My last Kerrville Daily Times column

Earl Garrett Street, Kerrville, long ago

Folks: my column at the Kerrville Daily Times ended last Saturday, after a 999 column run. The reason: the owners of the newspaper sent out a contract which had a major change from previous contracts. The local folks, both the publisher, Mike Graxiola and the managing editor, Carlina Villalpando, were very helpful, but the corporate folks would not return to the contract we've used for more than 18 years.
In previous contracts the copyright on the material remained with me after publication; in the new contract, the copyright belonged to the owners of the Daily Times.
This was a problem, because, as you know, I use the material from my column here on my blog, as well as in the  two local history books I've produced.  I was reluctant to give ownership of my work to a distant corporation.
I'm glad my last column was about Fuzzy Swayze's brother -- Prentiss -- who made hummingbird feeders here in Kerrville.  I also hope my mention of Francisco Lemos' grave will prompt the community to properly mark this World War I hero's grave.
It will be odd to have this next Thursday come and go without a newspaper deadline -- for the first time since November, 1994.
On to new adventures!

Scotch Tape Tins and Hospital IV Bottles

Francis Swayze, my long-time friend, confirmed a story several readers had sent to me about an invention born here in Kerrville: the hummingbird feeder.
Mr. Swayze, of course, knows more Kerrville history I, and he has been kind enough to point me and this column in the right direction many times. He owned a photography studio here for many decades, and he served our community as mayor in the 1960s.
When the story came to my email box, I forwarded it on to Mr. Swayze, just to verify the tale, and he replied "Pretty much right on, Joe."
Francis Swayze's brother, Prentiss Swayze, worked at the Kerrville post office, and in the 1950s he came up with an idea for a hummingbird feeder: an inverted glass bottle attached to a round metal tin.
For materials, he used Scotch tape tins and empty I.V. bottles from Kerrville's Sid Peterson Memorial Hospital. This was convenient: the hospital was in the same block as the post office in those days, with the post office where the Kerr Arts and Cultural Center is today, and the hospital on the western corner of what is now called Peterson Plaza.
According to Fuzzy, producing the hummingbird feeders "started out a hobby but with intent of college funds for Jim, their adopted son. Used Scotch tape cans and bottles from Sid Peterson and later with arrangements with maintenance people at a San Antonio hospital for greater supply."
I'm sure you're familiar with the design Prentiss Swayze developed: I've seen these feeders hanging from people's porches my entire life, but I had no idea they were invented and produced here in Kerrville. Their bright red metal base, the red metal ring looping the glass bottle, seem as familiar as a bend in our Guadalupe River.
Prentiss Swayze eventually got out of the hummingbird feeder business.
"Finally sold his equipment and mailing list, 1600 names throughout U.S. to somebody around Vanderpool. Can’t think of the Ingram machinist who rigged up the setup for mass-production but it was a neat operation, strictly one man."
Production of a similar hummingbird feeder was located in Real County for a long time, but has returned to Kerrville. The Tejas Feeder company, owned since 1995 by Harriet and Marion Lewis, has an interesting website, www.tejashummer.com, which includes videos showing how each hummingbird feeder is made.
The Lewises have made some changes to the original design, introducing a new opening base, aluminum construction, and a gasket-sealed connection, to help prevent leaks.
Viewing the videos about their construction helps me imagine Prentiss Swayze making feeders at home, his hobby-turned-business for the hours after his day at the post office.

* * *

Several readers have sent comments and information about Francisco Lemos, the Kerrville doughboy who died in World War I, for whom a street in Kerrville is named. A few weeks ago I wrote a column about a photograph of Lemos' grave here in Kerrville.
Though I've visited the Mountain View Cemetery several times, I have not found Lemos' grave, though I have an idea where it is. Several folks have been working to help me locate the grave, and some have mentioned a willingness to help place a new marker there, provided the Lemos family agrees.
I believe Lemos, who gave his life for his country, certainly deserves an appropriate stone to mark his grave. Of the three young men honored with street names after World War I (Francisco Lemos, Sidney Baker, and Earl Garrett), only one was buried here, at home. I certainly want to encourage those who are working to provide a fitting memorial for him.
All the best.
Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who has written 999 columns for the Kerrville Daily Times. This column originally appeared in the Kerrville Daily Times January 25, 2014.

