discovery of
oil at the time it happened, or by some other Texas newspaper. But I have not been able to find such an
article online, nor even the name Carl Kurz in indexes for old Texas newspapers.
Louise Kurz Schmidt (died in 1910)
A.A. Kurz
Gus W. Kurz (Gustav W. Kurz)
Mary Kurz Kay
Walter Kurz
Paul Kurz
Galloway C. Kurz.
Carl Kurz was a founder, with A.M. Pyron, of the First Town Site Company which sold lots to create Somerset. A.A. Kurx and Paul Kurz were involved
in selling and repairing cars in Somerset in block number 37 which included the Old Bank and later the Post
Office. Walter Kurz was the Somerset Postmaster in that Old Bank Building. Walter Kurz is listed on a 1929
Bexar county transaction as a Trustee of the Somerset First State Bank in which parts of lots in Somerset block 40 were deeded from
The Somerset Masonic Lodge to the bank. The Masonic Lodge was represented by Garland Owens,Lee Knight and H.W. Caruthers.
Page 18 of San Antonio Express , February 29, 1936 "Garland Owens indicted by a Bexar County Grand Jury."
Page 19 of San Antonio Light , August 2, 1936," Garland Owens placed under $55,000 bond following the filing of a federal charge of embezzlement."
Page 10 of San Antonio Express , October 14, 1936, "Garland Owens former Somerset State Bank officer charged with embezzlement."
Carl Kurz discovered oil on his land which led to the Somerset Oil Field. On http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerset,_Texas
They claim that "The present site was named Somerset when the First Townsite Company was formed on the Artesian Belt Railroad right-of-way on May 25, 1909, by A. M. Pyron, Carl Kurz, and Jonas A. Kerr. In 1913, while drilling for artesian water, Kurz discovered oil."
"Jonas" A. Kerr is probably John A. Kerr. On a February 25, 1913 online Bexar county Clerk's land transactions, involving release of oil leases, the President of the Somerset Oil and Gas Co is Jno A. Kerr. But on a September 20, 1917 document the President of the Somerset Oil and Gas Co is listed as John A. Kerr. This 1917 document is also about releasing land owners from oil leases. The abbreviation "Jno" may have been thought to be Jonas.
http://books.google.com/books?id=7pgtAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA114&lpg=PA114&dq=history+of+the+Somerset+Oil+Field&source=bl&ots=Qv2UHwj_qp&sig=MBLvav03FVtZTLdIAkXD3WSp8_4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=hfLZUNrhL4HLqgHPxoCYDg&ved=0CEcQ6AEwAzgK#v=onepage&q=history%20of%20the%20Somerset%20Oil%20Field&f=false
The Oil Weekly, January 21, 1922
"The Somerset, Texas shallow oil pool completed its tenth year with the close of 1921 without a single dry hole in proven territory since the discovery of the field........the field had only eight or ten very small wells and development did not really start until three years ago...the older wells finished around 900 feet with from one to four barrels production."
If ten years went by up to the end of 1921, then the beginning of the Somerset Oil Field would have been in 1912, so the date in the above wikipedia article saying Carl Kurz hit oil in 1913 is too late a date.
This Oil Weekly information on the ten years at the end of 1921 from the start of the Somerset Oil Field supports the earlier date of the discovery of oil by Carl Kurz according to the oil leases that A.M. Pyron contracted in 1912 for the Somerset Oil & Gas Co, seen in online Bexar county land transaction records. These records show that A.M. Pyron contracted 17 oil leases in 1912-1913. The list of land owners in a Bexar county transaction on June 9, 1913 that A.M. Pyron as the Trustee for the Somerset Oil and Gas Company signed leases with include R.B. Touchstone, 133 acres, C. Kurz, 129 acres, S.S. Wildman 286 acres, Aug. F. Ernst 480 acres, John Eastwood, 234 acres, C.H. Long, 111 acres, W.B. Kilborn, 78 acres. The oil and gas leases were signed from November 12, 1912 to January 6, 1913.
Again, the 1913 date for the discovery of oil by Carl Kurz is not consistent with the online Bexar county transactions showing A.M. Pyron contracted oil and gas leases as early as November of 1912.
W.B. Kilborn is likely the father of Ernest Kilborn, Elgin and a third Kilborn, all of whom were lawmen. Ernest Kilborn married Mother's Sister, Betsy Moote, my aunt. A Kilborn house could be seen from the Pyron Homestead tract in the forties. It was to the SE, and apparently not far from the Carl Kurz home, so probably W.B. Kilborn, being a neighbor of Carl Kurz and A.M. Pyron, knew both of them.
In a Bexar county transaction of August 1915 John A. Kerr was president of the Somerset Oil and Gas Company.
John A. Kerr worked with A.M. Pyron and others in the Somerset Oil and Gas Company, and was once its president. But I have seen no evidence that John A. Kerr was also president, at one time of the First Townsite Company. The plat map which was used to create the town of Somerset, Texas was drawn up on May 25, 1909 for C. Kurz. Carl Kurz was President of the First Townsite Company in 1909. In 1912 A.M. Pyron was President as shown on
a November 2, 1912 deed from the First Townsite Company to W. Kenney. Then, on an April 16, 1914 deed involving the First Town Site Company its president was Jas. G. Boles. I have found no other president of that company in those early years of the teens and twenties.
There are questions about the Carl Kurz discovery of oil, other than exactly when it happened. Billie Kurz McCord, grand-daughter of Carl Kurz said in early 2013 on the phone that the first oil well, which in oil field lingo would be Kurz Number One, was near the home of her grandfather which is the place that her family occupied and where she lived while in the Somerset area.
There is also a segment of the William Pyron (Billy Kinney) 1988 Institute For Texas Cultures interview which deals with the Carl Kurz discovery of oil.
Here is the section of the transcript where Billy Kenney talks about the discovery of oil in Somerset
http://digital.utsa.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15125coll4/id/1663/rec/19
THE INSTITUTE OF TEXAN CULTURES
ORAL HISTORY PROGRAM
INTERVIEW WITH: Mr. Kenney
PLACE: Somerset, Texas
INTERVIEWERS: Sarah and Hardy Cannon
SC: Mr. Kenney, when were you born?
KENNEY: 1904.
SC: Here in Somerset?
