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First Things First Throughout the remainder of my visits with Grandma and Grandpa, I discovered how strict my great-great grandpa, Adolph Jauer, had been toward his children. Several times Grandma characterized him as strict and rigid. I knew that Adolph was a prominent man so I wondered how Meta grew up. Grandma said that money-wise, Meta was "well off", but in other ways her upbringing was a different story. I wanted to find more information about Adolph's impact on Joe and Meta. Because Adolph owned a vast amount of land and sold it to his children, I knew that I needed to compile a map to help me understand the relationships involved between Adolph and the people who purchased his land. My search for answers led me to Karnes City, Texas, a seventy-mile drive south from San Antonio to the Karnes County Courthouse. In the county clerk's office I found vast amounts of information about Adolph's land purchases. I realized that I would not be able to form a map from the detailed, overly descriptive, land boundaries recorded in every deed that he signed. But, just as I thought I had reached a roadblock, the information on the pages suddenly came together and gave me an idea. Adolph was definitely into real estate. I documented different purchases starting from 1907. I stopped in 1933, but he probably continued his real estate dealings until he died in 1958. Adolph purchased 1,006 acres of land in 1907, when he first moved his family from Geronimo, Texas to Hobson (Karnes). Geronimo is a small community located somewhere between New Braunfels and Seguin. At the time, Meta was only four years old. I think that Adolph probably heard about some good deals in the Karnes County real estate market and, being the businessman he was, he journeyed off to seek new investments. His initial investment was for a total of $5,650, including a $3,000 cash-down payment. He paid the load off by 1910, paying eight-percent interest (Karnes). From an economic perspective, this meant that land was approximately $5 to $6 an acre in 1907, compared to $800-$2,000 today (Karnes). Interest, on the other hand, threw me off. I wondered why interest was so low, and if it had anything to do with inflation. After talking it over with my brother, and consulting my old macroeconomics book, I remembered that interest rates are related to inflation (Kolodziej, Keith; Miller 154). When inflation is rapid, interest rates are high because inflation rates and nominal interest rates move parallel to each other. In other words, in 1907 there was a large supply of land and inflation was low (maybe three to five percent); therefore, interest rates were also low (Miller 154). Adolph eventually sold some of his land to family members including a sister, Lillie, brother, Alvin, and his daughter and son-in-law, Meta and Joe Malik. He even would sell to his future grandson-in-law's family, Louis "Grandpa" Hons (Karnes). This I finally was able to piece together and pinpoint each of the early landholdings on a map, with the help of Grandpa and my ingenious brother Keith (Hons, Louis; Kolodziej, Keith. Map). I hoped the map would help me visualize the impact Adolph had on so many lives and future generations -- mine included. Further, it made me ponder my very own existence. Would I even be here if Adolph had not sold his land to Grandpa's family? Would Grandma ever have met and married Grandpa and had my mother, who then had me? I secretly thanked Great-Great Grandpa Jauer for such a blessing. Not only was Adolph Jauer prominent in his land investments but he also owned shares in the Karnes County National Bank. On a visit with Edna (Meta's youngest sister), she and her daughter, Suzie, reaffirmed Grandma and Grandpa's memory that Adolph was highly involved in banking and investment shares (Hons, Edna; Goza). In today's terms, Adolph was a loan officer. He attended meetings, for which he was paid twenty dollars. Grandma says that Adolph, like many in this area, probably made money off the cattle industry as well. A Stern Man . . . Designed by Kristen
Kolodziej |