German merchant settles “school question,” adds fire protection
On 2 June 1885, the San Marcos town council declared that San Marcos had met the 1,000 population limit and declared that we would now be The City of San Marcos. That population limit brought SB 320 into play.
Because of the dispute about the form of the school question election, Benjamin Moberly Baker’s opinion was solicited. Moberly was Texas’ very first Superintendent of Public Instruction. His opinion on the law was solicited. He was brief. Both parts of the school question should have been on the ballot; therefore, that election was illegal and must be redone. Or maybe not. The city council, under Giesen as mayor, decided to recognize the validity of the former vote [to seize control of the schools] and to appoint school trustees [under SB 320]. They named William Oscar Hutchison, Dr. Edward de Steiguer, Rudolph K. Fromme, Chas. Hutchings, A.C, Mosher, and Squire Rucker. Then the council decided that trustees should be elected rather than appointed.
The name “Squire Rucker” may be unfamiliar to you. He was a Black man, appointed for the colored school. Probably Zachariah “Zack” Rucker.
Giesen called a trustees election for Monday 7 July 1885. Some were nervous about the possibility that a San Marcos free school would negatively impact the Coronal Institute private school. The ballot contained at least 10 names, possibly more because only the higher vote-getters were listed in the paper. The “Regular Ticket” was elected; the same six people that council had appointed. Fromme’s, Hutchings’, and Mosher’s vote was somewhat reduced because of the “Opposition Ticket” votes received by T.C. Johnson, F.J.C. Smith, and R.S. Fortson whose reason for running was to control the board in the interest of Coronal. A Mr. Fortson appears to have been on the ballot “contrary to his express request.”
I.H. Julian, editor of the Free Press, said, “Now let us have peace. Let Coronal Institute and the Free Schools go on and prosper in their respective spheres which are really entirely distinct.”
The new trustees wasted no time. Prof. Williams of Belton was hired as superintendent. The Free Press noted that “the house will be put in order, fitted with furniture, etc.” The house? That was a portion of Coronal, rented to avoid the necessity of erecting a school building. W.J. Spillman was president of Coronal, Prof. Williams was superintendent of the public school. Confined to the same building, Julian’s peace must have broken out; I find no reports of fisticuffs.
Coronal’s main building was partitioned to provide three classrooms. Williams thought that, with some additions, the building would suit San Marcos for some years to come. That must have been a comfort to those who feared additional taxes to build a school. Miss Laura Wilcox taught the girls. Williams taught the boys. Mrs. Mosher had charge of the smaller fry. School began on 5 October 1885. Plans for additions continued. Music rooms were to be erected “forthwith”, work to start on 19 October, furnished with instruments, and to be taught by Misses Sallie Richardson and Janie Poole. Richardson was the music instructor at Coronal. If there was competition between Coronal and the public school, the public school won out. During Stirling Fisher’s term as Coronal president 1903-1916, a new boys’ dormitory was constructed and a new main building with a girls’ dormitory. However, enrollment never justified the cost of maintaining Coronal, and in 1917 it ceased to exist. The building saw several uses over the years but, for lack of maintenance, the buildings began falling down. They were demolished in 1932-1933 to provide employment, at $1/day, to various victims of the Great Depression.
Through all this handling of the “school question” can be seen in the firm hand of Mayor Giesen who took the initiative to travel to Austin to confer with state officials. And then ignored their advice. Who was he?
Even his full name is not known but can be inferred from various records. U.S. census records put his birth in about 1847 in Rhine, Prussia. He migrated to the U.S. about 1866 and made his way almost immediately to New Braunfels, probably to connect with the German community there. He met Louise Ella Marie Wetzel and they married 29 Oct 1870. On that marriage record, he is identified as Wilhelm Giesen, a name easily and commonly anglicized to William. One of his sons is identified on his death certificate as William Walter Giesen.
In William Walter’s early life, he identified as Jr. to distinguish himself from his dad William. That’s reflected in the 1900 census. When “Jr” and wife Mabel had their first son, he became William Walter Jr., 1920 census, and dad became William Walter Sr. If our Mayor Giesen had a middle name, it is not known to me.
With a wife and a family to support, Giesen threw himself into the mercantile business in San Marcos. He would buy/sell anything for a profit. In 1881, the San Marcos newspaper said, “Mr. G. [Giesen] is a genuine, noble German, far-seeing, and can move mountains if there is money under them.”