KENNEY:: No, mam, Bexar
.
"SC: Now, Kurtz, wasn't Carl Kurtz diggin'
for water?
KENNEY
That's right. The way I understand it, he and my
grandfather, of course, - there was just a road separatin'
them.
HC: That's grandfather Pyron.
KENNEY: Grandfather put in with him to dig a thousand foot
well.
SC: Water well.
KENNEY:: See if they could get some water. That would be good
for irrigating, see?
HC: Yeah.
KENNEY:: And they got that oil and they was the maddest ole men.
I remember that day they were really put out. They didn't
want no damned oil, they wanted a water well. (laughter)
HC: That's what happened when Walter Drake dug up in
Pennsylvania. He was diggin' a water well and got oil.
KENNEY:: They'd shut that end and get a little gas pressure ,
good gas pressure.
SC: Yes.
KENNEY:: But they'd shut it down over night, say 24 hours and
then get these suckers (men from San Antonio) out here next
day to open that thing up and they'd blow oil up there about
30, 40 feet. And man, they sold that stuff 'til the world
looked level.
SC: Well, how did they, did they cap it like they do now
and put it in a big container or did they ••• how did they
• • • ?
KENNEY:: They was just selling there. They had a big earthern
KENNEY:: tank and caught the oil that blowed out and pump it
into a tank."
Since Billy Kenney was born in 1904, he would have been about seven if Carl Kurz hit oil in 1911, or about eight it it was in 1912.
There is a good change that a San Antonio newspaper article was written about Carl Kurz's discovery of
oil at the time it happened, or by some other Texas newspaper. But I have not been able to find such an
article online, nor even the name Carl Kurz in indexes for old Texas newspapers.
Stephen Thorne Edwards Family: Stephen Thorne Edwards ((1859-1934), Lucy Edwards and Their Children Living In 1935:
The list of Children of Stephen Thorne Edwards and Lucy Edwards are:
J. D. (Bodie) Edwards
Hazel Bailey, wife of Robert E.L. Bailey
Mary Elizabeth Byrom, wife of Charles E. Byrom
Oma Dell Byrom, wife of Fred Byrom
S. G. Edwards
Rosa Trimble, wife of Walker Timble
Varrie Cook, wife of Tyra Cook
Joann Bissett, wife of Leroy Bissett
Nora Bush, wife of Winifred Bush
Ola Tannehill, wife of Robert Yannehill
Lucile Bailey, wife of Harvey Bailey
Nellie Enck, wife of Elmer Enck
Nora Edwards was the mother of Jerry Bush, husband of Mary Pyron Bush, but Jerry went to school at Lytle.
Hazel Edwards was the wife of Robert Bailey, and mother of several children who went to school at Somerset. I knew Jerry Bailey, son of Robert and Hazel. He was a senior at Somerset when I was a junior, and Ted Bailey his younger brother, was a junior when I was a senior.
Lucille C. Edwards was the wife of Harvey Bailey. Was he a relative of Robert Bailey?.. Was H. E. Bailey a relative of Robert Bailey and/or Harvey Bailey. H.E. Bailey was one of the Bailey brothers who owned that hardware and feed store at the south end of Somerset from sometime in the thirties or forties until 1969.
Jefferson Davis Edwards (Bodie) was associated with Somerset, though the southwest part of their land was in Atascosa county. His son Preston was a Somerset grad and Became a medical doctor. Truett, the youngest son, became a Southern Baptist preacher. I will show the full names of the sons of Bodie and Lucy H. Edwards on a deed later.
When I met Ted Bailey in New York City in the spring of 1963 we talked briefly about Somerset grads who got doctorate degrees, and he said "we had a couple of MDs." I thought he meant the two older sons of Bodie Edwards, Preston and Travis. But Louise Pyron Poppe, who was in Preston Edwards Somerset School class, says only Preston got an MD degree. Who the other Somerset MD was I have no idea.
Then, Mary Elizabeth Edwards married Charlie Byrom, the Fire Chief of Kelley Air Force base.
Oma Dell or Omadell Edwards married Fred Byrom. I think Fred Byrom was long a member of the Somerset Baptist Church, and I think he was related to Charlie Byrom.
Who was Emmett T. Byrom, pastor of Somerset Baptist Church in 1914-1915? Was he the father of Charles Byrom. The church may have been at Old Bexar in 1914-1915.
In Bexar cemetery:
Charles F. Byrom, 1897-1976
Fred H. Byrom, 1901-1971
Deacons of the Somerset Baptist Church in the thirties:
Fred C. James.
S.B. Moore
J.D. Edwards (Bodie)
R.F. Bailey (Robert E. L Bailey, husband of Hazel)
H.W. Caruthers
Note that two of the deacons of the thirties were a son and son in law of Thorne Edwards.
J. D. (Bodie) Edwards
Hazel Bailey, wife of Robert E.L. Bailey
Mary Elizabeth Byrom, wife of Charles E. Byrom
Oma Dell Byrom, wife of Fred Byrom
S. G. Edwards
Rosa Trimble, wife of Walker Timble
Varrie Cook, wife of Tyra Cook
Joann Bissett, wife of Leroy Bissett
Nora Bush, wife of Winifred Bush
Ola Tannehill, wife of Robert Yannehill
Lucile Bailey, wife of Harvey Bailey
Nellie Enck, wife of Elmer Enck
Nora Edwards was the mother of Jerry Bush, husband of Mary Pyron Bush, but Jerry went to school at Lytle.
Hazel Edwards was the wife of Robert Bailey, and mother of several children who went to school at Somerset. I knew Jerry Bailey, son of Robert and Hazel. He was a senior at Somerset when I was a junior, and Ted Bailey his younger brother, was a junior when I was a senior.
Lucille C. Edwards was the wife of Harvey Bailey. Was he a relative of Robert Bailey?.. Was H. E. Bailey a relative of Robert Bailey and/or Harvey Bailey. H.E. Bailey was one of the Bailey brothers who owned that hardware and feed store at the south end of Somerset from sometime in the thirties or forties until 1969.
Jefferson Davis Edwards (Bodie) was associated with Somerset, though the southwest part of their land was in Atascosa county. His son Preston was a Somerset grad and Became a medical doctor. Truett, the youngest son, became a Southern Baptist preacher. I will show the full names of the sons of Bodie and Lucy H. Edwards on a deed later.