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Andrew Edington's Centennial

Dr. Andrew Edington would have celebrated his 100th birthday this past Wednesday, January 15th.
For those who do not remember, Dr. Edington was the second president of Schreiner Institute (now Schreiner University). I have fond memories of Dr. Edington and his kind wife, Marguerite.
Edington was not only a school administrator, but he was also an author, playwright, community leader and sportsman. I remember him as a storyteller who used humor to convey difficult concepts.
He was only 37 when he assumed the presidency of Schreiner Institute, serving from 1950 to 1971.
According to his 1998 obituary, "he received his bachelor's degree from Southwestern at Memphis (now Rhodes College) and a master's degree from the University of Alabama. He was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree from Austin College."
The Kerrville Times carried a big front page story on April 10th, 1951, when the school celebrated Edington's inauguration, which was held at the open-air Robbins-Lewis Auditorium on the Schreiner campus.
"The inaugural activities," the Times reported, "are expected to draw the largest gathering of educators ever assembled in the Kerrville area." Representatives from many schools, colleges, and universities from across the region attended, many in full academic regalia.
I have in my Kerr County collection a program from the inauguration. I notice Dr. Edington's brother, the Rev. D. H. Edington, who, at the time, was the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of New Orleans, gave the invocation.
A young Sam Junkin, class of '51, who would later serve as Schreiner College's third president, participated in the inauguration of Edington, according to the program. Sam Junkin presented the Schreiner Alma Mater, which, according to the program, he wrote.
My introduction to Edington came when I was a boy. A book he'd written, "The Word Made Fresh," was the subject of much discussion at the Herring household.
The book was a retelling of the Bible -- not a translation, as such, or even a paraphrase of the holy book. It was a version of the Bible which portrayed the familiar characters and stories using humor and a special insight which came from Edington's years of prison ministry, his years as a Sunday School teacher -- and, most likely, his years working with young men.
The book was discussed at our house for a simple reason: my mother, Pat Herring, typeset the entire thing. Edington entrusted our family's print shop to produce the book, and, in those days, typesetting was a difficult and slow process.
Although my parents had invested in a state-of-the-art IBM system to set type, it was still difficult work. In those days, there was no screen to look at, no auto-correct, no search and replace. Each line of the text had to be entered and coded by hand, so the manuscript could be formatted into the pages of a book, with justified paragraphs and centered page numbers.
Despite the complexity of the task, Mom enjoyed the stories, actually reading the book as she typeset it. And in the evenings, over supper, she'd retell what portions of that day's work had interested her most.
I still remember Mom laughing at Edington's retelling of the story of King David and young Abishag the Shunammite; in Edington's version, the young woman was named Suzy Q.
Edington helped lead Schreiner Institute during difficult and important times, and without his direction, the school would not be the success it is today. His humor and intelligence left a mark there, and on Kerr County as well.
Until next week, all the best.
Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who remembers hauling carton after carton of Edington's book up the rickety back stairs of Pampell's Drug Store, years ago. This column originally appeared in the Kerrville Daily Times on January 18, 2014.

You can subscribe to FREE Kerr History updates by clicking HERE.

A Hero's Grave

Last week I spent some time searching for the grave of Francisco Lemos.
Bill Sloan, an author from Dallas, who is working on a book about Francisco Lemos, Earl Garrett, and Sidney Baker, visited me at the shop and showed me a photograph of the tombstone of Lemos' grave.
Francisco Lemos, for those who do not remember, was a Kerrville boy killed in World War I, as were Sidney Baker and Earl Garrett. The three were honored by the community when three major streets were named after them.
At the time, Earl Garrett Street was the location of the post office, bordered the courthouse, and included Captain Schreiner's home and store. It was a major street. Sidney Baker Street bordered the courthouse, was the road to Fredericksburg, and included the St. Charles Hotel, and the Secor Hospital. It was a major street, too.
Francisco Lemos Street, though farther from downtown, was important, too. At the time when it was named for the fallen soldier, it was the river crossing connecting Thompson Sanatorium to Kerrville, as well as the creek crossing for all traffic headed west to Ingram, Junction and beyond. The bridge connecting Water Street and West Water Street, between Mosty's Garage and Gibson's Discount Center, if it was even built at that time, was relatively new; the bridge on Sidney Baker Street, above Louise Hays Park wasn't constructed until the 1930s. Lemos Street, too, was an important street.
Two things about the photograph surprised me: first, that Lemos was buried here in Kerrville; and second, that the grave marker appeared to be in such bad shape.
I was surprised to learn Francisco Lemos was buried here. I knew Sidney Baker and Earl Garrett were buried in France; I assumed Lemos' body rested there, as well. Of the three, his was only one brought home.

The grave of
Francisco Lemos

I was saddened, though, by the photograph: it showed a very neglected grave, with a tree snaking around the marker. It reminded me of the Dowdy children's graves, past Ingram, when I first saw them, the stones shattered and laying broken on the ground. (Those headstones have since been repaired; the four Dowdy children were murdered while watching their family's flocks, back in 1878.)

