Corpus Christi History
By Murphy Givens

Wednesday, April 28, 1999

Leaving Germany for South Texas

(FIRST PERSON: Minna (Hesse) Price)

   Minna Hesse left Germany in 1906. She was 19 and had a job as a personal maid to Henrietta King on King Ranch. She was taking the place of her sister Johanna, who was leaving to marry August Meinrath.
   It was a bright August day when I stepped on the gangplank of the Chemnitz in Bremerhaven, Germany. Little did I realize it would be 46 years and two terrible world wars before I would see my mother again.
   My mother Minna Warlick married my father, Conrad Hesse, a shoemaker, and they had eight children. After my father's death, mother cooked for people and sold butter and eggs to make ends meet. My mother's brother settled in Giddings, Texas, and he sent for my sister Betta, who married Herman Poenisch. In 1900, they sent for Johanna and she went to work for Mrs. King.
   My first look at America came as we sailed up Chesapeake Bay to Baltimore. I could not leave ship until we came to Galveston. I boarded a train at Galveston and headed for Corpus Christi. My sister Betta's two girls and Mrs. Ritter met the train. They were in a two-horse surrey. There were no automobiles in Corpus Christi at the time, except for one owned by Dr. Spohn.
   After visiting with Betta for a few days, I reported for work. I went to the Kings' home on the bluff to prepare for the fall school session. Mrs. King's grandchildren would come from the ranch to stay there during school months. My salary was $20 a month.
   I enjoyed attending church with Mrs. King and riding in her buggy. Life at the ranch was filled with wonderful new experiences. Mrs. King's bedroom was on the second floor of the ranch house and I slept in her room on a single bed. Her daughter Alice and her son-in-law Robert Kleberg and their daughters also had rooms on the second floor.
   I was given free time to ride with the girls and we amused ourselves by dressing up. Alice had a pet sparrow and we would hunt grasshoppers for it to eat.
   One day, a salesman knocked on the door and after seating him in the library, I took his card up to Mrs. King. She warned me to never do that again; next time, she said, have him wait outside. A few days later, a distinguished looking man with a lovely young woman arrived at the door. I took his card, closed the door in his face, dashed upstairs, and showed the card to Mrs. King.
   "Ah, Minna, have you made them comfortable in the library?" she asked.
   "No," I said; "they're still outside."
   "Quick! Minna, run and apologize and let them in."
   It was a neighbor rancher, Mr. Armstrong, and his daugher. They all laughed at my flustered apology, but I soon learned how the house was run.
   In 1907, we went to town to see Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley. He led the parade through Corpus Christi in a one-horse buggy. I saw my first Indians in his Wild West Show; it was very exciting.
   My stay at King Ranch ended in 1908 when I married Henry Schilling. Henry and I married in June, but he couldn't take time off for our honeymoon until October. We went to San Antonio on the train. Before we left, Henry bought me a Singer sewing machine for $20. How I loved that sewing machine!
   Our children were Henry Carl, Frieda Gertrude, Anna Marie Pauline and Richard Robert. I lost my husband when the children were young and times were hard. In 1924, I married James Marion Durnal, a highway foreman; he died of cancer two years later. Once again, I was a widow. Times were very hard for me.
   I later married Levi Columbus Price -- "Lum" -- and we moved to his ranch in Live Oak County in 1930. The ranch consisted of 3,300 acres; it was built by Irish immigrants, the McGloin family.
    My children loved the ranch; it marked them forever with a love for "elbow room." I was the first in the area to put up fried deer meat in glass jars, using a pressure cooker. I shared this method with my neighbors since no one had refrigerators or electricity.
   When the Depression came in the '30s, "Lum" owed money to the bank and cattle and crops were not bringing anything. We sold out to an oilman named Frank Jones.
   In 1952, I returned to Germany for a visit. My confirmation class of 1902 was celebrating its 50th reunion. It was a wonderful visit, but nothing I saw was as beautiful as the "Lady with the Lamp" as we sailed into New York harbor. I sang "God Bless America," I was so happy to be home again.
   (Source: Minna's memories were recorded by her granddaughter, Ruth Darnell Baird, in 1972. Minna died in 1977. This is the first in a series.)