When I met Ted Bailey in New York City in the spring of 1963 we talked briefly about Somerset grads who got doctorate degrees, and he said "we had a couple of MDs." I thought he meant the two older sons of Bodie Edwards, Preston and Travis. But Louise Pyron Poppe, who was in Preston Edwards Somerset School class, says only Preston got an MD degree. Who the other Somerset MD was I have no idea.
Then, Mary Elizabeth Edwards married Charlie Byrom, the Fire Chief of Kelley Air Force base.
Oma Dell or Omadell Edwards married Fred Byrom. I think Fred Byrom was long a member of the Somerset Baptist Church, and I think he was related to Charlie Byrom.
Who was Emmett T. Byrom, pastor of Somerset Baptist Church in 1914-1915? Was he the father of Charles Byrom. The church may have been at Old Bexar in 1914-1915.
In Bexar cemetery:
Charles F. Byrom, 1897-1976
Fred H. Byrom, 1901-1971
Deacons of the Somerset Baptist Church in the thirties:
Fred C. James.
S.B. Moore
J.D. Edwards (Bodie)
R.F. Bailey (Robert E. L Bailey, husband of Hazel)
H.W. Caruthers
Note that two of the deacons of the thirties were a son and son in law of Thorne Edwards.
A note from Sussanne
Bush Burnette, daughter of Mary Pyron Bush, my sister (1920-2012), and
Jerry Bush, says her mother said that Thorne Edwards was a circuit
riding preacher and had several small churches that he went to on a
regular basis. He was a cowboy, Mary said, and he claimed that he had
every right to preach against sin because he was guilty of breaking
all the commandments."
Thats interesting that Thorne was a cowboy and a circuit riding preacher. Since he preached at various small churches, how did he support such a large family? There were twelve children living in 1935. Yet Thorne bought land as will be seen.
The idea of a cowboy preacher in late 19th and early 20th century Texas reminds me of two Southern Baptist Preachers, George Washington Truett and Robert Gaddy Baucom.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_Truett
"George Washington Truett, also known as George W. Truett (May 6, 1867 – July 7, 1944), was an American clergyman who was the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, from 1897 until 1944 and the president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1927 to 1929. He was one of the most significant Southern Baptist preachers and writers of his era."
"Truett had a special affinity with cowboys who worked the cattle drives. He was concerned that these men spent a great deal of their lives isolated from society and the availability of the church. Every year for thirty-seven years, he took several weeks from his pulpit to travel with the cattle drives in the Davis Mountains of West Texas. By the 21st century, many area had established Cowboy churches to minister to these individuals."
No doubt Truett Edwards was named for George W. Truett, who was several years older than Thorne Edwards.
This also reminds me of Robert Gaddy Baucom, pastor of the South San Antonio Baptist Church, who was a regular at the campfires of the Somerset "Wolf Hunters" back in the thirties. Baucom even had his own dogs which he brought out on Saturday nights to join with the hounds of Blake and George Pyron, those of John McCain, sometimes Luther James and others. I don't know if Baucom was ever a working cowboy, but he dressed as a cowboy.
Baucom was also fairly well known and was written up in Time Magazine, Monday November 30, 1936, Texas Wolf Hunt. Baucom is called there a "hard-preaching, hard-riding pastor of South San Antonio's First Baptist Church"
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,757026,00.html#ixzz2aL2dQuO
https://familysearch.org/search/tree/results#count=20&query=%2Bgivenname%3Athorne~%20%2Bsurname%3Aedwards~&collecti
on_id=%282%203%29
It says Thorne and Lucille married in Kinny, or Kinney county, Texas, which is the county between Del Rio and Uvalde.
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.2.1/9ZZS-MZ6
Stephen Thorne 'Thorny' /EDWARDS/ Pedigree Resource File
Birth:28 August 1859, Bexar County, Texas, death:16 November 1934 Near Somerset, Bexar County, Texas
Wife: :Lucille Harriett SCRIER birth: 8 October 1867
Helena, Karnes, Texas death: 21 September 1932
Somerset, Bexar County, Texas
Parents of Thorne Edwards:
CHARLES GEORGE /EDWARDS/ birth: 3 March 1824
Wales, British Isles death:
CHRISTINA /VOLK/ birth: 1829
Germany.
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MHT5-KSW
S T Edwards, "United States Census, 1920" Name: S T Edwards Titles and Terms:
Event Type: Census Event Year: 1920 Event Place: Justice Precinct 5, Bexar, Texas, United States District: 108 Gender: Male Age: 60.......Head S T Edwards M 60 Texas Wife Lucy Edwards F 52 Texas Son Obedel Edwards M 17 Texas Son Graves Edwards M 15 Texas Daughter Lucile Edwards F 13 Texas Daughter Zuenell Edwards F 10 Texas This is the 1920 Census for Justice Precinct 5, Bexar county, District 108.http://www.us-census.org/states/texas/teams/Bexar1940.htm
For the 1940 census 15-27, Justice Pct 5 SE of US Hwy 81, SW of Medina River and W of Palo Alto Rd, Somerset, Von Ormy (Part)
So, the 1920 census says Thorne Edwards owned wherever he lived and it was in Justice Precinct 5, SW of the Medina and Somerset.
Thats interesting that Thorne was a cowboy and a circuit riding preacher. Since he preached at various small churches, how did he support such a large family? There were twelve children living in 1935. Yet Thorne bought land as will be seen.
The idea of a cowboy preacher in late 19th and early 20th century Texas reminds me of two Southern Baptist Preachers, George Washington Truett and Robert Gaddy Baucom.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_Truett
"George Washington Truett, also known as George W. Truett (May 6, 1867 – July 7, 1944), was an American clergyman who was the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, from 1897 until 1944 and the president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1927 to 1929. He was one of the most significant Southern Baptist preachers and writers of his era."
"Truett had a special affinity with cowboys who worked the cattle drives. He was concerned that these men spent a great deal of their lives isolated from society and the availability of the church. Every year for thirty-seven years, he took several weeks from his pulpit to travel with the cattle drives in the Davis Mountains of West Texas. By the 21st century, many area had established Cowboy churches to minister to these individuals."
No doubt Truett Edwards was named for George W. Truett, who was several years older than Thorne Edwards.
