The Texas Side Of Things...

This past week I had the opportunity to experience a small part of my family’s heritage when our ranch located in Llano County was recognized at the 36th Annual Family Land Heri-tage Ceremony in Austin, Texas.  This program was sponsored by the Texas Department of Agriculture and held inside the House Chamber of the Capitol.   The Family Land Heritage Program honors the ranches and farms who have continuously  been used for agriculture and owned by a family member for either 100, 150 or 200 years.  It’s also a wonderful way to chronicle the rich history of Texas agriculture and remind us of the struggles that our ancestors had to endure.  It wasn’t until this presentation that I realized that the program had been around for over 36 years.  I think I first heard about the program about 10 years ago but never took the time to find the necessary records to qualify.  I was amazed to find out that over 5,000 properties have been recognized so far and Fayette County leads the state with the most recipients.  Looking through the list of ranches, the oldest family owned property I could find is the Noriecitas Ranch located in Jim Hogg County which was established in 1740 which is just amazing!  Only one ranch this year, the Charco Redondo located in Duval County qualified for the 200 year certificate while six ranches were recognized for 150 years and 110 properties received the 100 year honor.

Now let me give you a little background about our place named Elm Creek Ranch.  My great-great-grandfather was named Frederich Wilhelm Schnei-der and he was born in Herzogtum, Hesson-Nassau, Germany.  He migrated to the United States with his parents, Ludwig and Catherina Schneider arriving in 1846 and they were one of the original German families to settle in the Castell community located in Llano County.  Wilhelm acquired 320 acres along the banks of Elm Creek where he primarily raised cattle and some hogs…all Germans had some hogs!  He and his wife had four children: Henry, Henrietta, Carolina and Alex. In 1900, Wilhelm’s son, Henry Schneider, acquired the land and continued to primarily raise cattle and hogs.  Henry’s son, Alex (my grandfather) acquired the property and later my mother Drucilla took over ownership of the property in 1972.  Today we still continue to raise commercial cattle on the property but no hogs unless you count the feral ones!

Although it was a little bit chilly outside, family members young and old strolled around the Capitol grounds swelling inside with pride and wearing a big Texas smile on their faces. I feel as though we all felt a sense of pride when we realized the struggles and sacrifices our ancestors must have dealt with and raising a family during good times and bad ones.  More importantly, I think we are reminded that even in a tough year like this one; they never gave up their precious piece of Texas.   I think it was a very rewarding day for my mom because it was her effort to find the correct documentation which made filling out the application easy.  Thanks Mom… I will remember our day together forever!

I would like to especially thank our Commissioner of Agriculture, Todd Staples and his staff for an outstanding job of organizing the ceremony and may I remind you we are very fortunate to have the best Department of Agriculture in the nation. I talk to a lot of people from other states and they remind me that Texas Agriculture is still the best.   If you are interested in applying for the Texas Family Land Heritage Program you can contact them at the Texas Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 12847, Austin, Texas 78711 or (512) 463-7476 or www.Texas Agriculture.gov

UNTIL NEXT TIME,

THINK TEXAS!!!