In 1873, Giesen and Alfred vom Stein formed a mercantile partnership which survived until 1878 when vom Stein withdrew. As San Marcos postmaster, vom Stein, on 19 January 1880, applied for a post office at Wimberley’s Mill on Cypress Creek. He recommended the name Wimberleyville and Robert Moore as first postmaster, but Wimberley was the name granted. Wimberley had begun as Winters’ Mill, then Cude’s Mill, and then Wimberley’s Mill.
Giesen soldiered on. His ads listed his mercantile interests: Dry Goods and Yankee Notions, Clothing, Boots & Shoes, Hats, Hardware, Groceries, Crockery, Wooden and Willow ware, Liquors, Smoking and Chewing tobacco, Cigars, Saddlery, Paints and Oils, Stoves and Tinware, Candies, Fruits, Canned Fruits Soaps, Candles and all other Goods generally kept in a complete Retail Establishment. He also bought, for export, always prepared to pay the highest market price in CASH, for Cotton, Corn, Wool and Hides. Real estate. He could have developed his own empire on the Walmart model.
Giesen did not do all of the work himself, he hired a lot of help and, eventually, recruited his sons into the business. Giesen was the executive, deciding what to do and leaving it to others to make it happen. Thus, it was not long until he was involved in civic affairs. In 1876, he purchased a lot at the city cemetery. In 1877, at a citizens’ meeting, alarmed by fires in neighboring towns, Giesen moved that a meeting be held at Harper’s Hall to devise some means of fire protection for the city. Later, he was elected a director of the cemetery association. He was a member of a Petit Jury in San Marcos and a Grand Jury in Austin. In 1881, Giesen was a member of the city council, learning how local government worked. And it could be worked; also in 1881, the Hays County commissioners sold the old courthouse to Giesen.
In 1884, Giesen was on a committee to travel to Blanco and suggest road work to improve commercial relations between Blanco and San Marcos. The roads, trails, were awful. Muddy where they weren’t rocky. In June 1884, a reporter traveled with a group to Dripping Springs for a Masonic barbecue. They left San Marcos at 4:30 p.m., traveled till 8, then camped on the bank of a creek. At 3 the next morning, they resumed their trip and arrived at 5. Total, 5.5 hours by wagon on a rocky road. Today, we make the trip to Dripping Springs in, maybe 40 minutes, if you don’t count the time to get out of San Marcos.
In 1884, still on the city council, Giesen ran for mayor and was elected. His first task was to settle the “school question” which we covered, above. There was a pause while council approved the fire ordinance that had resulted from Giesen’s motion to devise a fire protection plan. More city ordinances ensued. It now required a license to haul people or freight for hire; license $5/year. Annual licenses for meat markets $6 and public scales $10. Opening a fire hydrant except to fight a fire, fine up to $200 in cash or hard labor on streets at 50 cents/day. Meat market scales to be checked every 3 months. Anyone operating a fraudulent scale could be fined up to $300 in cash or hard labor on streets at 50 cents/day. Large Animals were not allowed to run loose in the streets; fine is $1-3/day/animal or hard labor on streets ... .
In 1886, Giesen was elected to his second term as mayor. In 1887, he lost to Hammett Hardy. In 1888, he de- feated Roger Byrne 62-41 for Third Ward Alderman and was back on the city council. In 1889, Giesen again challenged Hardy for the mayorship and, again, lost by 27 votes. But he’s still on the city council as Third Ward Alderman, a position to which he was re-elected in 1890. In 1899, he is still, or again?, on the city council as Third Ward Alderman.
In 1906, Fergus “Ferg” Kyle died while in office representing Hays County in the Texas House of Representatives. Sensing opportunity, Giesen ran to fill the position, won, and was re-elected for a second term. He served during the full 30th Regular Session 1907-1909. As a freshman legislator, he was given a fairly light load; takes time just to find the coffee shop and the bathroom. So he was assigned to the Appropriations Committee and the Public Grounds and Buildings Committee.
When he returned to Austin for his second term, he served in the 31st RS 12 and was assigned to Appropriations, Municipal Corporations, Penitentiaries, Revenue and Taxation, and State Affairs. The RS appears not to have been long enough to accomplish all their tasks, so there was a Called Session [CS] in which he was assigned to Appropriations, Municipal Corporations, and State Affairs.
He was still in office on 13 August 1909, the day he died. He is buried in the San Marcos City Cemetery findagrave # 105336425.
You already know that Giesen’s successor was Hammett Hardy. Next week.
