Zerwer, William M. Richard, Will, Ed, Chris, Mary, and John were all children of William and Anna. Richard married Lela Wilson and they were my mother's parents. Will had several children and I think they are the ones who inherited the Alma property in the long run. Mary lived on the "homeplace" all her life and never married. Ed, interestingly, married Lela's sister Dora and they never had children although they raised a boy. I really don't know anything about Chris and John except Mother used to mention Uncle Chris. I think John went off to California but may have returned later and be buried there. I remember Mary well. We used to visit her often. I was always a bit afraid of Polly and I think she died before Mary. I, too, recall Mary being in a nursing home at the very end. Unfortunately I do not have any pictures. When she died, her brother Will inherited everything and they did not share anything. His wife Christine outlived Will but I don't think they ever spent any time in Alma. After Will died in Arlington, TX, his son Bob did have a trailer on the Alma property. Bob also had a sister Lutene who was about our age. Bob was older. And there might have been another brother who might have had something wrong with him. Mary had a friend by the last name of Durbin who helped her a lot. Then there was a boy younger than us named Johnny who was a big help to her--ran errands, etc. There was a huge barn with all kinds of old farm equipment and there was a pond (tank?) somewhere on the property. Mary could do delicate hand work and I remember her cooking and I think it was on a wood stove. Also she raised ducks or geese sometimes as we had them occasionally. I did not like them. A couple of years ago three cousins and I drove from Dallas down to Alma and found the cemetery but did not get out as it was too weedy and hot and we were afraid of chiggers. We had been to lunch at the tea room in Ennis. Drove by the old farm place and loved the sunflower field across the road. I would guess that if Bob Zerwer, Will's son, is not still living, someone in his family owns the farm. I'm sure tax records would be interesting. Don't know when we will get back to Texas. Since Gran died and then her baby sister who never had children and lived in Sherman died last August, there are only cousins left. Beverly Alford 1900 Census Zerwer, William Sept 1854 45 m18yr Germany Germany Germany 1884 16yr in US Farmer Anna Apr 1860 40 m18 6-6 Russia Germany German 1884 16 yr in US Herman son Feb 1883 17 Germany Germany Russia at school Edward son Feb 1885 15 TX Germany Russia at school Mary dau Aug 1887 12 TX Germany Russia William son Sept 1890 9 TX Germany Russia John son Feb 1894 6 TX Germany Russia Robert son W.M. Feb 1900 3/12 TX Germany Russia 1910 Zerwer, H.W. [1883] carpenter house builder living with Till and Lillie and Rupert Ruffin Zerwer, Chris J. 63 married 2x [1847] 1872 migrate Germany birth Mary 47 m1 10 years. [1900] Alice 27 1920 1920 United States Federal Census > Texas > Ellis > Justice Precinct 3 > District 133 Zerwer, William 65 [1854] wd Prussia German Prussia German Mary Emma dau 32 [1888]TX Russia German Samara?(German) Willie H 29 [1891] TX Retail Groceries John A 25 [1894] TX Richard E. [1877] born in Michigan wife Lelia(born in Tx) 1920 United States Federal Census > Texas > Denton > Justice Precinct 4 > District 62 image 11 Children: Wilburn 17, Blanche 15, Richard 13 all born in Texas NOTE: Richard Zerwer is mentioned in 1901 pages with Isa Derden. The Ennis Weekly Local April 12 , 1902 Vol XVII No 15 Creechville. Mr. Richard Zerwer and Miss Lelia Wilson were married Tuesday night. The bride is an accomplished young lady and has many admirers. The groom is a prosperous young farmer and a son of C. Zerwer, one of our best citizens. We join with their many friends in wishing them a long and prosperous life.They were married at Ennis. [Lelia daughter of Samuel and Mary Wilson. Brother to Newt.] The Ennis Weekly Local Thursday, Sept 11 , 1919 Vol XXXV No 37 Miss Ann Zerwer, a teacher in the Fort Worth Schools, who is a guest in the home of Joe Alexander, was stricken with paralysis Thurs night. Her condition is reported practically unchanged. 1900 United States Federal Census > Texas > Ellis > Justice Precinct 3 > District 21 image 19 born in Michigan 23 born in 1876 parents Germany Servant in Pittman household - farm laborer John A. served in WWI -- died Mar 4, 1938 http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/tx/ellis/obits/z/zerwer176gob.txt John was Postmaster Oct 8, 1916 - March 8, 1917 When John died, it says he was survived by his father, one sister and 4 brothers. The census above only lists 1 sister and 1 brother. William's tombstone: Sept 19, 1854 - Apr 2, 1939 Anna Apr 18, 1860 - July 7, 1903 John Arthur Feb 4, 1894 - Mar 4, 1938 ======= John Arthur Zerwer wrote the words to "Just Before the Close of School, Teacher" a parody on "Just Before the Battle, Mother" and using that melody. ========= Per Bruce Fowler from Donna The shed in the backyard [Fowler house] was the original settler's cottage of the Zerwer family that was built in 1887. It was originally three rooms, the existing portion being two rooms and a third kitchen off the back that was not