WALTER BIESENBACH & ALMA DORA GRAF

My mother, Berniece Biesenbach Kruse, was the daughter of Walter Biesenbach and Alma Graf.  With the exception of the Grafs, mom’s ancestors came to Texas from Germany between 1846 and 1854, which is very early considering that Texas first became a state in the last days of 1845.  The German immigration to Texas began in late 1843.  Two of Mom’s ancestors were actually included in a publication entitled “First Families of Texas”.  The entries in this book were limited to early settlers arriving prior to December 1846.  Mom’s grandfather, Robert Biesenbach, was honored in the Texas Centennial Day parade in New Braunfels in 1946 as a “descendent of a pioneer family”.

My grandfather, Walter, was born 29 March 1895 in an old farm house near Converse, Texas.  Walter’s parents were Robert Biesenbach and Pauline Lieck. He was the eldest of 6 children. The children were: Walter, Ida Biesenbach Achterberg, Annie Biesenbach Koehler, William Biesenbach, Emma Biesenbach Koehler, and Pauline Biesenbach Kluth.  Walter’s mother died in 1905 due to childbirth of the youngest child, Pauline.  Walter was only 10 years old when his mother died at the age of 33.  Mom said her papa (Walter) went to school in a three room schoolhouse in Converse on the Upper Seguin Road.  Walter grew up on the farm and it was standard practice for children of farmers to stop going to school after the sixth grade. This would surely have been the case since the family was without a mother.  That was the age at which children were physically able to provide full time help on the farm.  When Walter was 21 years old, he was described as short and slender with gray eyes and brown hair (reference World War I registration card). 

My grandmother, Alma Dora Graf, was born on 19 June 1902 in San Antonio, Texas.  Her parents were Otto Graf and Lena Ackermann.  The family was as follows: Alma Graf Biesenbach, Emil Graf, Richard Graf, and Amelia Graf Weddle.  Alma’s father was apparently well off; in 1902 he owned a grocery store in San Antonio and by 1905 he became employed by the Alamo Iron Works as a Boilermaker. Alamo Iron Works was an established business that was located just east of San Antonio in an area that today would be the southern part of the Alamodome. This would have been a good paying job.  The differences for Walter and Alma growing up were “day and night”.  Walter had the difficult life on the farm in a small rural town while Alma was a city girl with all the conveniences of a middle class family.  When Alma was born in 1902, the Graf family lived at 702 E. Crockett.  The family moved a few times over the next few years but by 1910 they settled in to a house they probably had built at 902 Lamar located in the “new” part of inner San Antonio.  Being reared in a family that was relatively well off, Alma probably attended school thru the 8th grade.  She was in the final months of that school year when we entered into the war against Germany (1st World War).  She told me that the US Government was suspicious of people in the U.S. that were of German descent.  She was 15 years old and was embarrassed by Government officials coming to her school and to people’s homes during that period to question adults and children as to their national loyalty.  It was during this time that Alma met Walter at a dance in the Converse area.  Going to dances was the thing to do for fun in those days.  Walter was a musician and may have been playing for the dance.
 
Walter married Alma on June 4, 1917 when she was only 15 years old.  Walter and Alma made a handsome couple.  They had 6 children: Dorothy Biesenbach Bean, Berniece Biesenbach Kruse, Mildred Biesenbach Bloxham, Auburn Biesenbach, Randy Biesenbach, and Estaleen (Beezy) Biesenbach Stewart.  The boys were nicknamed “Hamburger” and “Hot Dog” by their schoolmates.  Walter worked on the Biesenbach farm with his dad for the first several years.  The first three children of Walter and Alma were born on the Robert Biesenbach farm.  It was a very old house located near the Salatrillo creek just southeast of Converse.  Robert lost the farm due to hard times in the late 1920s, so Walter moved his family to the Rittiman farm in Schertz for a few years and from there to a farm located at Hwy 78 and FM1518.  At this time, the Biesenbach kids walked three miles to school.  Life was not easy for the parents or the children.  Health problems prevented Walter from doing strenuous labor and to make matters worse the Great Depression was in its early stages.  At the height of the Depression, 24% of the American working class was out of work.  Walter did odd jobs and Alma did laundry for other people.  When World War II broke out, Walter was able to find employment with the civil service as a gardener on the base (Randolph AFB) as did Alma with sewing uniforms for cadets.  During this time they lived at different locations around the Converse to Cibolo area mainly near Universal City and Schertz, always renting. I remember them living on the Ward Farm (across from the base) in the early 50s, then by the Starlite Drive-in Theatre, then in Cibolo and finally in Schertz.  In the late 40s and 50s, Walter worked as a janitor at the Converse elementary school and Alma worked at a tailor shop in Schertz doing alterations until she retired. In general, they were both resourceful and made the best of difficult situations. 

Walter was called “Wally” by his friends.  Walter loved music; he played the tuba and the clarinet as well as other instruments.  He played by ear and it is said that he never had a lesson.  He was a member of a band called Louie’s Little German Band which was a 5 or 6 piece band led by Louis Scheel.  The band played at all the local dancehalls and dad remembers grandpa playing at the Crescent Bend dancehall in northern Guadalupe County.  This was one of dad and mom’s favorite dancehalls and it was the place where they first met. 

Walter and Alma and their family enjoyed visiting with friends and relatives and did so regularly.  I remember many trips when we all piled into the car to go visit grandpa and grandma on Sundays.  Other kinfolk would gather there as well.  German was spoken quite often by the old timers; according to mom it was to censor their conversation from the children but I think they just enjoyed speaking their native language. The men would be at the kitchen table heartily slapping down dominoes in the old German tradition. Most popular was a domino game called “42” but they may have played Straight dominoes as well.  Walter and Alma had it hard throughout but they seemed to enjoy life.  Somewhere in it they passed along some pretty good qualities that have spread far beyond their immediate family.

Walter D. Kruse