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Waisenfarm

Jody Winston
May 1, 2005

Sermon
Grace and peace are gifts for you from God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.1
On Good Friday, March 21, 1845, Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels founded
the city of New Braunfels, Texas.2 During the next few months, German settlers
arrived in New Braunfels to start a new life in Texas.3
The prince, along with the business venture that he represented, planned to
provide the settlement on the banks of the Comal Springs not only with supplies
needed for everyday life but also with spiritual leaders.4, 5 For the Protestant Ger-
mans, the business venture hired Pastor Ervendberg who had arrived in the United
States around 1836 and who had married a fellow German immigrant in 1838.6
Pastor Ervendberg was very familiar to the German community in Texas. He
had held the first recorded German church service in Houston three days before
Christmass in 1839 and he continued to lead worship in Houston for about one
year before moving near La Grange. In this area of Texas for the next four years,
Pastor Ervendberg either founded or served congregations in Blumenthal, Indus-
1
Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians
1:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, Philemon 1:3.
2
Handbook of Texas Online, (http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/
articles/view/NN/hen2.html, April 2005).
3
In fact, the society’s goal was to establish a new Germany. Handbook of Texas On-
line, (http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/AA/
ufa1.html, April 2005).
4
Handbook of Texas Online.
5
Handbook of Texas Online, (http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/
articles/view/EE/fer4.html, April 2005).
6
Ibid.

1
try,7 Cat Springs, Biegel,8 La Grange, and Columbus.9 In keeping with his agree-
ment with the prince, Pastor Ervendberg traveled in 1844 along with the main
group of the German settlers from the Texas coast at Indianola to New Braun-
fels.10 When the group finally arrived in New Braunfels, the Protestant settlers
established the First Protestant Church on October 15, 1845 and they called Pas-
tor Ervendberg as their first pastor.11
The coming months did not bode well for this new settlement.12 The trials and
tribulations for the immigrants started almost immediately upon their arrival on
the banks of the Comal Springs.13 They needed to build housing and this most
basic task seemed to be out of the reach of many of the new Texans. Food also
needed to be obtained and once again, this too often proved to be a difficult activity
for many of the families. Basic sanitary conditions also needed to be looked after
but this need was often overlooked by the new community. All of these problems
were compounded by poor weather along with the flooding of both the Comal
Springs and the Guadalupe River.
A large number of the settlers in New Braunfels died in 1846 due to these and
other problems. The church records at First Protestant indicate that 348 of their
members died that year while other researchers put the number at over 500.14, 15
These deaths left sixty orphans in the community.16 Friends and relatives took
7
Industry is the oldest German settlement in Texas Handbook of Texas Online, (http:
//www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/II/hli4.html,
April 2005).
8
This town has been underwater since 1975 due to the man made reservoir that was constructed
by the Lower Colorado River Authority. Handbook of Texas Online, (http://www.tsha.
utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/BB/hvb60.html, April 2005).
9
Handbook of Texas Online.
10
Ibid.
11
Ibid.
12
Iris Shuford, Chap. Maternal Ancestors In “The Seven Timmermann Sisters: A Legend in
Their Time”, (Flexi Shuford Printing, 1976), p. 18.
13
There seems to be little or no agreement between the researchers on why the immigrants died.
Some articles indicate the deaths were due to the conditions on the ship, others think the deaths
occurred due to mosquito born illnesses contracted on the Texas coast, other still think the deaths
were due to an unidentified epidemic.
14
Rosemarie Leissner Gregory and Myra Lee Adams Godd, Chap. Tragedy In “A Journey In
Faith, The History of First Protestant Church, New Braunfels, Texas 1844 - 1995”, (Nortex Press,
Austin, TX, 1994), p. 21.
15
Chester William and Ethel Hander Geue, A New Land Beckoned, (Waco, TX: Texian Press,
1966), p. 12.
16
Gregory and Godd, A Journey In Faith, The History of First Protestant Church, New Braun-
fels, Texas 1844 - 1995, p. 21.

