Trouble in Texas

I have yammered on about my mom’s side of the family and I think it is only fair that I give dad’s side a little air time. So this week we are changing the venue to the great state of Texas!

Let’s start with Adolph Joseph Wernette. He is NOT one of my ancestors but rather the husband of one of my grandfather’s sisters. Normally this wouldn’t create a bunch of interest but this guy IS interesting. Time has erased many details and I have strived to piece together what I could about him and his life. As always, if you are a member of this family or have information to share, please contact me. I want to hear from you.

Adolph was born 27 April 1870 in D’Hanis, Texas to Bernhard “Ben” Wernette and Julia Lillian “Lil” Poerner. He was the oldest of 4 children and seems to have made his way in the world quite early. In many of the city directories of San Antonio he is listed as a carpenter and then a builder. I am not sure at what age he removed to San Antonio, but he did reside there the majority of his life. He married 4 times but the order of the marriages is unclear.

Adolph married Elfrieda Marie Lamm on 6 February 1894 in San Antonio, Bexar, Texas. They would have three children: Charlotte Louisa born 2 December 1894, Frederick August born 6 May 1898 and Leo John born 12 February 1902 and died 22 June 1907 in Mexico. Elfrieda died in 1910 leaving Adolph with two teenage children.

Next I *think* he married Lucille Zimmerman who is rumored to have later died in Tucson, Arizona. Whether she and Adolph divorced is unknown to me and I have not been able to find any further records pertaining to her.

On 17 February 1917 he married Minnie P Elliott McCombs in San Antonio, Bexar, Texas. Things cannot have gone well between the two, because by the 1920 census Adolph is now residing in Orange county, California with his new “wife” Anna Elizabeth Albert Bolstetter Wernette. (Her first husband George Joseph Bolstetter didn’t die until 1922, so whether they were really divorced or not is pure conjecture on my part.) They were in the OC at least until mid 1923 as Adolph has several patents filed with the US patent office for such things as flooring improvements and a self-adjusting grinder. On the patent for the grinder he lists Anna as one-half assignor. In the 1930 census, they are back in San Antonio living on the Albert family farm on the old Austin Road. Adolph would die there on 21 August 1940 and be buried in San Antonio. Anna would live until 3 Jan 1962,  dying in Kerrville State Hospital (a mental institute) having been interred there nearly 5 years before her passing. She and Adolph are buried in Sunset Memorial Park in San Antonio.

All that is just lovely isn’t it? Well…..not really. The death of Elfrieda bugged me and I made a memorial for her last year on FindAGrave. Then I entered a photo request and waited. A bit of time went by and a lovely couple of grave rabbits contacted me saying that Elfrieda wasn’t listed in the burials for the cemetery I had indicated. I know that death certificates aren’t always accurate. Families sometimes change their minds and have the loved one interred elsewhere or perhaps even cremated and scattered or held in the home of a loved one. However, I kindly replied with the information that I had at hand:

I explained that I wasn’t a local, but that I did know that there are several cemeteries in San Antonio that are numbered (city #1, city #2, etc) and perhaps this was the case. I also stated that the cause of death was cause to help find this poor soul’s resting place. The FindAGrave contact agreed. But here is the information that spurred on their interest as much as mine:

This article is difficult to read but here is the transcription:

Woman Found Shot Succumbs To Wound

Mrs. A. J. Wernette Dies Without Regaining Consciousness–Bad Health Thought Cause

San Antonio, Nov 5–With blood streaming from two bullet wounds in her left temple, Mrs. A. J. Wernette was found last night at 12 o’clock by her 14-year-old daughter unconscious on the floor of her home with a 22-caliber rifle at her side. Mrs. Wernette died today without regaining consciousness. She had been in ill-health. She was the wife of a prominent contractor.

Where was her husband at midnight? How does someone shot themselves in the temple…with a rifle….TWICE?

While my graving friends searched high and low for her final resting place, I contacted the medical examiner’s office. Sorry, but their records only go back to the early 1950’s. Then I contacted a local San Antonio hospital where all the autopsies were performed prior to 1950. They were very helpful but stated that any records that old had long since been destroyed. Damn.

I can’t help but think that the community questioned the events that took place on November 5th. Elfrieda was buried in St. Joseph’s Society Cemetery which a Catholic burying-ground. Might not make much difference now, but individuals that took their own life were excluded from being buried in consecrated ground circa 1910. Now take another look at her death certificate. What it DOESN’T say speaks volumes to me. I am not trying to create conspiracy where there is none but the fact remains that the cause of death is stated as GUN SHOT WOUND. Not suicide or self-inflicted gun shot wound or cancer and gun shot wound or mental instability and suicide. If she was under the care of another physician for a terminal or debilitating disease why not say so? Better yet…..who was the informant? You get the point.

The FindAGrave friends came through for me with some wonderful photos of her final resting place.

Then a long view of her head stone and burial plot

Many thanks to Bill and Denise for taking this journey with me and finding her grave. I appreciate their time and patience to work with me long distance and to make the effort to help me try to unravel this mystery. There still are many more questions lingering about with no ready answers.

To Elfrieda: We hope you rest in peace and know that you are not forgotten.