saved. The Zerwer's built on to the house around the original cottage, and when there house was torn down, Bruce saved the original structure. ===== per Mattie Bell Sands Elliott The mother, Anna, died early, John Arthur and Mary lived with their dad, William. William was getting old and was sick, John Arthur was also ill, and they think he had planned to kill them all. He had laid out clothes for Dad, Mary and himself to be buried in -- and a man and woman who lived nearby came to visit -- saw him pacing up and down, but they kept talking. Suddenly they heard a shotgun, and he had killed himself. Mary even told that she thought he had intended to kill them all. As you can see Mary lived to be 92. The Zerwer place was just south of Alma on the left going towards Corsicana. NOTE:killed 11 or 12 Zerwer Mattie Bell -- John Arthur 1938 --- went in there Daddy's clothes laid out, Sister's clothes, his clothes laid out for burial. Shot gun -- kill all 3 of them. family lived near -- man & woman went to visit Mary -- sitting in front of house visiting -- walking back and forth -- heard the gun when sent off -- Mary herself, he intended to kill all of us. Daddy getting old, he was sick -- ================= My Daddy. Claude Ruffin, mentions the son, Willie, when he was writing his WWI letters ---but I'm not sure what happened to him. I reread the note from my friend, whose Mother was Mary's niece, and I don't think she knows this story. She said John went off to California and then was just buried there..... and I won't ever put something like that on-line, but just thought I'd share it with you. I don't know that it has anything to do with "orientation" as Bruce Fowler suggested. It might have been connected to the anti-German feeling though -- although I doubt that in Alma, as he had already served in WWI. There were already so many Czech people, I doubt there was any feeling like that, do you? ======== I love that story about Miss Mary. She was such a nice person. She is buried in the old Alma Cemetery. Daddy and Uncle Hugh took me and Carolyn to the cemetery. All the kids in Alma would go to her house to play. We would play chase, climb trees , hide and seek,and Red Rover, Red Rover. I remember I was so fascinated with a parrot she had. It was beautiful and she had it loose in the house. It would sit on it's stand and talk a lot. She called it Polly. I wonder what ever happened to it? Those things live to 100 years old. I have a friend who inherited one when her mother died. It is over 50 years old. Here's another mystery. Maybe someone in Miss Mary's family has that thing. Doris Collard Whitlock [============= Carolyn wrote this: I didn't know Miss Mary's name was spelled Zerwer, but of course it was a German name. This is probably why we played at her house: When we moved to Alma from Dallas, for a short while we lived in a house that was owned by Doris Jean's grandmother (her Granny Anderson who lived in Ennis) before we moved to the other larger house nearer the school. The Anderson's house was on the road that led to Miss Mary's house, a short walk down the road a ways and around a curve. Miss Mary had a parrot that talked and on occasion she would invite us in to see the parrot. There was a story that kids told that a crazy man lived upstairs. I have no idea what that was about. I loved Miss Mary, and playing during those times on her farm were some of my happiest childhood memories. I loved it when Doris Jean and I would go alone because Miss Mary would sit out on the large porch with us and talk and play with us. When Mother went, of course, she and mother talked with each other and Mother took all her attention. For many years in my memory there were large swaying trees in Miss Mary's front yard. Once Russ and I went to Alma (probably in the early 80's) to show him around, and was I ever surprised to see that the huge, swaying trees were mesquite trees. Actually, they were very large, pretty mesquite trees, but nothing like the picture in my memory! ====== Bruce Miss Mary Zerwer's house was one of my favorite childhood memories. When I look back upon it I could easily imagine it being in a movie. The house was built in 1913, from the way it looked. Ben Cave did the remodel that year. The old part of the house was the Moseley (sp) settlers cottage, built in 1887. Originally there were two rooms on the front, with a door and a window in each, 4 pane over 4 pane facing onto the porch which went across the front and a third room at the back, on the room to the left. The house was built of 1' thick 12" wide planks, nailed at the bottom to the beam and at the top to a 2x4 top plate. Batten strips were nailed vertically to cover the gap between boards. Doors were four vertical panels with cast iron rimlocks and white porcelain knobs. At the gable ends the boards were angled with the rake of the roof. This gave us the angle of the roof to reconstruct it. The roof was wood shingle. The front porch faced the road. In 1913 the front two rooms were turned perpendicular to the road. Teams of mules were used to pivot the structure on log rollers. The kitchen was pulled back and put in line with the two front rooms. A space was left between them which was spanned with beams, floored