Church Oak - New Braunfels, TX
N 29° 42.220 W 098° 07.685
14R E 584344 N 3286268
White marble marker describing how the a local Indian girl's vision freed the first German in Texas and lead the Abbe to offer Catholic Mass under this tree.
Waymark Code: WMZFEN
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 11/03/2018
Views: 0
This Church Oak tree is listed in the first edition of Famous Trees of Texas (1970), the most recent edition of Famous Trees of Texas (2015), and in Living Witness: Historic Trees of Texas (2012). It is also described in the website on historic trees given below.
The events that made this tree a historical tree took place in 1849, four years after the Republic of Texas had been granted US statehood in 1845. That said, Texas was still basically undeveloped except for a few small town dotted here and there. The fort called Sophienburg had been started by Prince Carl Solms-Braunfels to give protection to his newly founded colony of settlers that grew to become New Braunfels, TX. The indigenous Indian tribes had a village in the location of a hill next to the Comal river. The chief of this Indian tribe had a daughter who, as the legend goes, had a vision of some kind that when somehow lead to the freeing of a German, probably a member of the New Braunfels colony. For this miracle of the vision and the freeing of the German hostage, the Abbe Em Domenech held a Catholic Mass in 1849 under the tree now known as the Church Oak. It was not until 1871 that a formal church building would be build, so for several decades, what we know as the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church held open air serviced under this three. Given that the tree would be a reasonable size in 1849 when these historic events occurred, this tree would now be around 200+ years old by now.
The stone marker describing these early events in the founding of this church is found at the base of the tree. There is a small concrete decorative wall on which the white marble marker mounted. The text reads as follows:
"Folk lore says that here, in the dawn of Texas history, stood an Indian village in which one of the early missionaries lingered many days. That there was a vision of the chief's daughter. Freed the first German inTexas. Tradition says that under this tree Mass was offered by Abbe Em Domenech in 1849.
Texas Historic Landmarks
Association June 15, 1917"
Website: [Web Link]
Historic Event:
Several events lead to the founding of this Catholic Church:
1) A vision by the tribe chief's daughter lead to the
2) freeing of the first German in Texas, which lead to
3) Abbe Em Domeneck offering Catholic Mass under this tree in 1849.
Year: 1849
Species: Oak
Approximate Age: 200
Location: Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, 386 N Castell Ave., New Braunfels, TX
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