The Story of Two Families

An Original Short Story by Susan Rektorik Henley

(C) Copyright 2000

 Chapter One--A Journey South

The ear-piercing whistle of the train signals the departure of the train from Laredo, Texas. Steam bellows from the stack as the mighty locomotive is throttled up and begins to muscle forward first the coal car, then three passenger cars, and then several freight cars. The caboose jolts forward and down the track signally the final farewell of this train from Laredo. Out and across the flat brush land of central south Texas the train makes its way. From time to time it passes through the very center of a small town. These towns have been built around the railroad. This railroad brings life to these communities with the names of Hebrronville, Realitos, Benavides, and San Diego. It is at San Diego that the tracks veer to the east, pass through the town of Alice and head toward the port city of Corpus Christi.

Seated on a right-side seat near the middle of the first passenger car is a middle-aged couple. The man has lively, piercing dark eyes and a large mustache. He definitely has a European look about him and his hair and skin are darker than those of the other passengers on the train. Although he is not of great height, his is muscular and strong. The sleeves of his dark suit fit snugly over his upper arm muscles made large and strong by years of physical labor and the shaping of hot iron with a hammer and anvil.

Next to him sits his wife. It is difficult to discern if she is a lovely lady or not for there is a scowl on her brow and her lips are pursed into a rather dour expression. At first it would appear that she is rather dowdily dressed in a plain black blouse and long skirt; however, upon closer examination one can see that there is fine tucking and ribbon work both on the bodice of the blouse and also along the lower edge of the skirt. A touch of white can be seen around her ankles where the lace from her petticoats peek out. White knuckles and purple fingers evidence just how tightly she grasps her purse with both hands. This handbag, this small leather purse with a drawstring top, holds a large roll of currency...all the cash proceeds from the sales of their home and farm lands in Williamson County, Texas.

The year is 1907and this couple is TOM AND JOHANNA MAREK MRAZEK. The severe look on the face of Mrs. Mrazek could well be caused by the fact that they were uprooting everything which they had worked for and built up in over a twenty-year period and were heading off to start all over again. The cash in her purse, that roll of bills, was all she had of the past and would have to pay for what would be her future life.

How could Johanna Mrazek not reflect back on the year 1880 when she and Tom had sold everything but a few personal items, left behind their families and Traveled first by train to Bremen, Germany, and then by steamship across the Atlantic Ocean to the Port of Galveston, Texas? Their tiny daughter, Anna (later called Annie), the only child still surviving, had made that trek with them. Of their other child, they only had their memories and a small grave marker in their home village. Those were sad times.

Then, just for a moment, the tightness left the face of Johanna Mrazek as she acknowledged that they were at least a lot better off at the outset of this adventure than they were for the first one. When they arrived in Galveston, Texas, they had only the clothing which they wore, a few treasured items stowed away in large, handmade wooden chest which was put together with square nails, and a little money. Based on the advice that they received in letters from friends who had immigrated before, they had purchased new clothes in Bremen, Germany, and packed away their peasant dress in the large chest. They would not be ridiculed for their garb as others had been before them.

They were to travel to Williamson County. Texas, where their friends from back home had settled but they would have to find a way to get there. There were trains but the expenditure for the tickets was the loss of cash with nothing remaining after the ride. No, they would purchase oxen and a wagon. These assets they would own and use as they started their lives in this new land. Tom took his time and viewed a considerable number of young castrated bulls before he selected two with solid, muscular bodies and gentle temperaments. They also bought a few pots and pans, blankets, and food items which would have to serve them as they made their was half way across Texas to their new home. That trip had been long, dusty, and hot. At least now they rode in the comfort of a train.

The train was now passing though an area which the Spaniards had named “Agua Dulce” or “Sweet Water.” Since the 1700’s, this area had been an oasis for those who crossed the unforgiving brush and grass lands. The water which pooled here not only sated the thirst of human travelers for many years in the past but also white tail deer, wolves, coyotes, other wildlife as well as great herds of wild horses whose ancestors were the escaped stock of the Spaniards. This land was part of that which had been called the Wild Horse Desert. Soon a trestle would carry the train over Banquete Creek, another important source of water for the area in the past. For eons, a great number of alligators, snakes, and other reptiles made their homes in the slow, murky green waters of the creek and in the thorny thicket which covered its banks.

This railroad track had been laid in the 1870’s. Prior to this time, the only forms of mass transportation available were the stagecoach lines and ships into the harbor of Corpus Christi. Why right there at Banquete Creek, Native Americans killed all but one man of the crew which laid the track. This had not only been hard country, it had been hostile country.