walled and roofed. This became a dining room. All of this lined up and became the left side of the house. The rooms were approximately 14' square. The dining room was not as deep and it seemed more like a rectangle in plan. It would have been the 14' dimension of the other 3 rooms, but only 10 or 12' wide. To the right of this structure two large rooms were built with an 8' hall between them and the existing (now 4) rooms. I remember liking the wallpaper in this hall a lot. It was a tattersall plaid pattern. There was a nice wide stairway, stained and varnished situated in the rear of this hall, on the right side as one entered the front door. You could see the underside as it sloped up toward the front of the house. This stair went up to an unfinished attic story. Between the two large front rooms were a pair of vertical 4-panel pocket doors. All of the new woodwork was stained dark and varnished. The 1887 rooms had app. 8'ceilings. The 1913 house had app. 10' ceilings. A two foot extension was added to all of the left side of the house to match the hall and two new rooms. There was a new front porch with four classic columns, and a shallow hip roof. There was a large rear screen porch (facing south) with 3 turned wooden posts and gingerbread brackets. I think the well was on this porch. There was a side porch(original front porch with shallow hipped roof) with 4 turned wooden posts with gingerbread brackets. Above all of the main block there rose a hip roof of wood shingles with a hipped roof dormer facing north, the same facing east, and the same facing west. These three dormers each had a pair of double hung, one over one pane windows. To the left of the house was a large circle driveway with the center filled with jasminium nudiflorum, winter jasmine. To the left of this was the large barn, with cupola and weathervane. There was a corral in front of this barn. To the front of the barn and corral, near the entry drive was a small carriage house. One of the things I found interesting in the 1960's and 1970's was a 1918 Buick chassis with wooden wheel spokes that had a foot diameter hackberry growing through it. At the back, between the house and barn was the henhouse. Approximately 10'x14' with a single slope shed roof, high side to the house, long axis parallel to the house. Between the henhouse, but farther back was a row of small outbuildings. Among these were the blacksmith shop, washhouse and other storage bldgs. All hinges, ironwork and other metalwork was made on the farm at the blacksmith shop. The Zerwers were talented. There was another large barn beyond the tall front barn. Near the tank was a windmill. In 1918 the Zerwers installed a Delco system for electric lights in the house. I remember the glass batteries of the Delco plant being in one of the outbuildings near the blacksmith shop. recollections of Bruce Fowler, grandson to Alyce Whitfill, lifelong friend of Mary Zerwer. I remember the playful arguing they used to do about who had lived in Alma the longest. Because grandmother had been born here, Neil's Valley, actually and her grandparents came to Alma in 1870 she relished her place in history. Because Miss Mary was two years older she claimed to have been there longer. There was some kind of technicality that got them to declare it a draw, every time. I think Miss Mary was two years old when they moved to Alma. I used to love to go with Grandmother Whitfill to Miss Marys because of its interesting abundance, of everything. There was so much inside and outside the house, and everwhere was the deep cooling shade of trees. Before going inside I just want to remember the handmade, white painted picket fence gate set into a woven wire fence on cedar posts that went across the front of the place. At either side grew the deep green sharp daggered Spanish Yucca. Miss Mary and grandmother Alyce told me that when they were little girls, cattle drives used to come in front of the house and stray cattle would wander into the front yard. That is why they put up the fence and the yucca. There were two cedar trees set in the front between the gate and the house, framing the front door from the first approach. Beneath them grew a thick tangle of blue flowering vinca, covering the ground, with occasional patches of bare earth where the chickens had scratched and rolled, taking dust baths, or where some of the dogs had done the same thing. That same dusty soil when dry became a mire of black gumbo when wet. Miss Mary told me how my Grandfather, John William Fowler, tried to get the surrey through to pick up his prospective bride, Arlesia Josephine Hughes, in 1903 to take her to Ennis to the church to get married. He got so stuck he had to go back and get saddle horses for their trip. This also reminds me that the Zerwers still had their fringed surrey, in the carriage house, until 1939 when a man came through buying them up because he thought there was going to be another war and there might not be any gasoline. The front gate had a latch made by Mr. Zerwer in the blacksmith shop, I was told. I remember how when you lifted it to open the gate there was a circle of iron about 2" across, forged from the iron of the latch and in a horizontal position to the strap of the