This also reminds me of Robert Gaddy Baucom, pastor of the South San Antonio Baptist Church, who was a regular at the campfires of the Somerset "Wolf Hunters" back in the thirties. Baucom even had his own dogs which he brought out on Saturday nights to join with the hounds of Blake and George Pyron, those of John McCain, sometimes Luther James and others. I don't know if Baucom was ever a working cowboy, but he dressed as a cowboy.
Baucom was also fairly well known and was written up in Time Magazine, Monday November 30, 1936, Texas Wolf Hunt. Baucom is called there a "hard-preaching, hard-riding pastor of South San Antonio's First Baptist Church"
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,757026,00.html#ixzz2aL2dQuO
https://familysearch.org/search/tree/results#count=20&query=%2Bgivenname%3Athorne~%20%2Bsurname%3Aedwards~&collecti
on_id=%282%203%29
It says Thorne and Lucille married in Kinny, or Kinney county, Texas, which is the county between Del Rio and Uvalde.
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.2.1/9ZZS-MZ6
Stephen Thorne 'Thorny' /EDWARDS/ Pedigree Resource File
Birth:28 August 1859, Bexar County, Texas, death:16 November 1934 Near Somerset, Bexar County, Texas
Wife: :Lucille Harriett SCRIER birth: 8 October 1867
Helena, Karnes, Texas death: 21 September 1932
Somerset, Bexar County, Texas
Parents of Thorne Edwards:
CHARLES GEORGE /EDWARDS/ birth: 3 March 1824
Wales, British Isles death:
CHRISTINA /VOLK/ birth: 1829
Germany.
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MHT5-KSW
S T Edwards, "United States Census, 1920" Name: S T Edwards Titles and Terms:
Event Type: Census Event Year: 1920 Event Place: Justice Precinct 5, Bexar, Texas, United States District: 108 Gender: Male Age: 60.......Head S T Edwards M 60 Texas Wife Lucy Edwards F 52 Texas Son Obedel Edwards M 17 Texas Son Graves Edwards M 15 Texas Daughter Lucile Edwards F 13 Texas Daughter Zuenell Edwards F 10 Texas This is the 1920 Census for Justice Precinct 5, Bexar county, District 108.http://www.us-census.org/states/texas/teams/Bexar1940.htm
For the 1940 census 15-27, Justice Pct 5 SE of US Hwy 81, SW of Medina River and W of Palo Alto Rd, Somerset, Von Ormy (Part)
So, the 1920 census says Thorne Edwards owned wherever he lived and it was in Justice Precinct 5, SW of the Medina and Somerset.
The deed
above says "The fifty seven and one quarter acre tract is situated in
Bexar county, Texas and is part of survey number 183 originally granted
to J. Texado......Being a part of seventy five acres conveyed to me on September 1, 1883 by James McClosky."
The deed above mentions Survey 183 originally granted to Tejada, and that the land deeded to S.T. Edwards in 1906 by W.W. Slaughter.is from the Tejada survey. On the deed it says that S.T. Edwards (Stephen Thorne Edwards) paid $1,500 in cash and agreed to pay four notes in addition of $375 each.
The deed above mentions Survey 183 originally granted to Tejada, and that the land deeded to S.T. Edwards in 1906 by W.W. Slaughter.is from the Tejada survey. On the deed it says that S.T. Edwards (Stephen Thorne Edwards) paid $1,500 in cash and agreed to pay four notes in addition of $375 each.
The above is part of the
January 21, 1920 deed from S.T. Edwards to his son J.D. Edwards. The
deed mentions the 57 and one quarter acres
in Survey number 186 (the hand written deed from W.W. Slaughter to S.T. Edwards of 1906 appears to say Survey number 183). It says Survey number 186 was granted to Ignacio Tejadas. The name Tejadas is a key to finding out where the tract is located, because Texas does not publish county plat books showing the current names of land owners of tracts above a few acres in size as many states do.
Now look where the Tejada Survey 186 is located:
in Survey number 186 (the hand written deed from W.W. Slaughter to S.T. Edwards of 1906 appears to say Survey number 183). It says Survey number 186 was granted to Ignacio Tejadas. The name Tejadas is a key to finding out where the tract is located, because Texas does not publish county plat books showing the current names of land owners of tracts above a few acres in size as many states do.
Now look where the Tejada Survey 186 is located:
Almost in the middle of
the segment of the 1879 map of Bexar county land owners is the Iginazo
(Ignacio) Tejada Survey 186. Look at the southeast corner of the
Tejada Survey and see the M. de Chaumes Survey 136, and east of it the
G. Bustillo tract, which is the location that included Old Bexar. Then
look over east, or to the left, and see the John Christopher Survey
55. The south part of it became Somerset. Look below the John
Christopher Survey and see the Geo Mudd tract, survey 273, which in
1882 became the northern tract of A.M. Pyron.
Here is a closer view of the J.D. Edwards land close to a mile east of the Bush place:
Here is a closer view of the J.D. Edwards land close to a mile east of the Bush place:
Find the D.W. Styles
Survey 190 above which is just below the E.A. Briggs Survey. The D.W.
Styles tract extends into Atascosa county.
Below is
the November 4, 1975 deed from J.D. (Jefferson Davis) Edwards and May
Pearl Edwards to their sons. Note that the land deeded includes the D.W.
Styles Survey 190 of 84 acres and 38 acres of the north part of the
Jeremiah Bush survey 79. These online Bexar county Clerk's Office deeds
do not tell the entire story. I do not know why the 57 acres deeded by
S.T. Edwards to J.D. Edwards, his son, in 1920 was out of the Ignacio
Tejadas survey 186, but the land deeded by J.D. Edwards in 1975 to his
sons was the E.A. Briggs and W.D. Styles tracts right below and to the
southwest of the Ignacio Jejadas larger tract - of the 1879 Bexar County
Landowners map
The deed above mentions the F.H. Hoffman (Frank H. Hoffman) tract bordering the Bodie Edwards land. I remember
the Hoffman land as being heavily wooded back in the forties and fifties.
the Hoffman land as being heavily wooded back in the forties and fifties.
