HERMAN J. HOELSCHER
Herman J. Hoelscher, b May 27, 1861 at Live Oak Hill, Texas, d September
20, 1932 at Westphalia, Falls County, Texas and buried there in St. Mary's
Cemetery - was a son of Christopher Joseph and Katherine (Sommer) Hoelscher.
Herman J. was only five years old when his parents moved the family to Ohio,
returning to Texas about seven years later, and settling permanently in the new
German community of Westphalia, Falls County, Texas in 1881.
On November 24, 1884, Herman J. Hoelscher was married to Elizabeth Ocker
(called "Lizzie"), b April 25, 1863 in Colorado County, Texas, d April 25, 1936
in Westphalia and buried by her husband in St. Mary's Cemetery-a daughter of
William Ocker, b November 9,1832 in Westfalen, Germany, d May 4,1893 at Ocker,
Bell County, Texas and buried in Barclay Cemetery in Falls County, and his wife,
Odelia (Gaeg- also "Jak" and "Jack") Ocker, b December 13,1836 in Moires,
Munster, Germany, d April 1, 1926 at Ocker, Bell County, Texas and buried in
Barclay Cemetery, Falls County, Texas. Odelia's sister, Elizabeth Gaeg, married
in 1858 to Odelia's husband's uncle, Ben Hoelscher; and another daughter of
William and Odelia (Gaeg) Ocker, Johanna Ocker, married Charles Hoelscher - a
younger brother of her brother-in-law, Herman J. Hoelscher.
Herman J. and Lizzie Hoelscher owned a farm on Pond Creek adjacent to his
brother and her sister, Charles and Johanna Hoelscher, and eight of their nine
children were born there, with the ninth child born in Westphalia proper. Their
children were:
Alvin J. Hoelscher, b October 5, 1885, d October 28, 1947 - married
Christina Ranby, b April 28, 1887, d October 19, 1942, and had Helen Clara who
married Anton John Entrop; Emma who married Henry Smetana; Eleanor Marie who
married Ralph Henry Kaiser; and Herbert who married Christine Wachsmann.
Herman A. Hoelscher, b June 13, 1887, d May 10, 1938 - married Annie
Wunsch, b September 15, 1891, d September 7, 1937, and had Emil Herman who
married Elnora Kasberg; and Odelia Mary who married Charles Francis Kleypas.
Bernhard H. Hoelscher (called "Pete"), b August 20, 1889, d December 23,
1949 - married Mary Madgelin Raabe, and had Leo who married Juliana Wunsch;
Viola Elizabeth who married Henry Lee Schlottman; Edgar John who married
Beatrice Hoelscher; Harold who married Jewel Hall; Madeline Alice who married
Ralph John Kasberg; Geraldine who married Leo J. Frei; and Irene C. who married
B. L. Bagley.
Clara Hoelscher, b April 10, 1890 - no further information.
Alois H. Hoelscher (called "Jim"), b June 21, 1893, d October 8, 1978 -
married Olga Frei, b December 28, 1899, d July 12, 1974, and had Lorene Margaret
who married Otto Henry Helpert; and Raymond J. who married Grace Holtman.
Ottilia K. Hoelscher (called "Tillie"), b March 16, 1897 - married John
Frei, Jr., b January 4, 1892, d September 15, 1934, and had Thelma Clara who
mar- ried Frank Gerhardt Bockholt; Melvin Herman who married Elsie Marie
Kleypas; Angeline Christine who married Jack Wooley; and Edna Freida who married
Fred Becker.
Emil Hoelscher, b June 26, 1899, d May 1900 while recovering from the
chicken pox and measles brought by his older siblings. He contracted
whooping cough also, and died.
Raymond Hoelscher, b May 3, 1901, d November 14, 1918 during the flu
epidemic of 1918.
Elizabeth Rosa Hoelscher (called "Lizzie"), b January 23,1903 in
Westphalia proper - married William Edward Entrop, Jr., b August 30,1891, d
February 25, 1971, and had Bernard William - who died at age two years: Ervin
Herman who married Dorothy Curtis; Clarence Alvin who married Leonette Kasberg;
Aletha Marie who married Charles Curtis; Leon Herman who married Dorothy Ann
Schilling; Valeria Ottilia who married Donald Earl White; Erna Mae Helen who
married Walter Leroy Garvey; Gene Alan who married Dolores E. Holtman; Elmer
Albert who married Betty Randolph Bryant; Carolyn Olga who married Fred Allen
Gottschalk; and Arlene Marie who married Kenneth Lee Doskocil.
After the birth of their eighth child, Herman J. left the farm to his
older sons and moved with his wife and younger children into Westphalia, where
he operated a grocery store - later adding dry goods to his inventory. After
three years in a smaller home, he built a large, two-story on the corner of
a 100-acre tract, located directly across the road from the Church of the
Visitation, from his cousin, Caspar Hoelscher. In 1907, Herman also constructed
a building across the road from his large home, on land leased from the church,
and established the Hoelscher Dry Goods Store. The building still stands, is now
the Johnnie Thornton Grocery Store; and Mrs. Thornton is the former Charlotte
Kleypas - a great granddaughter of Herman J. Hoelscher. Lizzie worked with her
husband in the store at times; and their sons, Alvin, Herman A., and Raymond
also worked there. Soon - a mail order outlet for the community was added to the
business, and the men could order a suit of clothes, after examining the samples
of materials kept in the mail order department. As there was no mortuary or
undertaker in the community, Herman J. soon kept a selection of coffins stored
in a large barn, and his son, Herman A. Hoelscher, took care of this business.
Lizzie (Ocker) Hoelscher often served the community as Midwife, and was also
called on to prepare the dead for burial.
The entire Herman J. Hoelscher family became very ill when the 1918 flu
epidemic swept the countryside; but only the son, Raymond, failed to recover.
There are many descendants of Herman J. and Elizabeth (Ocker) Hoelscher
who continue to reside in Falls County, Texas, where the family have been deeply
involved in church and community affairs for more than 100 years. Descendants
live primarily in the Lott and Westphalia Communities.
Copyright Permission granted to Theresa Carhart for
printing the biographies of these Falls County Families to this Web page.
"Families of Falls County", Compiled and Edited by the Falls County Historical
Commission, page 234 column 2 and
page 235 column 1 and 2.
Member of Falls County Historical Commission.
