Herbst, Carl, 1828-1905

Carl Heinrich Herbst (1828-1905) immigrated to Texas from Germany in 1848. After living in Indianola and New Braunfels, he moved to San Antonio where he worked in a saddlery shop for several years, before becoming an American citizen in 1853. In 1854, Herbst joined Ernst Hermann Altgelt to settle the new town of Comfort, and to populate it with German freemasons, freethinkers, and political activists. The new town lay near San Antonio and the settlers traded raw materials and items such as shingles for the goods needed to help the town thrive. Herbst soon established a farm in then Kerr County (which became Kendall County in 1860) and married Sophie Morhof in 1858. They had eight children, seven of whom survived to adulthood: Albert, Rudolf, Theodore, Robert, Ema, Lina, and Ida.

Following the outbreak of the Civil War, many of Comfort’s men joined the Confederate Army. Herbst was no different, serving in the army under Captain Henry Schwethelm from 1862 to 1865. Upon the war’s end, he became District Clerk and was appointed principle of Comfort’s school. He remained the principle until his retirement in 1887, when he moved to his son Robert’s farm, where he lived until his death. Additionally, Herbst was an Honorary Member of the Order of the Sons of Hermann.

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