On Armistice Day, 1918, the whole community celebrated the end of the "Great War." Shots were fired into the air; the town fire bell was rung so fervently the rope broke. It was a day of great celebration.
Yet the very next day the family of Sidney Baker learned he had died; the following week, the family of Earl Garrett; and a few weeks later, the family of Francisco Lemos learned he, too, had died in the war. The hope those families felt on November 11th, 1918, gave way to grief. And the loss was shared by the whole community.
I searched for the grave in a cemetery we each have passed hundreds (if not thousands) of times: Mountain View Cemetery, on Sidney Baker Street, just downhill (and across Holdsworth Drive) from Tivy Stadium.
That little cemetery has always interested me; it's one of the oldest in our community. I was surprised, as I searched for Lemos' marker, to find tombstones in many languages. English and Spanish, of course, but also at least one marker in German, and one in French.
I stumbled upon the graves of the children of early doctors: an adult son of Dr. and Mrs. Parsons, I assumed, and the only child of Dr. and Mrs. E. E. Palmer. The Parsons family once owned the lot where our print shop now stands; Dr. Palmer's office once stood where our neighbor, Grape Juice, now stands.
Simon Ayala is buried there -- he was a one-legged cowboy who Captain Schreiner trusted with transporting great sums of gold.
Sam Glenn, the tall cowboy and stonemason who I've written about here, is also buried there.
Deborah Bates, a quiet young woman who ran a printing press in my family's shop, also rests in that cemetery.
I found what I think is Francisco Lemos' grave the day I wandered around the Mountain View Cemetery -- but I'll need to research it further. If it turns out to be the one, I hope, with the permission of his descendents, the marker can be restored or replaced with one that befits an American hero.
Until next week, all the best.
Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who finds local history in places where he doesn't expect to find it. This column originally appeared in the Kerrville Daily Times on January 11, 2014.

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Kerrville grew in cycles

The "Old Town" section of downtown Kerrville is the site of many of my happiest memories growing up years here, from about the time my folks started our printing company in 1964, through my graduation from high school in 1979. In those fifteen years, I spent a lot of time in the downtown area.
As I was studying the ages of the oldest buildings in the downtown area, it seemed like a pattern was emerging: the development of the area occurred in waves. I was paying close attention to the arrival of the railroad here in 1887, which caused a building boom, but other, smaller "booms" came before, and after, the railroad's arrival.
In the "before" column would be the Favorite Saloon building, built in 1874, which now houses Hill Country Living in the 700 block of Water.
Another building built around the same time was the second Kerr County Courthouse, which was torn down in the late 1920s: that courthouse was built in 1876. It was a two-story stone courthouse.
Next, and still before the arrival of the trains to Kerrville, came the first part of the Charles Schreiner home, on Earl Garrett. That house began in 1879; the porches were added later.
In 1880 the first part of what we now know as the Pampell's building was constructed, at the corner of today's Water and Sidney Baker's street. Portions of the building might be older; current research suggests a second story was added in 1880 to an existing building.
The oldest part of the stone building which housed Charles Schreiner Company dates from 1882, and can be seen on Earl Garrett.
Finally, in the "before the railroad" era, came the Guthrie Building, at the corner of Main and Earl Garrett Streets. The Guthrie Building was built the same year as the arrival of the railroad, 1887.
So, before the railroad: the Favorite Saloon, a stone courthouse (now gone), the first part of the Charles Schreiner home, the Pampell's building, a portion of the Charles Schreiner Company building, and the Guthrie Building.
Then, after the railroad, another spurt of buildings arose in the downtown area.
The Weston Building, now home of Francisco's Restaurant, and the Masonic Building, now home of Sheftall's Jewelers, both on Earl Garrett Street, were built in 1890, as well as the Wolfmueller Bakery building, which now houses Briscoe-Hall, in the 800 block of Water Street.
The next "spurt" of construction happened around 1907, when the Noll Building, at the corner of Water and Washington was constructed. It is now the home of River's Edge Gallery.
Then another "boom:" In 1907 the Fawcett Building was built; it now houses Sunrise Antique Mall. The Davis Building, which is the current home of Crickets, came along as the Rawson Building in 1909, as did the former Kerrville Main Street offices in the 700 block of Water Street.
The late 1920s saw the construction of the Arcadia Theater (1926); the current Kerr County Courthouse (1926); and Lee Mason's car dealership (which I incorrectly called the Cone Building), home today of Voelkel Engineering. The Baehre building, which houses Rita's Famous Tacos and Creative Cakes by Sharon, came along two years later, in 1928.
Another wave hit in the 1930s, with the construction of the former post office, home today of the Kerr Arts and Cultural Center, at the corner of Main and Earl Garrett; and the former city hall, home today of the Union State Bank.
I know I've skipped some buildings, but these landmarks are easily visible. If I've forgotten something important, please forgive me.
Cycles of construction continue, of course, today. I thought grouping the buildings by era might be helpful as you stroll the old downtown area.
Until next week, all the best.
Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who has tread the downtown sidewalks for a half-century. This column originally appeared in the Kerrville Daily Times January 4, 2014.

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