Victoria history group takes people through cemetery journey
Victoria Preservation Inc. takes groups on historical journey through cemeteries
Kathleen Welder Carey, back, and Susan Cohen portray Elizabeth and Adeline Welder, the daughters of John Welder, for a historical cemetery tour on Saturday night.
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MEET VICTORIA'S HISTORICAL FIGURES
Charles John Beyer was one of the 50 "selectmen" from Victoria County who died during World War I. His story reveals the surprising fate of most of those servicemen.
Eugene Ryan was a native of Bee ...
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MEET VICTORIA'S HISTORICAL FIGURES
Charles John Beyer was one of the 50 "selectmen" from Victoria County who died during World War I. His story reveals the surprising fate of most of those servicemen.
Eugene Ryan was a native of Bee County who came to Victoria as a barber. He married the youngest daughter of Adam Jatho and inherited the family's undertaking business. Ryan was an avid poker player.
John H. Clegg was one of the founders of the Groce-Parrish Company, which later became Groce-Wearden. His wife and five sons were well-known figures in Victoria.
Joseph Bianchi was one of Texas' foremost spur and bit makers. His famous spurs, many decorated with Mexican silver coins, bring thousands of dollars today when they come on the market. Bianchi was loved and admired by all who knew him.
Louis Haller was one of nine children. Louis and his brother Joe would become merchant princes of Victoria, establishing Haller Brothers Dry Goods Company here and in Yoakum.
Sylvain Sitterle is one of the famous "Round House" Sitterles. Sitterle served seven terms on the city council. Five years later, he was elected mayor and served 12 years.
Elizabeth Welder was known as "Lizzie" by family and friends. She was the oldest child of the original John Welder. Her brothers were John J. and James F. Welder. Lizzie lived the last 20 years of her life in California.
Adeline Welder was the youngest daughter of the large John Welder family. She was known to Victorians as Miss Lina Welder. Like her sister, Lizzie, she never married, living her entire life in the first of the great Welder mansions to be built in Victoria.
Bertha Haller Praeger was the sister of Joe and Louis Haller, and the wife of architect Fritz Praeger. Bertha died three days after giving birth to twins. A woman of uncommon beauty, the community was shocked at her death; she was only 27.
Rosa Sitterle Fritz was born in Victoria to parents who came to Texas from Alsace-Lorraine. Rosa married Louis A. Fritz, founder of the local volunteer fire department and Fritz's Confectionery. She remained a life-long member of St. Mary's Catholic Church and one of its most tireless communicants.
Eliza Hughes Welder was the only surviving daughter of the fiery Patrick Hughes, a pioneer rancher and cattleman in Victoria County. Eliza eloped with John J. Welder in 1883, with her father in hot pursuit. Eliza's daughter, Patti, died in the Welder Mansion on North Main shortly before her 18th birthday.
Genevieve Power Stevenson was a pillar of society during two-thirds of the twentieth century. One of five surviving daughters of Edward and Pattie Field Power, Genevieve lived to the ripe old age of 90 after donating her home to the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
SOURCE: Victoria Preservation Inc.
Flashlights danced around grave sites Saturday night at Catholic cemeteries 1 and 2 in Victoria.
As guided lights led 12 tour groups to different tombstones in the cemeteries, tourists got a chance to learn through re-enactors about the lives of 12 long-ago Victoria figures.
The event is put on by the Victoria Preservation Inc. once a year.
One of those on tour was Lisa Bridges, whose eyes stayed attentive on Charles John Beyer, one of the 50 Victoria men who died during World War I.
"It will be interesting to learn about the people," she said before the start of the tour. "It's part of Victoria's history. I've always been interested in its history."
Beyer's thick Texas accent grabbed many of those in tour group 11 as he imparted the story of his untimely death from the Spanish Influenza.
Beyer wasn't the only one to pass away from the Spanish flu, the re-enactor said.
Of the 50 selectmen sent to fight the war, 60 percent of them died of the flu and never got a chance to fight.
Large trees eerily loomed overhead as each group continued to make its way to each different grave site.
One of those grave sites was that of Elizabeth and Adeline Welder.
The two were the daughters of John Welder, a rancher and banker who was the president of the Victoria National Bank for a little more than 25 years.
Susan Cohen, who portrayed Adeline, and Kathleen Welder Carey, who portrayed Elizabeth, are with the Texas Historical Commission.
Carey has a particular interest in role playing the part of the Welder sisters because they are her ancestors, she said.
"It's been a lot of fun," she said, with a laugh. "We've been doing a lot of ad lib."
The tours are something the preservation society members have enjoyed doing for the past couple of years, said Gary Dunnam, executive director of the group.
"It's part of the outreach for the community of Victoria," he said. "It keeps the history of Victoria out on the front."