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the majority of these children into their families but nineteen children were never
claimed.17
Pastor Ervendberg, his wife, and three other men decided to raise these nine-
teen orphans who needed a place to live, food to eat, and an education.18 These
children lived in tents from 1846 until the orphanage was incorporated in 1848.19
The company became officially known as the Western Texas Orphan Asylum,
which was the first orphanage in the state of Texas.20, 21, 22 The children along
with the Ervendbergs in 1848, moved out to 150 acres of land that the corporation
was given on the Guadalupe River near Gruene.23 These children, like any other
children, needed to eat but due to their numbers, it seemed that the Ervendbergs
always had to cook food. One person recalled that they needed to make twenty
loaves of bread every day.24 Thanks to Pastor Ervendberg’s interest in agricul-
ture, the farm almost became self supporting and provided the orphans with cot-
ton, wood, silk, wheat, and other necessities.25, 26 Pastor Ervendberg and his wife
taught the children the normal classes of the day; in addition, they taugh house-
keeping to the girls and agriculture to boys.27, 28, 29 In 1850, the Western Texas
Orphan Asylum was re-chartered as the Western Texas State University and stu-
dents were offered education at the elementary, Latin School, and High School
levels.30
The amazing part of this story is not how the settlers took almost three months
17
Gregory and Godd, A Journey In Faith, The History of First Protestant Church, New Braun-
fels, Texas 1844 - 1995, p. 21.
18
Handbook of Texas Online, (http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/
articles/view/NN/ynn1.html, April 2005).
19
Shuford, p. 18.
20
Handbook of Texas Online.
21
Shuford, p. 13.
22
Rosemarie Leissner Gregory and Myra Lee Adams Godd, Chap. Waisenhaus In “A Journey
In Faith, The History of First Protestant Church, New Braunfels, Texas 1844 - 1995”, (Nortex
Press, Austin, TX, 1994), p. 23.
23
Handbook of Texas Online.
24
Shuford, p. 23.
25
Ibid.
26
Handbook of Texas Online.
27
Handbook of Texas Online.
28
Rosemarie Leissner Gregory and Myra Lee Adams Godd, Chap. New Wied In “A Journey In
Faith, The History of First Protestant Church, New Braunfels, Texas 1844 - 1995”, (Nortex Press,
Austin, TX, 1994), p. 27-28.
29
Handbook of Texas Online.
30
Gregory and Godd, A Journey In Faith, The History of First Protestant Church, New Braun-
fels, Texas 1844 - 1995, p. 28.

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to travel from the coast to New Braunfels nor is it how the congregation at First
Protestant was founded but instead the astonishing part of the story is how the
quickly the community came together and took care of the orphans when the com-
munity itself had been decimated by death. It is difficult to obtain accurate popu-
lation numbers for New Braunfels during 1845 and 1846, but most records place
the number at 300 to 400 immigrants by the summer of 1845.31 If the population
numbers include women and children and the death count from First Protestant is
also correct then the entire settlement was almost wiped out in 1846. And if the
numbers only include men, then close to half of the population was killed in 1846.
No matter what ratio you prefer, you will have to admit it took a concerted effort
from the community to raise these sixty orphans during these difficult years.
This concern about orphans seems to be universal in humans. Maybe we feel
the need to take care of those children who have no one to turn to because we know
in some part what it is like to be an orphan. Who has not seen or heard about a
child that was not accepted because they did not fit in? Who has not felt isolated
from others even though the room was full of people? Who has not experienced
the feeling of loneliness as if no one cared if you even existed?
God has spoken two words into our existence about orphans. The first word is
care. God reminds us that He is in control of creation and this care and concern
for the entire world includes the orphans. God expects all of the orphans to be
protected and if they are not, God clearly tells us that we will be punished.32 The
second word is abolishing. God wants to completely rid the world of all orphans
through the radical plan of adopting every human that will have God as a Father.33
These two words may be combined into one word, love. God loves everyone so
much that God does not want anyone to be without a family here in time or when
we live with God outside of time.34
Unfortunately, we do not always hear God’s word of love. Sometimes we
often do not find the time to take care of those children without parents and we
also do not give our love to those who feel like they are all alone in the world. One
simple measure of this lack of time can been seen on the Department of Family
and Protective Services Website, which listed 645 individual children that were
ready to be adopted in the state along with 200 families that were to be adopted
together.35 Many of these children have been waiting an extremely long time for
31
Handbook of Texas Online.
32
Exodus 22:19-21; Hosea 14:3; Malachi 3:5.
33
John 14:18.
34
John 3:16-17.
35
http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Adoption_and_Foster_Care/About_

