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207:, the pioneers found the river too high to cross due to the winter rains. Prince Solms, perhaps wishing to impress the others with his bravado, plunged into the raging waters and crossed the swollen river on horseback. Not to be outdone by anyone, Betty Holekamp immediately followed and successfully crossed the river to the astonishment of her fellow colonists and perhaps to the chagrin of the prince. Thus, Betty Holekamp is known as the first white woman to cross the Guadalupe on horseback.
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square of New
Braunfels. This was the first American flag flown in New Braunfels, and believed to be the first flown in Texas. The sewing of that flag was a bold political statement for the time. Prince Solms, having come from the world of European aristocracy, governed New Braunfels as a king, but the flying of the flag symbolized to the prince and to the populus that Texas was now part of a free and democratic nation.
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at the rank of captain working as a surgeon because he had some medical training in
Germany. Fritz Holekamp may have joined the army in exchange for sparing his teenaged sons from the draft. In seeming contrast to the Holekamps, most German immigrants from the Texas Hill Country were supporters of
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When word first broke of Texas being admitted to the Union in 1845, Betty
Holekamp gathered pieces of cloth from her home and from her neighbors and used them to sew a 6-by-3-foot (1.83 by 0.91 m) United States flag (with a lone star in the field of blue) that was unfurled and flown in the town
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in 1854. Fritz
Holekamp worked with surveyor Ernst Altgelt in the laying out and founding of the city of Comfort. The Holekamps built the first house in the town (Fritz and his son George started construction before Comfort was officially founded) and Fritz was in charge of Comfort's cannon.
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While playing music together at court gatherings, she met Georg
Friedrich "Fritz" Holekamp (1812–1862), the son of a wealthy Hannover builder and an educated royal architect and musician. Once engaged, the couple learned of opportunities in Texas from
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255:. While in Sisterdale, Betty Holekamp became an expert marksman who was known to shoot as well as any of the men. She hunted bear and panthers, and suffered regular raids from Indians who became adept at stealing food from settlers.
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and became the third family to settle in the new German colony. There, Betty
Holekamp gave birth to her second son, Julius, who was born on June 10, 1849, making him the first white child born in
166:. They wed in March 1844. On September 16, 1844, Fritz Holekamp entered into a contract with the German Immigration Company, and soon thereafter the couple boarded the ship
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Widowed, Betty
Holekamp took in boarders and opened a sewing and washing business to provide for her seven children (her son, Ernest, later became the first mayor of
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purposely chose the more remote and difficult route from
Indianola, instead of from Galveston, to isolate the colonists from the local Texans.) Upon reaching the
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and she grew up in the household of the king. She was schooled with the king's daughter, and was being trained to be a governess.
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231:. On January 18, 1847, Fritz Holekamp received 320 acres (130 ha) of land, just outside Fredericksburg, from the
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colonization. He added his signature to the
December 15, 1847 List of Petitioners to Create Gillespie County.
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After about two years in New
Braunfels, the Holekamps moved and were among the first residents of
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proceeded overland from Indianola to the site chosen to be the first German settlement in Texas,
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110:. She is recognized for several "firsts" as a Texas pioneer, such as being the first to sew an
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154:. She was the daughter of Henry Christian Abbethern who was the ministerial accountant to
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After two years outside Fredericksburg, the Holekamps purchased 55 acres (22 ha) in
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367:, "Holekamps’ Dream of a Better Life Eventually Realized", September 25, 2008.
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is located in Comfort.) Fritz Holekamp was killed in battle in 1862.
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flag upon Texas's acceptance into the Union, and thus is known as the
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of Texas. She was also among the first residents in four
474:. Gillespie County Historical Society. Archived from
288:. (Many Comfort area residents were victims of the
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526:. University of North Texas Library, 2010, p. 2-3.
191:Led by Prince Solms, the 228 immigrants from the
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539:. University of North Texas Library, 2010, p. 7.
537:Ernst Hermann Altgelt: Founder of Comfort, Texas
524:Ernst Hermann Altgelt: Founder of Comfort, Texas
513:. University of North Texas Library, 2010, p. 1.
511:Ernst Hermann Altgelt: Founder of Comfort, Texas
498:The German Settlement of the Texas Hill Country
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347:. Press of The Naylor Company, 1954, p. 191.
77:Georg Friedrich "Fritz" Holekamp (1812–1862)
448:. Texas General Land Office. Archived from
380:. Texas General Land Office. Archived from
90: 1844–1862)
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378:"Geo Holekamp-German Immigration Company"
472:"Petitioners to create Gillespie County"
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581:Emigrants from the Kingdom of Hanover
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182:Settlement of the Texas Hill Country
16:German colonist and pioneer in Texas
566:Immigrants to the Republic of Texas
345:A Hundred Years of Comfort in Texas
571:People from the Texas Hill Country
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576:People from Fredericksburg, Texas
433:Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas
410:. Galveston Historical Foundation
267:, the Holekamp family settled in
199:. (It was later discovered that
586:People from New Braunfels, Texas
446:"Fisher Miller Colony Transfers"
156:King Ernest Augustus of Hannover
279:started, Fritz Holekamp joined
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201:Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels
164:Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels
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435:L.E. Brown, 1880, p. 520-521.
148:Betty Wilhelmine Abbenthern
214:Flag style sewn by Holekamp
42:Betty Wilhelmine Abbenthern
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500:. Mockingbird Books, 2011.
496:Morgenthaler, Jefferson.
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535:Stewart, Anne and Mike.
522:Stewart, Anne and Mike.
509:Stewart, Anne and Mike.
294:Treue der Union Monument
263:After briefly living in
233:Fisher–Miller Land Grant
146:Betty Holekamp was born
106:colonist and pioneer in
404:"Holekamp-ship record"
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408:Immigration Database
343:Ransleben, Guido E.
53:German Confederation
431:Brown, John Henry.
363:Van Winkle, Irene.
152:Kingdom of Hannover
49:Kingdom of Hannover
277:American Civil War
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178:in November 1844.
120:Texas Hill Country
102:(1826–1902) was a
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301:Junction, Texas
290:Nueces Massacre
281:the Confederacy
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193:Johann Dethard
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450:the original
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386:. Retrieved
382:the original
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318:German Texan
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174:and then at
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561:1902 deaths
556:1826 births
313:Adelsverein
265:San Antonio
550:Categories
324:References
245:Sisterdale
239:Sisterdale
132:Sisterdale
116:Betsy Ross
275:When the
176:Indianola
172:Galveston
307:See also
292:and the
112:American
269:Comfort
259:Comfort
150:in the
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482:26 May
456:26 May
414:26 May
388:26 May
134:, and
104:German
72:Spouse
286:Union
247:from
108:Texas
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484:2011
458:2011
416:2011
390:2011
284:the
63:1902
60:Died
45:1826
38:Born
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88:m.
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
