THE SCHIEGE FAMILY OF ROUND TOP
by Cynthia A. Thornton
Charles Henry Schiege was born Carl Johann Rudolph Schiege
on June 1, 1815 in Neisse, Silsia, a province of Prussia. His
parents were Carl and Johanna Wagner Schiege. Carl Johann
traveled to Texas in 1847 and 1851, returning to Prussia each
time.
On July 4, 1855 Schiege and his bride, Carolina Schubert,
arrived in Galveston. Carolina was born on August 6, 1820 in
Neisse, Silsia. Carl and Carolina settled in the Biegel
Settlement which today is near Fayetteville, Texas. Carl
Johann Rudolph Schiege became a citizen of the United States
in 1855 and changed his name to Charles Henry Schiege. The
Schiege's had four children with only one living to adulthood.
They were:
1. Gustav lived 7 days.
2. Selma, a twin, was born July 17, 1861 and lived 14 months.
3. Otto, a twin, was born July 17, 1861 and lived 14 months.
4. Charles Henry Jr. was born September 14, 1858.
In the 1860 United States Census, Charles Henry Schiege was listed as 45 years old, living with
his wife, Carolina, and one son, Charles Henry Schiege Jr. His vocation was cabinet maker, chair
maker, locksmith and machinist. On September 2, 1861 Charles and Carolina purchased Lot 2 &
3, Block 29 from G. C. Bess for $100.00 in the village of Round Top. Later Charles purchased
one acre from his neighbor, Conrad Schuddemagen, near his land on Block 29.
Charles served in the Confederate Army with Captain Martin Martindale Company of the
Unattached Infantry, Fayette County under Brig. General William Webb Commander at
Fayetteville for 6 months. Charles is listed on the Confederate Army Veterans Pension Approval
List #05275 from Fayette County, Texas in Book 1 Comptrollers Index Book.
Charles Henry Schiege died on September 30, 1901 at 86 years of age. Carolina died on June 4,
1893. They are both buried in the Florida Chapel Cemetery outside of Round Top.
Charles Henry Schiege Jr. was born on September 14, 1858 in the Biegel Settlement. His
parents were Charles Henry Schiege and Carolina
Schubert Schiege. By 1861 Charles Jr. was living with
his parents on Block 29 in the small village of Round
Top.
Charles attended Pastor Johann Adam
Neuthard's School located near his home in the village.
Charles married Emma M. Frenzel on April 19, 1885.
Emma was born on August 18, 1864 and she died on
January 26, 1892 without having children. She is
buried in Florida Chapel Cemetery. On November 30,
1893 Charles married Marie Becker in Round Top. Her
parents were Heinrich and Katherine Truede Becker.
Marie was born on July 5, 1869 near the village of
Round Top. Heinrich and Katherine had 10 children.
They were:
1. Henry Charles born on August 7, 1894 and died May 30, 1895. He is buried in the Florida
Chapel Cemetery.
2. Charles Adolph William born June 30, 1896. He married Ida N. Treckmann on December 25,
1920. Charles Adolph died on February 9, 1953 and is buried in the Florida Chapel Cemetery.
3. Katherine Justine born November 26, 1897. She married Oswald Gus Tempel on June 23,
1920. Katherine died on February 21, 1987.
4. Lina Marie born March 10, 1899. She married Kinley Adam Ullrich on June 12, 1920. Lina died
on May 15, 1988.
5. Frederich Charles born November 11, 1900. He married Migon Fricke on January 21, 1923.
Frederich died on August 6, 1972 and is buried with his parents and brothers in the Florida
Chapel Cemetery.
6. Marie Emma, a twin, was born March 26, 1903. She married Rudolph Joseph Legler, who was
born September 19, 1901. Marie died on January 20, 1983 and Rudolph died on January 30,
1996.
7. Minnie Louise, a twin, was born March 26, 1903. She married William Luther Clark on
December 11, 1929. William was born on August 10, 1891 and died on March 19, 1964. Minnie
died on August 25, 1982 and is buried beside her husband in the Florida Chapel Cemetery.
8. Annie Emma born on November 5, 1905. She married Hugo Edward Ullrich on September 12,
1928. Annie died on December 18, 1983.
9. Friedolin Gustav born on March 25, 1908. He married Lily Lehman on February 26, 1931. Lily
was born on August 16, 1912. Friedolin died on January 31, 1973 and is buried in the Florida
Chapel Cemetery.
10. Frieda Marie born on September 8, 1910. She is married Edwin Herman Franke on January
3, 1932. All of the Schiege children spoke High German before they learned English in school.
Charles Henry Schiege Jr. was called Squire Schiege for his many years of service in Round Top.