latch which was vertical as the plane of the pickets. This struck me as a beautiful thing because of the way it provided a large surface for lifting without the weight or mass of iron. I also knew of no one else having anything like it. Lifting that latch took one into a different world. When David and I visited Williamsburg, Virginia in the 1980's I remember thinking that it all reminded me of the Zerwer place at Alma. We, grandmother and however many grandchildren she might bring that day, usually walked around and entered the house at the side porch, which faced east . There were two doors and two windows on this porch and an assemblage of chairs, rockers, and projects. If not already outside, or in the kitchen garden at the rear of the outbuildings, with its row upon row of peas, beans, corn, okra, squash, onions, beets etc. Miss Mary would usually be in the room to the left. The upper two panels of the door to this room had been taken out and replaced by a single pane of glass, at some time. I later realized that this was and had been since 1887 the main living or sitting room. To the left was a vintage 1940's sofa beneath the window. To the right a four panel door to the front bedroom, with a large handmade wardrobe, well built, and handcrafted from the packing crate of a neighbors upright piano. Miss Mary lamented that "so and so" got a new piano and all she got was the crate. But what a piece of furniture was made from that crate! This wardrobe was an impressive piece of furniture and bore a raked pediment with keystone finial, all outlined with simple molding, and it occupied the space between the door and the corner of the room. Straight ahead was the wall with the wood heating stove, although its pipe diverted to the left and headed to a flue high in the wall adjacent to the dining room. On this wall to the left was a door to the hall. The fourth wall of this sitting room had the flue, born on 2-2x12 verticals with brick above the 6-7' level. On the right of the wall was the door to the dining room. There were various straight chairs and maybe a rocker in this room and whatever Miss Mary was doing at the time, shelling peas, drying flower seeds, etc.. At the front of the house was Miss Mary's room, although later I realized that this had been her parents bedroom. Both this room and the sitting room were sealed with a narrow beaded board, common circa 1900. The ceilings were of 4" wide flooring plank.(circa 1913). The sitting room walls were painted white and the front bedroom was "hard oil" or varnish. The original single plank construction of the 1887 house had been furred out with app 2"x4" verticals(rough cut ) on which the interior horizontal bead board walls were nailed. Remember I dismantled, then re-assembled, this 1887 house from the1913 addition in the 1980's. The sitting room had originally been whitewashed on the inside, before the interior bead board walls were later added.The exterior battens were removed and horizontal siding placed over the board walls. This had been done before the 1913 remodel. Before 1913, I was told the Zerwer children slept in the warmth of the attic of the 3 room house. Miss Mary's parents bedroom held an impressive array of "store bought" late Victorian furniture, circa 1885. If you entered from the sitting room, as in my memory, straight ahead , but off center to the left , was centered in its wall a large app 3' wide (1over1 pane)window (1913) to the new front porch. It had a roller shade and simple muslin curtains. Beneath this window, I think, was her sewing machine. To the right of the window was the high headboard (app6-7') of the bed. It was stained dark and there were scrolls and flourishes on its upper panel. To the left of the window was a lower height bed and its headboard is app 3'. I was told in the 1970's by Miss Mary that her parents brought this bed from Germany with them. I have the bed and I believe it to be American made. It does appear to have no finish at all on the wood. On the wall to the left was the door to the hall. The wardrobe to the high bed set was on this wall, to the left of the hall door. The fourth wall of this room held the dresser that matched the high bed and wardrobe. This dresser had a square wooden hatbox attached to one side and a tall vertical mirror to the other. I was told by Miss Mary that her parents bought this bedroom set in Chicago, and brought it with them to Alma when they moved and bought the farm. If you were to go out of this bedroom into the hall straight ahead would be the door to the new parlor, set in a wall covered with a simple tattersall plaid wallpaper. Look to the right and you would see the new glass front door with its pair of floor length glass sidelights. Look to the left and you would see the quarter sawn empire sideboard that Miss Mary always said came from "Grandma Reeds". There would be two doors beyond in this wall, one going back into the sitting room and the next going into the dining room. Across from this would be the rear facing stair with a door at its base into what was built as Miss Marys bedroom in 1913. At the back of the hall was the door to the screen porch with its well and off of it I believe was the door to the kitchen. The large front room