4
a new family, which will love them. These numbers of course do not count the
unwanted children who were killed during their abortion. Others of us refuse to
let God take us into His family. We feel that we know more than God does thus
we refuse to listen to our Father who truly loves us. For those of us who are in
God’s family, there are some of us that do not follow the family’s rules. We forget
that if we love God, we must follow His commandments.36 In other words, God’s
grace accepts us as we are but when we are in God’s family, God’s rules apply.
God provides us with two visible signs of His love for us in a family: Baptism
and Communion. In Baptism, we are adopted into God’s family and in this new
family we will never be without someone who will take care of us. We can see this
adoption in the Sacrament of Baptism. First, the biological family gives control
of the individual over to the Church. The primary relationship for the one who is
being baptized is longer with their family but with the Church. Next, the Church
assigns the congregation its mission: the role of the parent. These two portions of
the sacrament clearly show us that we are adopted into God’s family.
In Holy Communion, we are not adopted into God’s family but instead we are
fed as family. For when we dine together at Christ’s Table, we experience our
good God who provides for us like a father. He has given us a “foretaste” of the
great meal that we will all join in, with Him, in Heaven. He has given us “our
daily bread” so that we can go out into the world and do our Father’s will.
God also has given us one non-visible blessing: Heaven. Today, many people
think the only things that will be in Heaven are God, His angels, and the believers.
The ancient Church never taught this since they believed that Jesus came to save
the entire world.37 They took His promise seriously that He will make all things
new and create a new Heaven and a new earth.38 Thus, they literally believed
that everything would be saved: people, their families, the government, and the
corporations. We, along with all of the orphans, will have the ability to experience
our families without all of the problems caused by sin and evil because even our
families will be saved by Jesus.
God’s love for us will never end. He will not leave us orphaned.39 Regrettably,
human often break their promises to each other and cause their own children to
become orphans.
In the early part of the 1850s, Pastor Ervendberg had an affair at the orphanage
Adoption_and_Foster_Care/default.asp
36
John 14:15, 21.
37
John 3:16.
38
Revelation of John 21:1-5.
39
John 14:18.

5
with one of the young girl students.40 After the news broke and scandalized New
Braunfels, then the fourth largest city in the state, Ervendberg publicly asked his
wife for forgiveness.41, 42 She forgave him. In the fall of 1855, Ervendberg asked
his wife and their three daughters to go ahead of him and their two sons into
another state so that the family could start a new life.43 A few weeks later instead
of going to his wife, Ervendberg ran away to Mexico City with the girl who was
now seventeen and his two sons.44
The new life that we are called to is not to run away from our family into a
foreign country. God has not told us to join the French Foreign Legion. Instead,
God has given us a different task. God wants us to stay here in this place. We are
to work with God so that no one will be without a family either here in time or
when we join Christ with the rest of the believers in the greatest feast of all time.
“The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.”

References
Handbook of Texas Online. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/
online/articles/view/NN/hen2.html, April 2005. s.v. “New
Braunfels, TX”.

Handbook of Texas Online. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/


online/articles/view/AA/ufa1.html, April 2005. s.v.
“Adelsverein”.

Handbook of Texas Online. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/


online/articles/view/EE/fer4.html, April 2005. s.v. “Er-
vendberg, Louis Cachand”.

Handbook of Texas Online. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/


online/articles/view/II/hli4.html, April 2005. s.v. “Indus-
try, TX”.
40
Handbook of Texas Online.
41
Ibid.
42
Handbook of Texas Online.
43
Handbook of Texas Online.
44
Ibid.

6
Handbook of Texas Online. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/
online/articles/view/BB/hvb60.html, April 2005. s.v.
“Biegel, TX”.

Handbook of Texas Online. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/


online/articles/view/NN/ynn1.html, April 2005. s.v. “New
Wied”.

Gregory, Rosemarie Leissner and Myra Lee Adams Godd. Chap. Tragedy In “A
Journey In Faith, The History of First Protestant Church, New Braunfels,
Texas 1844 - 1995”. Nortex Press, Austin, TX, 1994, p. 21.

. Chap. Waisenhaus In “A Journey In Faith, The History of First Protestant


Church, New Braunfels, Texas 1844 - 1995”. Nortex Press, Austin, TX,
1994, p. 23.

. Chap. New Wied In “A Journey In Faith, The History of First Protestant


Church, New Braunfels, Texas 1844 - 1995”. Nortex Press, Austin, TX,
1994, pp. 27–31.

Shuford, Iris. Chap. Maternal Ancestors In “The Seven Timmermann Sisters: A


Legend in Their Time”. Flexi Shuford Printing, 1976, pp. 13–40.

William, Chester and Ethel Hander Geue. A New Land Beckoned. Waco, TX:
Texian Press, 1966.

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