Synopsis by: Chuck Lutz
Copyright
© 1998 Charles E. Lutz
Were it not for some unusual twists
of historical fate, and the efforts of a respectful friend, Kerr County could
have easily been known as Brown County. But instead it became Kerr, in 1856,
after being formed from a large portion of what was then Bexar County.
The name honors the soldier,
statesman and surveyor, Major James Kerr who is generally considered to be the
first American settler on the Guadalupe River. Interestingly, it is unlikely
that Major Kerr ever visited the area whose County bears his name. The fact is
that he died six years before Kerr County was created by the Sixth Texas
Legislature.
So how could it have been called
Brown County? Joshua D. Brown (1816-1874) is documented to be the first actual
settler to make his home on the upper Guadalupe River - the area where our
County is located. Born in Kentucky, Brown migrated to Texas in 1830 and settled
in Green DeWitt's Colony at Gonzales. James Kerr, also a Kentuckian, was a
Colony official and the two became good friends. They both served in the Texas
struggle for independence from Mexico in 1836.
After independence was won, Brown
returned to Gonzales, married and, in 1844, searched westward for a new home. A
settlement at Curry's Creek was his first stop - in the area now known as
Kendall County. There, he learned the art of shingle making - a profession made
possible by the availability of cypress trees. Cypress had the quality of
sealing itself when moistened, making it in high demand for pioneer roofing.
Shingles, packed in bundles of 1000, ranged from five to eight dollars each and
San Antonio was a handy market.
By 1846, most of the cypress trees
had been cut and Brown decided to check out a rumor that giant cypress could be
found in abundance near the headwaters of the Guadalupe. Upon discovering the
rumor to be true, he and a group of fellow shingle makers traveled several days
upstream, locating the large stands of cypress, and selected a site near what is
now the 900 block of Kerrville. Within 10 years, the settlers of the upper
Guadalupe River began petitioning the Legislature to create a county for their
area and they won approval on Jan. 26, 1856. The larger town of Comfort was then
in this new county and its German residents wanted the new county's seat to be
located there. However, many of the residents had not taken out citizenship
papers before the election was held so, in March of 1856, Brown's shingle camp
area was selected as the new county seat - by a margin of three votes.
Brown, who had donated four acres
to his new County Seat, insisted that it be named for his friend, James Kerr,
instead of himself. And so it was, that the shingle camp became known as
Kerrsville (note the s) in Kerr County. Later, in 1862, the newly formed county
of Kendall absorbed the town of Comfort. And in 1866, Kerrsville was renamed
Kerrville.
For More on Kerr County History:
Handbook of Texas Online - Kerr County
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