or new parlor had the matching (1over1 pane) window on the front porch, with muslin curtains. The opposite wall held a centered pair of 4 panel, dark stained and varnished pocket doors. On the wall to the left of the pocket doors was a white and gold( app 6" wide) framed 16x20 photograph of one of Miss Mary's ancestors, after whom she was named. This photo had been originally made in Germany and was of a lady in a large, actually immense, hoop skirt standing with her hands on the back of a straight chair. It was an impressive photo. I think I saw a turn of the century copy of a mid 19th century tintype, framed and made in the US. There was a table (library type) beneath this photo, but actually along the wall to the hall. On this table was a cloth and a variety of vases with peacock feathers, and kewpie dolls of chalkware. There was an iron bed, painted white, with a rounded top headboard and high footboard and the most curlicues imaginable in this room. I remember Miss Mary giving Mrs Rush this bed in the 1970's and of how proud Mrs Rush was of it. Her Antique! On the fourth wall, across from the hall entry door, there were two large (1over1 pane) windows with a panel of wall between them, and white muslin curtains. This room was papered with a light color paper, walls and ceiling, but I do not remember any distinguishable characteristic. This new 1913 section was built with 2x4 balloon frame construction and sheathed with 10" horizontal, L-butt, overlap shiplap. Floors were of heart pine. Most of the wood work in the Zerwer house was finished with Linseed oil. The room at the rear of the 1913 addition was built as Miss Mary's room. In it, centered, when I remember in the 1970's, was an iron and brass bed. The bed was painted white and had vertical rods but was surmounted with a brass horizontal rail and ball finials of brass at each corner. On the side wall were two windows matching those in the front room. Between them hung framed diplomas from the Alma High School. I don't remember whether there were one or two windows in the rear wall. I do remember roller shades and muslin curtains. I also can't remember what type of electric light fixtures, but I think they were porcelain ceiling mounts with green cloth covered twisted wire drops or cords and brass sockets with a simple milk glass shade in the main rooms. I believe there were wool carpets in these two rooms, but I can't remember anything about the pattern or color. The dining room was simple and held a long farm table and was lined with bentwood and simple ladderback farm chairs. At the hall end was a china cabinet that was filled with dishes and curios. I remember many little china figurines in this cabinet. There was a (4over4 pane) window at its outside wall. The door to the kitchen, from the dining room, was centered and straight ahead was the kitchen stove, with a (4over4pane) window beyond.. This room was about 14' square and was part of the 1887 house. It was covered walls and ceiling with sheetrock or beaverboard, 4x8 sheets. I remember a white gas stove that was fueled by a butane tank outside, toward the outbuildings. Others probably remember the wood stove. One thing unusual about this room was the ingenious vent over the actual stove, out in the rooms ceiling. Over where the wood stove would have been was a metal panel about 18" square in the ceiling. With a drop cord you could pivot it to open on a center hinge. The shaft was formed of sheet metal , tapering, and went out through the attic and there was an approx. 2' tall 8-10" square sheet metal flue that emerged from the roof ridge. It's top looks like a small gabled house roof to shed water. I have this and the shaft, and damper. To the left of the dining room door as you enter the kitchen from there, in the exterior wall, is the outside 4 panel door of the kitchen to its porch which had a metal water tank, raised on a cross tie foundation to the floor level of the house. The largest, most beautiful 8-10' tall lilac I have ever seen was there near this door. And they say lilacs don't do well in Texas. The upstairs was never finished because Mr Zerwers sons were of an age to go off to war at the time of WWl. (That's what I was told). Then they went on with their own lives. Consequently, when you approached the stairs in the center hall and looked up you saw the underside of a wood shingle roof. If you went upstairs as I was fortunate enough to do in the 1980's, you would see that the floor was not laid, just wide boards laid over the ceiling joists. It was still full of store fixtures, store tables, broken furniture and boxes and baskets. I was told by Carol (Rogers)and Jimmy Tobias, her husband, that when the Browns lived here they found trunks packed with Miss Mary's mothers clothes with leg of mutton sleeves and large skirts. Carol Tobias was given the wicker baby carriage from the turn of the century. I was given Mr Zerwers heavy black broadcloth suit that they said was packed with the other clothes. I have since given it to the owner of a vintage clothing store. ====== The Ennis Weekly Local Thursday, Aug 28 , 1919 Vol XXXV No 35 Miss Helen Alexander and aunt, Miss Anna Zerwer, have returned from a delightful six weeks stay in Denver, Colorado.