George Caruthers, John Punch Grant (P.G.) Caruthers and Their Somerset Descendants
http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth29597/m1/14/
Portal To Texas History Vol 3, Number 4, December 1963
"William Caruthers died in 1886, at the age if 77 years. Sarah Dicey C. died a few years before William. Their son, George Caruthers, was born March 21, 1846, and married Mary Winset. George lived and died at Somerset, Texas. He is buried at Old Rock Cemetery, about two miles from Somerset. He died May 8, 1918.
George and Mary had these children:
1. John "Punch Grant" born about 1878.
2. Arie, born 1879
3. Flora, born 1880
4. Iley born 1882
5. Texas born 1884
6. Wren born 1895
7. Verdo Wood born 1897
John "Punch Grant" had two children, Hansel and Ona."
I remember P.G. Caruthers in the forties. He lived at times
in the Black Jacks and also in Somerset, and at one time
owned some lots up in the Pedro Ruiz Subdivision of Somerset.
In the 1940 Census, Bexar county Precinct 5, ED 15-27:
P.G. Caruthers, is age 66, with wife, Fannie, age 63.
P.G. Caruthers is buried in the Cemetery at the Old Rock Baptist Church.
The Caruthers family goes back to the time of the Old Rock Old Somerset
settlement years before 1909 and the founding of New Somerset.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7335585
Punch Grant Caruthers
Hansel W.. Caruthers owned the lots and probably the building which
became the Bailey Brothers Hardware and Feed Store in block 43.. And he may have
taken over the garage and car dealership and building of Arthur A. Kurz and Paul Kurz.
In my memory, that auto dealership, gas station and auto repair shop in the
brick building of block number 37 south of the Post Office and across Somerset
Road from the Tom Kenney Store was always the Hansel W. Caruthers place.;
http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth29597/m1/14/
Portal To Texas History Vol 3, Number 4, December 1963
"William Caruthers died in 1886, at the age if 77 years. Sarah Dicey C. died a few years before William. Their son, George Caruthers, was born March 21, 1846, and married Mary Winset. George lived and died at Somerset, Texas. He is buried at Old Rock Cemetery, about two miles from Somerset. He died May 8, 1918.
George and Mary had these children:
1. John "Punch Grant" born about 1878.
2. Arie, born 1879
3. Flora, born 1880
4. Iley born 1882
5. Texas born 1884
6. Wren born 1895
7. Verdo Wood born 1897
John "Punch Grant" had two children, Hansel and Ona."
I remember P.G. Caruthers in the forties. He lived at times
in the Black Jacks and also in Somerset, and at one time
owned some lots up in the Pedro Ruiz Subdivision of Somerset.
In the 1940 Census, Bexar county Precinct 5, ED 15-27:
P.G. Caruthers, is age 66, with wife, Fannie, age 63.
P.G. Caruthers is buried in the Cemetery at the Old Rock Baptist Church.
The Caruthers family goes back to the time of the Old Rock Old Somerset
settlement years before 1909 and the founding of New Somerset.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7335585
Punch Grant Caruthers
Hansel W.. Caruthers owned the lots and probably the building which
became the Bailey Brothers Hardware and Feed Store in block 43.. And he may have
taken over the garage and car dealership and building of Arthur A. Kurz and Paul Kurz.
In my memory, that auto dealership, gas station and auto repair shop in the
brick building of block number 37 south of the Post Office and across Somerset
Road from the Tom Kenney Store was always the Hansel W. Caruthers place.;
August F. Ernst
August F. Ernst once owned lots in Somerset, and also owned quite a bit of land in the Somerset area of South
Bexar and Northern Atascosa counties. But I have been unable to find his dates, when he was born and died, or
a complete list of his children. About all ll I have on him is from Bexar County Clerk's Office Online land transactions.
August F. Ernst, according to an online Bexar County Clerk's Office file, married Katie L. Chapmann April 25, 1904 in
Bexar county, Texas. There is a good chance August F. Ernst was born in the 1880's.
Irving Ernst, age 27, with Louise, age 27, and Frederick, age 1, are listed in the 1940 census - Bexar county Precinct 5, ED 15-27
Irving Ernst is the son of August F. Ernest and became a hundred years old in 2013.
On October 31, 1947 August F. Ernst deeded to his son Milton A. Ernst 175 acres of the William C. Brown survey number 336.
There is a file online of the General Land Office in Austin for survey number 336, for Lucius W. Gates, based on a Republic of
Texas Certificate. The Certificate is signed by Barnard Bee, Secretary of War on May 23, 1838, "said survey situated in the
county of Atascosa on the waters of Atascosa Creek."
A Lucius W. Gates survey 336 is found southeast of Somerset in northern Atascosa county. See the Atascosa
county Landowners map for 1879 at:
http://www.loc.gov/item/2012592003
A segment of the 1879 Atascosa county map is shown below:
The Texas General Land Office site at
http://www.glo.texas.gov/cf/land-grant-search/index.cfm
will come up with survey 336 for Lucius W. Gates, Abstract number 1232 when Bexar county is selected
and only the survey number 336 is typed in to the slot "Survey/Blk/Tsp."
On the General Land Office site
http://www.glo.texas.gov/cf/land-grant-search/LandGrantsWorklist.cfm
when survey number 336 for Bexar county is typed in one of the files which comes up says "Bexar Bounty," This
is the Republic of Texas Bounty grant for the services of Lusius W. Gates in the Texas Army, and the abstract
number is 1232. All of this is in Bexar county. But the land given to Gates, actually to his heirs, since he was killed
in the Fannin Massacre at Goliad, is in Atascosa county near the border with Bexar county.
Among the documents in the the General Land Office files for Abstract Number 1232 - the Field Notes - says the Survey
number is 335, and that this survey for William Clayton Brown was for 320 acres "situated in the county of Bexar. In addition, the
1887 Bexar County Landowners Map shows the W.C. Brown tract as being Survey number 335.
On the 1879 Bexar County Landowners Map the William C. Brown tract is marked survey 335, while the Lucius W. Gates tract, in
Atascosa county is said to be survey 336. Its possible a mistake was made and the survey number for the William C Brown tract was called number 336 when it should be 335. Or, the land given to Milton A. Ernst was not out of the William C. Brown survey but out of the Lucius W. Gates survey.
Nevertheless, the William C. Brown survey is very close to the Lucius W. Gates tract. And the discovery of another Republic of Texas Land grant in the general Somerset area is interesting.
