Stengel House
Built in 1893.
Built by one of Mason's earliest business owners, the quaintness of this historic cottage conceals a personal tragedy that left its original owner, Erhard Frederick Stengel, a widower with three young children.
Though any evidence of the tragedy has been erased by the usual renovations that pepper the lifetime of a home, the original front windows are a potent reminder of that dreadful spring day in 1902.
Fleeing New Orleans
Like many immigrant families in the nineteenth century, the Stengel’s of Germany set about building their family once they arrived in America. To this end, Erhard Frederick Stengel was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on November 26, 1862, to John Stengel and Barbara Huber Stengel, both of Germany.
Erhard's father, John Stengel, was a drayman (freight wagon driver) whose untimely death was shortly followed by the remarriage of his widow, Barbara. Of course, this practice was common in those days, when untimely deaths were frequent, and remarriage was essential to survival. Naturally, she married a fellow immigrant from the empire of Germany, Sebastian Schultz of Bavaria. By 1870, Barbara had given birth to two more children, Emma (4) and Caroline (1), and was still raising Barbara's two children with John Stengel, daughter Maria (11) and Erhard.
Perhaps the anticipation of more children (Barbara would go on to have two more children after Emma and Caroline) decided the fates of Erhard and Maria. Or, New Orleans had simply become too dangerous: an epidemic of yellow fever had killed more than 3000 in New Orleans in 1867, and the threat of even greater outbreaks loomed over the poorest of its citizens. Sure enough, in 1878, another 4,000 died to yellow fever.
No matter the cause, when Erhard was nine years old, he and his older sister were sent from their family home on a ship to Galveston to join their older brother John Frederick Stengel, who had already settled in Texas ahead of them. From Galveston, they traveled by train to Austin where they started their new lives in Texas.
Erhard and Christina Meet
Now a young man in Austin, Erhard (who, in adulthood, went by either E.F. or Fred) earned his keep by working in a bakery where he learned the confectionary trade. At some point during his time there, he met a young housemaid named Christina E. Willmann of New Braunfels.
Perhaps she stopped in for a sweet treat on her way home one day and caught his eye, or maybe they met after hours at a local dance hall. In any case, they fell in love and married on December 7, 1887. Erhard was 25 and Christina was 19.
In 1888, shortly after the wedding, the newlyweds set out for Mason, where Christina's parents had already settled ahead of them, and began their life together on the frontier. Five years after arriving in Mason, they'd finally have enough saved to build their dream home on Robin Street.
The First Tragedy by Fire
Having received sufficient confectionary training in Austin, Fred was ready to open his own businesses and did so in Mason as well as the nearby town of Llano. Ever the artist, Fred specialized in the delicacies preferred by blushing brides—ornate wedding cakes decorated with roses and doves made of icing blown through paper cones. His businesses began primarily as bakeries, but to increase sales, Fred expanded his business to include groceries, as well.
Indeed, an article in the Mason County News on March 22, 1895, made note of the unlawful entry of an unknown individual who made off with "quite a number of pies and cakes." Fred's delicacies were good enough to break the law for!
In early January 1900, business was doing well. For the price of $700, Fred purchased a dry goods store and all its contents from A. J. Boston. Located on Courthouse Square, the building was potentially a move by Fred to expand his grocery business in Mason. But a week after the sale, in the wee hours of the morning on January 12, 1900, a fire started in the store and spread quickly to four adjacent lumber buildings on the north side of Courthouse Square. The uninsured building and all its contents were lost (Source: "Mason's Courthouse Square," Mason County Historical Commission). Potentially due to the financial losses suffered, Fred sold his business in 1901.
Another Fire
Just two years later, fire would once again take something from Fred, this time of far greater importance.
It was April 1902, a blustery day, the kind that blew shutters open and knocked items off tabletops. If you were lucky, the wind was no more than an inconvenience.
At the Stengel house, Christina was sitting in the front parlor when a gust of wind kicked open the blinds and tipped over an oil lamp that was on a table. It ignited a fire, which she tried to stomp out, but the flames were quick, and her skirt was long. She ran through the house in a panic, trying to extinguish the fire from her clothing, but it was futile. She fell unconscious until a neighbor soon came to her rescue.
Starting Over
She was taken to a nearby home and the town physician was called. Her burns were severe, and in the newspaper account published later, it is reported that she understood that she would not survive her injuries. At some point, someone dispatched Fred, who was working in Llano. He arrived that same evening, but she had fallen unconscious once again. Early the next morning, she was gone.
Several areas of the home were severely damaged by the fire, leaving Fred to rebuild what was burned. He sold his Mason bakery and grocery store and sent his children to live with his late wife’s family in New Braunfels, while he worked in Llano. But no more than a year or so later, he returned to his home with his children and opened another bakery and grocery store. Later he remarried a lady named Dina Grote and they lived in the home and made several additions to the layout over time.