Johann Kleck & Victoria Failer, George S

“Archaeologists - they gather up the facts, piece the jigsaw together, workout how we lived and find the buildings we lived in. But what we do, that’s different. We unearth the scattered memories, mine for stories, fill in the personality. We’re time travelers.” “The Detectorists,” Mackenzie Crook and Andrew Ellard, 2017 Dedicated to Uncle Pete (17 February 1928 – 13 August 2015) Preface In 2016 I received nine boxes of materials concerning the lives of the Kleck family from the mid- 19th century to the 1980s. It included documents, photographs, letters, both typed and handwritten, notebooks, cancelled checks, wills, and many other Kleck-related items. All of the materials had been accumulated by my uncle, Pete Kleck, for many years. In 2014, Pete called me and asked if I would take the materials and I told him I would. Less than a year later, in October 2015, Pete died. His son, Wayne, his widow, Patricia, and I had agreed that at some point the “Kleck Archives” would be forwarded to me for inspection, restoration as needed, suitable retention and organized for the Kleck family. Wayne, Patricia and I all appreciated Pete’s interest in preserving the story of the Klecks through the materials in those nine boxes. Wayne was diligent in his preparation of the materials for shipment and they were successfully transported halfway across the country. Since then I have been trying to identify, preserve and digitize the materials, with a definite priority given to older and more important documents and pictures. In most cases the items required interpretation and further research. On multiple occasions, Wayne visited the Gillespie County courthouse, Kendall County courthouse, Gillespie County Historical Society, cemeteries, points of interest, and numerous other locations in the Fredericksburg area and also contacted local historians and “personalities.” He was able to locate, identify and copy documents that could only be acquired in person. I traveled to Texas in September 2017 and together we visited some of the sites, including the Kleck farm/ranch. His dedication and aptitude for researching old documents has been invaluable. Patricia Kleck has also been very helpful in filling in some of the missing pieces of information. Searching legal documents is very difficult without legal training. Include the archaic language and handwriting of the mid-19th century and it can be overwhelming. Although some of the “legalese” can be interpreted from context and through the help of Google, often I had to rely on the legal training of a close friend, Harry Hayes, who has been a real estate attorney for over 40 years. He has helped me maneuver through the complicated procedures of searching and interpreting property titles and has spent hours cutting through the legal jargon to provide me with the “English version” of many of the important documents. In my trips to Indiana, Swabia Germany and the Palatinate in Germany several cousins helped with the research. In Indiana, Cousin Pete Backer’s wife, Barbara Backer, was indispensable when researching the Backers. In Germany, Cousins Anne Kleck, Simon Teufel, Annemarie Lorch, Paul Schuhmacher and Christian Neumann all were crucial to the Kleck, Failer, Bäcker and Mootz families. I have attempted to list everyone in the Acknowledgements but someone is always neglected. For that I apologize. The primary purpose of this is to assemble the circumstances around which the Klecks came to America and settled in Fredericksburg. Consequently, I felt that historical context was required at many points and I probably included too much detail at other points. Please excuse me if you feel I lapse into wordiness and excessive detail. My intent is to put the Kleck story into a narrative that begins with their early days in Germany and ends with their adjustment to mid-twentieth century America. Stephen Sanders Great-grandson of Johann Kleck & Victoria Failer, George S. Backer & Christina Mootz [email protected] Page 1 Foreword Review – I cannot thank Wayne Kleck enough for his review of the document. There comes a point at which you just cannot read it again! Thanks, Wayne. Hard Copy vs. Electronic Copy – If you are read this document as a hard copy (i.e., printed on paper) then you will not be able to access some the of references which are represented as hyperlinks. If you would prefer to access the links, please consult [email protected] to download an electronic copy. Non-familiar Names – except in cases to identify the relationship of the subject to me, the author, the official names of individuals will be used. For example, my Grandfather, Peter Kleck, will be referred to as Peter and my Grandmother as Katherine. When names change over time, as Katie, Katherina, Katherine did, the name being used at the time being described will be the name used in the text. Living Persons – I have made no reference to any living person, except myself, in any chapter except the last. In the last chapter the references to living persons are kept to a minimum for privacy. Repetition – there will be unavoidable repetition of some comments, figures and pictures. This has been done primarily to eliminate the need to jump back and forth between chapters and sections of this document. In addition, some may wish to read parts of the document without reading preceding parts. Repetition of relevant sections may be necessary. Farm vs. ranch – I have always heard the Kleck homestead referred to as “ranch.” However, when Johann and Victoria lived there, it was actually a farm. John Kleck identifies his profession in the 1860 census as “farmer” and in the sale of the land from Johann to Peter in 1883, included are “farming implements, horses and mules” and there was also reference to the “cultivated land.” There was no mention of grazing animals which might suggest a ranch. Thus, until Peter bought the land it will be referred to as farm. Names – spelling of Victoria – the use of the letter C in German is typically only in consonant combinations such as “sch” and “ch.” The German version of the hard “c” sound is the letter K. Most other occurrences of the name Viktoria are indeed spelled with a K. However, in our case of Victoria Failer, the birth record in 1823 and her marriage record in 1844, both from St. Mauritius in Harthhausen auf der Scher, clearly show the spelling as “Victoria.” Throughout her life, it is spelled both ways multiple times. Some legal documents use “c” and some “k.” Notably, her tombstone shows “Viktoria.” Nonetheless, the spelling indicated on her birth and marriage records, Victoria, will be used here. Page 2 Contents Chapter One The German Klecks and Failers .................................................................. 4 References – Chapter One ............................................................................................................. 15 Appendix – Chapter One ................................................................................................................. 16 Chapter Two The First American Klecks ........................................................................26 References – Chapter Two ............................................................................................................. 44 Appendix – Chapter Two ................................................................................................................. 45 Chapter Three Johann and Victoria’s Farm ......................................................................50 References – Chapter Three........................................................................................................... 64 Appendix – Chapter Three .............................................................................................................. 65 Chapter Four Civil War in the Texas Hill Country .............................................................67 References – Chapter Four ............................................................................................................. 75 Chapter Five Young Peter Kleck ....................................................................................76 References – Chapter Five ............................................................................................................. 85 Appendix – Chapter Five ................................................................................................................. 86 Chapter Six Peter, Bertha and Land ............................................................................94 References – Chapter Six ............................................................................................................. 117 Appendix – Chapter Six ................................................................................................................ 118 Chapter Seven The German Becker/Bäcker and Mootz Families ........................................ 125 References – Chapter Seven ........................................................................................................ 139 Appendix – Chapter Seven ........................................................................................................... 140 Chapter Eight Indianapolis at the Turn of the Century .................................................... 146 References – Chapter Eight .......................................................................................................... 150 Chapter Nine The American Backers ............................................................................

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