If Johanna Mrazek was reflecting on the past, Tom Mrazek was undoubtedly looking forward to the future. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity which he could not pass up. He had six sons and each needed a way to make a good living. He also had five daughters and each of them needed to establish themselves well too. Nueces County, Texas, was opening up and there was land and opportunities available for any and all who were willing to take on the challenge. The land around what was now called Robstown, Texas, had been part of “The Famous Driscoll Ranch” for many years. But, a railroad right of way had been designated to the south from Robstown, Texas, through the lands ranched by men with names such as Driscoll, King, Kenedy, and Armstrong.

Progress and development was the rule of the day. Money changed hands. A railroad line would run down to Brownsville, Texas. The Saint Louis, Brownsville and Mexican Railway, started to build their line in 1902 and Robstown had been established as a station for receiving material for construction. In about 1904, Mr. Robert Driscoll made a trade to sell the 10,000 acres lying west of the Saint Louis, Brownsville and Mexican Railroad with the German-American Land Company, who was to sell the land. Their efforts were not successful so a trade was made with the George H. Paul Land Company of Washington, Iowa, to sell the land. It was Mr. Paul and his great art of advertisement and merchandising which brought to the area many Czech Texans such as Mr. and Mrs. Tom Mrazek as well as other adventurous people from around Texas as well as from distant states. Nueces County was being publicized as a “land of milk and honey” and a “farmer’s dream come true.“ Why it even said the deep black clay soil of the coastal prairie was so rich that it would never be farmed out, never need fertilizer.

Mr. George Paul was not only a shrewd businessman but also a market master who knew how to groom his market, pull in the prospective clients, and drive the deal to a swift and profitable conclusion. When Tom and Johanna Mrazek arrived in Robstown, Mr. Paul was still establishing the groundwork for his marketing strategy. In 1907, Mr. and Mrs. Mrazek were able to obtain a room in the small, two story hotel; and, there were a number of Salesmen available to guide and show them the land. By the spring of 1908, Mr. Paul's plan for success would be fully implemented. The Paul Land Company would bring many a prospective buyer in on special trains operated out of Kansas City, Kansas, and Saint Louis, Missouri.

These perspective buyers were mostly northern people from Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas. Many of them had little, if any, farming experience. Upon the arrival of these special trains, consisting mostly of Pullman cars and dining cars, the trains were parked conveniently to unload the crowds. These guests would have to sleep and dine on the trains for, at that time, the number of visitors far exceeded the space available in the small hotel. Carriages and buggies were provided to the guests for their use in viewing the land. Each group was expertly guided by a trained salesman and they made their tour more or less closely guarded by their guide.

In the month of December 1907, the foundations were poured for two residences and a large brick building which would be called the George H. Paul Building. In that next spring, that boisterous spring of 1908, Mr. Paul and his land company would hold an auction sale of the lots in town and one of the two residences which he had built was the grand prize at the drawing.

But back in 1907, when Mr. and Mrs. Mrazek arrived, the community was still tiny and the choices of available land great. They would purchase farm acreage about a half mile to the east of Robstown where they would build their home as well as a lot in town very close to what was the intersection of the old and new railways. It was on this lot that Tom and his sons would construct their blacksmith shop. The iron and coal which they would need would be delivered almost to their doorstep by the trains.

End of Chapter One

This is a special story for me. For in it I will pull together people of whom I have already written and tell the tale of a time when dreams of success were made into reality. Over the years, I have collected oral histories, maps, newspaper articles, historical commission bulletins, books, obituaries, and even the records of a land survey conducted in 1805(when a request was made by a Spaniard to have the land in this area granted to him, his sons, and their overseer). I have walked and traveled this county since I was a child and have studied the faces of those who appear in this story in old photographs of them. I even knew some of them (sat in their laps, loved them and was loved by them). Unfortunately, I cannot vow that everything which I have written here actually occurred as written because the day-to-day details have been lost with the passage of lives and times. What I can assure you is that this story is based on real people, a real place, and a specific time. The details are filled in as accurately as I can based on considerable research, study and meditation. Also, the “color” is added based on my understanding of this land and my love of these people, their lives, and what they achieved. For now I am calling this “The Story of Two Families.” Someday, I might decided on another more catchy title; but, it will always remain the story of two families.

Susan Rektořík Henley

Kdo chce s vlky byti, musí s vlky vyti!

"If you run with the wolves, you must howl with the wolves!"

 Remember who your people are, keep and tell their stories.

Rekindle and keep the fires of the culture alive!