The Goliad Massacre at Goliad on March 27, 1836, was the execution of Texas soldiers and their commander James Fannin, ordered by Mexican Lt Colonel Jose Nicolas de la Portilla under the authority of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.
The links above are not coming out live here. I don't know why. But if you want to get to these sites
you can highlight, copy and paste the links into your browser. I just did that and both links work.
There is in the General Land Office file for survey 336 an affidavit by A.M. Avant and W.M. Wilson, dated
June 2, 1907, and saying they are the only surviving heirs of Lucius W. Gates, "Who was killed at the
Fannin Massacre." Avant and Wilson say "We are now in the peaceful possession of said 1420 acres and make
this affidavit for the purpose of having patent issue to said land." The General Land Office lists "Lucius W. gates
heirs, Patentees."
August F. Ernst on October 31, 1947 deeded 160 acres to Henry Irving Ernst, his son, of the Levi Lewis survey number 330 and William C.
Brown survey number 336.
A June 17, 1920 transaction indicates that L. S. Morrison, August F. Ernst and George N. Evans deeded lots 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12 and 13 in Somerset Block 29 "and all the stock or goods belonging to the Somerset Mercantile Company," "said partnership having been dissolved." The lots and stock
were deeded to the Somerset Mercantile Company by ERNST, AUG F, EVANS, GEO N, KENNEY, W, and MORRISON, L S, it says
on the Document Index Detail. And it says the instrument type is Resolution and a comment Dissolution. The deed record is said
to be in Book 636, page 514.
Somerset Block 29 is a triangle with Fifth Street on the north, Sixth Street on the south, Touchstone Street running at an angle on the southwest
and Somerset Road also on an angle, on northeast. One question is whether the Will Kenney first store building is included in this deed. Another question is who the deed itself does not include the name of Will Kenney, or W. Kenney, while the Document Index Detail does list W. Kenney. Apparently some kind of partnership was dissolved and a new partnership was deeded the lots and the stock. The first Will Kenney grocery store built in 1915-1916 was in Somerset block 29, which is that triangle north of the railroad tracks and on the west side of Somerset Road.
A June 7, 1960 oil and gas lease by Katie L. Ernst to Vernon G. Schimmel involved 284 acres out of the John Christopher grant, survey
55,abstract 154, patented to Thomas H. Moore. The file refers to Volume 515, page 550 where on September 21, 1917 S.S. Wildman deeded
to August F. Ernst a total of 284 acres. The price was $14,300. This is the Ernst land north of Somerset and south of Elm Creek, part or all of which
includes the two story Ernst homes on the west side of Somerset Road. The homestead of August F. Ernst in an August 30, 1913 affidavit is said to
be on 480 acres in the Senior community, which is east of Somerset.
There is more than one online deed describing the transfer of parts of lots facing Somerset Road in Somerset block number 37 by August F. Ernst to the First State Bank of Somerset. In addition, August F. Ernst owned lots in the Ruiz Partition or Subdivision which was north of the original 1909 Somerset plat made for Carl Kurz, President of the First Townsite Company. On April 19, 1939 August F. Ernst deeded about five acres of the south part of tract number 3 of the Ruiz Partition out of the John Christopher survey 55 to Kohler and Sons Pickle Manufacturing Company. The Kohler Pickle Company building itself was in the 1909 area of Somerset.
August F. Ernst once owned lots in Somerset, and also owned quite a bit of land in the Somerset area of South
Bexar and Northern Atascosa counties. But I have been unable to find his dates, when he was born and died, or
a complete list of his children. About all ll I have on him is from Bexar County Clerk's Office Online land transactions.
August F. Ernst, according to an online Bexar County Clerk's Office file, married Katie L. Chapmann April 25, 1904 in
Bexar county, Texas. There is a good chance August F. Ernst was born in the 1880's.
Irving Ernst, age 27, with Louise, age 27, and Frederick, age 1, are listed in the 1940 census - Bexar county Precinct 5, ED 15-27
Irving Ernst is the son of August F. Ernest and became a hundred years old in 2013.
On October 31, 1947 August F. Ernst deeded to his son Milton A. Ernst 175 acres of the William C. Brown survey number 336.
There is a file online of the General Land Office in Austin for survey number 336, for Lucius W. Gates, based on a Republic of
Texas Certificate. The Certificate is signed by Barnard Bee, Secretary of War on May 23, 1838, "said survey situated in the
county of Atascosa on the waters of Atascosa Creek."
A Lucius W. Gates survey 336 is found southeast of Somerset in northern Atascosa county. See the Atascosa
county Landowners map for 1879 at:
http://www.loc.gov/item/2012592003
A segment of the 1879 Atascosa county map is shown below:
The Texas General Land Office site at
http://www.glo.texas.gov/cf/land-grant-search/index.cfm
will come up with survey 336 for Lucius W. Gates, Abstract number 1232 when Bexar county is selected
and only the survey number 336 is typed in to the slot "Survey/Blk/Tsp."
On the General Land Office site
http://www.glo.texas.gov/cf/land-grant-search/LandGrantsWorklist.cfm
when survey number 336 for Bexar county is typed in one of the files which comes up says "Bexar Bounty," This
is the Republic of Texas Bounty grant for the services of Lusius W. Gates in the Texas Army, and the abstract
number is 1232. All of this is in Bexar county. But the land given to Gates, actually to his heirs, since he was killed
in the Fannin Massacre at Goliad, is in Atascosa county near the border with Bexar county.
Among the documents in the the General Land Office files for Abstract Number 1232 - the Field Notes - says the Survey
number is 335, and that this survey for William Clayton Brown was for 320 acres "situated in the county of Bexar. In addition, the
1887 Bexar County Landowners Map shows the W.C. Brown tract as being Survey number 335.
On the 1879 Bexar County Landowners Map the William C. Brown tract is marked survey 335, while the Lucius W. Gates tract, in
Atascosa county is said to be survey 336. Its possible a mistake was made and the survey number for the William C Brown tract was called number 336 when it should be 335. Or, the land given to Milton A. Ernst was not out of the William C. Brown survey but out of the Lucius W. Gates survey.
Nevertheless, the William C. Brown survey is very close to the Lucius W. Gates tract. And the discovery of another Republic of Texas Land grant in the general Somerset area is interesting.