Charles served as town marshal and as an alderman of the Round Top Town Council. He was
mayor of Round Top from 1903 to 1908 and served as the Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3 in
Fayette County. Charles was a member of the Round Top Volunteer Fire Company for 30 years
and was an active member of the Sons of Herman Lodge No. 151. The Schiege property on
Block 29 in Round Top contained the family private house, a cigar factory, a cigar manager
house, a carriage shed, a barn, stables and a large vegetable garden. Schiege built a two-story
grey and white frame house in 1885 before
he married Emma Frenzel.
The house faces Washington or Highway
237 in Round Top as part of the Round Top
Inn. The house was built on a terrace and
was surrounded by a picket fence. The
house has three cellars, one lined with rock
with cement flooring for a cooling effect to
preserve milk, butter and eggs. The second
cellar was for laundry and had a pipe that
drained the washing water into a nearby
gully. The third cellar was an area for
potatoes, onion and other vegetables. The
house had a cistern that caught rainwater
from the roof. The interior of the house was
painted blue. There are large front porches on
both levels of the front of the house, with the ceilings painted blue. It is said that Charles
would sit for hours in the late afternoon listening to classical music, playing his Edison record
player that he obtained by mail from New York.
The cigar manager’s house was located near the back of the Schiege property. The house was
for a single or a married man and his family who managed the cigar factory for Charles H.
Schiege Jr. The
manager house
was a cottage of
German
vernacular
design built in
1885 of native
lumber.
The
house has over
316 square feet
downstairs with
a small porch.
The finished attic
is around 195
square feet. This
managers house
was called Schiege
Dependency House because it depended upon the use of other buildings. The cigar factory
building built in 1885 of native lumber was a one room frame building with a porch facing inside
the property.
The street side had stone steps from the front door down to the street below. Inside the
building, a curved counter separated a working area and tobacco bins from an office. Several
work stations were attached to one wall. The attic was finished. Beds lined the area for single
men to sleep who worked in the factory. There was a ladder outside the building that allowed
the men to enter the upstairs sleeping quarters. The cigar workers would have their meals with
the family in the main house.
Charles Schiege Jr. began making cigars in 1881 in Round Top. His sign over the front door of
the factory building was 'Segars & Tobacco'. This spelling of 'Segars' was common in the 19th
century and appears in early laws of the Republic of Texas. He used locally grown tobacco
whenever possible and obtained shipments of tobacco from dealers in Missouri and Ohio.
Schiege cigars were made to sell between 6 to 7 cents. The cigars were made by hand. At the
height of his business, Schiege had men working at seven work stations that were attached to
the walls for each man seated at the table. The workman's tools consisted of a square piece of
hardwood board that had gauges indicating different cigar lengths, a knife and a pot of gum
tragacanth or similar substance. Each table had an attached sack of burlap into which the
cuttings were deposited. Some of the labels on Schiege's cigar boxes were: Texas Star, Great
Sport, J. J. Vacek's Favorite, Concha Regalia, La Rosa Supurba and in 1932 the 50th anniversary
box, The Boss, contained his photograph.
Schiege was a cigar producer for 48 years and was 1 of 56 cigars makers in Texas in 1885. In
1920 the United States had 9,778 cigar manufactures. In 1920 Texas had 158 cigar
manufactures and one of the Texas manufactures was Schiege's factory in Round Top. He was
registered with the Internal Revenue Service as Factory #80, Third District. Schiege closed his
factory in 1932. He was 74 years old. In the late 1920's cigar manufactures became automated
and was impacted by the Great Depression in the 1930's. Charles H. Schiege Jr. cigar factory in
Round Top stands today as the only original building of a once widespread industry in Texas.
The vegetable garden was located to the north side of the cigar factory building next to the
property line separating the Pochmann property. The stables, carriage shed and barn was
located between the cigar factory and the managers house on the property.
Charles Henry Schiege Jr. died during the evening on Sunday, March 17, 1935 in his house on
Washington Street in Round Top. His wife, Mary, died on June 26, 1951. They are both buried
in the Florida Chapel Cemetery. The property has had many owners since the Schiege family on
longer occupied the property. Historians owe a great deal of gratitude to one of the owners,
Ted and Sandy Reed, for purchasing Texas Historical markers for the Schiege buildings. Without
these markers, who knows how or where the old historical buildings might exist.
Sources:
Fayette County Deed Records, La Grange, Texas: Fayette County Clerk Office, Vol. R, p. 262.
"The Cigar Industry in the Nineteenth Century", Century Issue, U. S. Tobacco Journal, 1900: 40
1880 United States Census, Charles Henry Schiege Jr.
Texas Historical Commission, Austin, Texas: Charles Henry Schiege Property.
Fayette County Texas Heritage, Vol. II, pp. 414-415.
Wandke-Pochmann Collection, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas.
Information from Lawrence R. Nutt, San Antonio, Texas.
La Grange Library, Fayette County, County Cemetery List.