The Goliad Massacre at Goliad on March 27, 1836, was the execution of Texas soldiers and their commander James Fannin, ordered by Mexican Lt Colonel Jose Nicolas de la Portilla under the authority of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.
The links above are not coming out live here. I don't know why. But if you want to get to these sites
you can highlight, copy and paste the links into your browser. I just did that and both links work.
There is in the General Land Office file for survey 336 an affidavit by A.M. Avant and W.M. Wilson, dated
June 2, 1907, and saying they are the only surviving heirs of Lucius W. Gates, "Who was killed at the
Fannin Massacre." Avant and Wilson say "We are now in the peaceful possession of said 1420 acres and make
this affidavit for the purpose of having patent issue to said land." The General Land Office lists "Lucius W. gates
heirs, Patentees."
August F. Ernst on October 31, 1947 deeded 160 acres to Henry Irving Ernst, his son, of the Levi Lewis survey number 330 and William C.
Brown survey number 336.
A June 17, 1920 transaction indicates that L. S. Morrison, August F. Ernst and George N. Evans deeded lots 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12 and 13 in Somerset Block 29 "and all the stock or goods belonging to the Somerset Mercantile Company," "said partnership having been dissolved." The lots and stock
were deeded to the Somerset Mercantile Company by ERNST, AUG F, EVANS, GEO N, KENNEY, W, and MORRISON, L S, it says
on the Document Index Detail. And it says the instrument type is Resolution and a comment Dissolution. The deed record is said
to be in Book 636, page 514.
Somerset Block 29 is a triangle with Fifth Street on the north, Sixth Street on the south, Touchstone Street running at an angle on the southwest
and Somerset Road also on an angle, on northeast. One question is whether the Will Kenney first store building is included in this deed. Another question is who the deed itself does not include the name of Will Kenney, or W. Kenney, while the Document Index Detail does list W. Kenney. Apparently some kind of partnership was dissolved and a new partnership was deeded the lots and the stock. The first Will Kenney grocery store built in 1915-1916 was in Somerset block 29, which is that triangle north of the railroad tracks and on the west side of Somerset Road.
A June 7, 1960 oil and gas lease by Katie L. Ernst to Vernon G. Schimmel involved 284 acres out of the John Christopher grant, survey
55,abstract 154, patented to Thomas H. Moore. The file refers to Volume 515, page 550 where on September 21, 1917 S.S. Wildman deeded
to August F. Ernst a total of 284 acres. The price was $14,300. This is the Ernst land north of Somerset and south of Elm Creek, part or all of which
includes the two story Ernst homes on the west side of Somerset Road. The homestead of August F. Ernst in an August 30, 1913 affidavit is said to
be on 480 acres in the Senior community, which is east of Somerset.
There is more than one online deed describing the transfer of parts of lots facing Somerset Road in Somerset block number 37 by August F. Ernst to the First State Bank of Somerset. In addition, August F. Ernst owned lots in the Ruiz Partition or Subdivision which was north of the original 1909 Somerset plat made for Carl Kurz, President of the First Townsite Company. On April 19, 1939 August F. Ernst deeded about five acres of the south part of tract number 3 of the Ruiz Partition out of the John Christopher survey 55 to Kohler and Sons Pickle Manufacturing Company. The Kohler Pickle Company building itself was in the 1909 area of Somerset.
Above is a section of the 1879 Atascosa County Landowners map from the General Land Office in Austin. The Lucius W,
Gates Survey 336 is the large section of land a little right of center above. Look back over to the upper left hand corner
and find the Geo W. Mudd tract just above the border in Bexar county. The George W. Mudd tract borders Somerset. So
the Lusius W. Gates Republic of Texas Land Grant is some distance southeast of Somerset.
Gates Survey 336 is the large section of land a little right of center above. Look back over to the upper left hand corner
and find the Geo W. Mudd tract just above the border in Bexar county. The George W. Mudd tract borders Somerset. So
the Lusius W. Gates Republic of Texas Land Grant is some distance southeast of Somerset.
Above is a part of the
Bexar County Landowners Map for 1887. Note the W.C. Brown survey number
335 in the bottom center. Look northwest to the large Francisco Rolen
Spanish Land Grant, and the John Christopher Republic of Texas land
grant beside it to the west. The south end of the John Christopher
grant became Somerset, just above the Geo Mudd survey 373.
Katie L. Ernst on July 26, 1967 deeded 75.36 acres to her son Irving Ernst out of the William C. Brown survey, abstract number 74 and out of the Levi Lewis survey 330, abstract number 438.
Katie L. Ernst on July 26, 1967 deeded 75.36 acres to her son Irving Ernst out of the William C. Brown survey, abstract number 74 and out of the Levi Lewis survey 330, abstract number 438.
This part of the Bexar
County Landowners Map for 1879 shows the W.C. Brown survey number 335 in
relation to the larger Lucius W. Gates Republic of Texas Land Grant
which is across the border in Atascosa county. The county line on this
map seems to include much more of the William.C.Brown tract in Atascosa
county than does the 1887 map.
Frederick I. Ernst is a son of Irving Ernst, and Frederick is shown as age one in the 1940 census, meaning he was born in about 1939.
On March 30, 1960 Clara Johnson and W. M. Johnson made a gift deed to Frederick I. Ernst and wife, Margaret J. Ernst, of one acre out of the
northwest corner of tract 5, being a part of the subdivision of 50.69 acres out of the G.W. Mudd survey number 273. This is Clara Pyron Johnson's land which was part of the A.M. Pyron George W. Mudd tract, the northeast part, and deeded to her in 1935 by Virginia Pyron, widow of A.M. Pyron. Margaret J. Ernst, wife of Frederick I. Ernst, is a great grand daughter of A.M. Pyron, and grand daughter of Aunt Clara. Her parents were Herbert Johnson and his wife Virgie Johnson.
The older refinery was on land that became surrounded by Aunt Clara's land, and that refinery was near the railroad tracts which ran through that part of the A.M. Pyron land. The newer refinery, which was still in operation when I was in high school in the mid and late forties, was at the north end of the Carl Kurz land, which was owned in the forties by his son Gus Kurz. I have heard my older sisters talk about a famous oil tank explosion apparently at that older refinery, which blew out some windows in nearby buildings, sent black smoke into the sky, destroyed Dr. T.P. Ware's Model T or Model A, and frightened the Pyron children who were about a quarter mile to the west of the refinery. I am not sure when this explosion happened. It may have marked the end of that refinery.
Frederick I. Ernst is a son of Irving Ernst, and Frederick is shown as age one in the 1940 census, meaning he was born in about 1939.
On March 30, 1960 Clara Johnson and W. M. Johnson made a gift deed to Frederick I. Ernst and wife, Margaret J. Ernst, of one acre out of the
northwest corner of tract 5, being a part of the subdivision of 50.69 acres out of the G.W. Mudd survey number 273. This is Clara Pyron Johnson's land which was part of the A.M. Pyron George W. Mudd tract, the northeast part, and deeded to her in 1935 by Virginia Pyron, widow of A.M. Pyron. Margaret J. Ernst, wife of Frederick I. Ernst, is a great grand daughter of A.M. Pyron, and grand daughter of Aunt Clara. Her parents were Herbert Johnson and his wife Virgie Johnson.
The older refinery was on land that became surrounded by Aunt Clara's land, and that refinery was near the railroad tracts which ran through that part of the A.M. Pyron land. The newer refinery, which was still in operation when I was in high school in the mid and late forties, was at the north end of the Carl Kurz land, which was owned in the forties by his son Gus Kurz. I have heard my older sisters talk about a famous oil tank explosion apparently at that older refinery, which blew out some windows in nearby buildings, sent black smoke into the sky, destroyed Dr. T.P. Ware's Model T or Model A, and frightened the Pyron children who were about a quarter mile to the west of the refinery. I am not sure when this explosion happened. It may have marked the end of that refinery.
The Dixons, Another Influential and Singular Somerset Family
There are several Dixons in the Bexar County Clerk's Ofice Online data base involving land transactions and marriage licenses. In a March 29, 1932 certified copy of the Charter for the First Town Site
Company, J.N. Dixon is listed among the original founders and/or shareholders of the company. Another record shows that J.N. Dixon married Mary C. Cass in Bexar county August 29, 1885. My grandfather, A.M. Pyron, and Virginia Blackburn married in 1875.
Then the deed records show that in 1913 First Town Site Company deeded lots 13 and 14 in Block 22 to R.S. Dixon. In July 1911 the Company deeded lot 14 in Block 29 to Hugh E. Dixon.
J.N. Dixon, who married in 1885, and who was one of the original founders and/or shareholders of the First Town Site Company. was probably the man that Dixon Road was named for, though the Dixon family shares the name of the Road.
On September 28, 1909 Carl and Auguste Kurz, for $2,000, deeded to A.M. Pyron, J. N. Dixon, George W. Caruthers, and R.B. Touchstone the western fifty acres patented to Thomas H. Moore, assignee of John Christopher.."in the following proportions, unto A.M. Pyron an undivided one fifth interest..." And J.N. Dixon, George W. Caruthers, and R.B. Touchstone each received one fifth interest in the fifty acres. Carl and Auguste Kurz retained one fifth interest in the tract, "...said western fifty acres. The said fifty acres taken out of the western part of said original survey."
The original survery refers to what came to be known as Survey 55, originally a Republic of Texas Land Grant to John Christopher for his service in the Texas Army, inluding his unit being at San Jacinto. The south end of the John Christopher strip of land,which ran from its southern border with the George W. Mudd 320 acre tract to a little north of Elm Creek, became Somerset. However, the eastern part of the south end of the John Christopher tract was divided into smaller tracts as seen in the 1897 Bexar County Landowners map. The J. Gonzales and P. Ruiz, or Pedro Ruiz,tracts are on the southeast corner of the John Christopher tract at that time. Remember that Somerset Road heads through the orignal 1909 Somerset at an angle in a northeast diection and comes out at about Third Street. Somerset Road beyond Third Street has the Ruiz subdivision or partition on its right, or to the east.
Whereever that fifty acres was that Carl Kurz deeded to four individuals of the First Town Site Company in September of 1909 was likely in that southwestern corner of the John Christopher tract. There was a Kenney subdivision added to Somerset at some point, which joined on the west to the original southwest corner of Somerset at about Caruthers Street. West of Caruthers Street in the Kenney Subdivision the north-south street are Oil, Morrison, Kenney, Mitchell and Clayton, and a James Street runs east-west.
But on April 15, 1909 Carl and Auguste Kurz, for $10,000 deeded 109 acres to the First Town Site Company out of the south end of the John Christopher Survey number 55. The deed says the "SE corner of land owned by grantee which is also Pedro Ruiz SW corner, thence due north 1251 varas with Prdro Ruiz west line to point for corner. Thence due west 492 varas to point for corner of said tract."
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/pfv02
"The vara, a Spanish unit of distance, was used in the Spanish and Mexican surveys and land grants in Texas. One vara equals approximately thirty-three and one-third inches;... 1,900.8 varas equal one mile...5,645.4 square varas equal one acre; "
So 1251 varas, north to south, would be about .66 of a mile, and 492 varas, east to west, would be
about .26 of a mile. 492 varas multiplied by 1251 is 615,492 square varas, and 615,491 divided by 5,645 comes out to be 109.03 acres. Is this the original 1909 Somerset of the plat map drawn up for Carl Kurz,President then of the First Townsite Company,by surveyor A.L. Scott?
What was the fifty acres deeded on September 28, 1909 to the five men of the First Town Site Company by Carl Kurz all about? The date of the deed for 109 acres by Carl Kurz to the First Townsite Company was on April 15, 1909. Was this fifty acres alongside and different from the 109 acres? The 109 acres deeded in April of 1909 to the First Town Site Company is said to border the Pedro Ruiz tract on its east. The Ruiz land was identified as an addition to Somerset at a later date than 1909, so the 50 acres was probably no out of it. But - on the Document Index Detail for the September 28, 1909 deed from Carl Kurz to the four members of the First Town Site Company are listed, in addition to C. Kurz, also A. Kurz, A. Ruiz and C. Ruiz. Because the September 28, 1909 deed does not give the legal destription of the fifty acres, it is a question where it was located. There could be a later deed in which all or part of that fifty acres was sold which does provide some indication of where it was located in relation to 1909 Somerset.
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