Petsch, Col Alfred 1975-09-03

Col. Petsch speaks of his early life, military career and later life in Luckenbach and Fredericksburg. He also comments on Texas politics and events in Fredericksburg during the early 1900s.

General Interview Information

Interviewee Name: Col. Alfred Petsch

Additional Parties Recorded: None

Date: September 03, 1975

Location: Fredericksburg, Texas

Interviewer: Fred Carpenter

Length: 2 hours 55 minutes

Abstract

Tape 1, Side 1: Born near Fredericksburg, Texas (1887), English speaking, First boll weevils in Texas, Grandparents from Germany, Family religion, Luckenbach, Texas, Legal aspirations, W. C. Linden, Continuing education (1906), Texas Senators, Joseph Weldon Bailey, County attorney (1911), Catholic priest and bishop, Judge Morrison, Law practice, Vote tallying, District attorney candidate.

Tape 1, Side 2: War in Europe, Second Lieutenant, Infantry Reserve, Pro-German situation in Fredericksburg, First Officers Training Camp, Leon Springs, Texas, Commissions, Captain Inglis, Training camp routine, Major Peck, Men from Gillespie County, Major General Scott, Promotion of officers, Depot Brigade, 39th Company, 165th Depot Brigade, Colonel Adams, Camp Grant, Illinois.

Tape 2, Side 1: Major General Morton, World War I service, Flu epidemic, Armistice signing, Soldiers dismissed, Summer training camps, Cancellation and restoration of commission, Reservation fire, High prices in officers’ commissary, Italian POW camp, Texas, Camp Robinson, Arkansas, Soldiers defended, Service policy, Claims officer in World War II, Army discharge.

Tape 2, Side 2: Luckenbach, Texas, English speaking, Education, Family background, Raising cotton, Hondo Crouch, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Republican National Convention, Hondo Crouch (again), Promoter for Luckenbach, Koock, First Luckenbach fair, Family.

Tape 3, Side 1: J. B. Slater family, Oil on Slater land, Slater family, Lyle Valley, Early Fredericksburg, Texas (1914), Rivalry between "up town" and "down town", Farm Bureau meeting, Committee fired, Dan Moody, Texas Legislature campaign, Opposing candidates, Legislators’ salaries, 85 votes stolen, Justice Hugo Black, Ku Klux Klan membership.

Tape 3, Side 2: Dan Moody, Bitterness toward Lyndon Johnson, Candidate for Governor of Texas, Ross S. Sterling, Candidate for Governor of Texas, R. R. "Railroad" Smith, Representative from Atascosa County, Cotton Moffet, State Senator, Texas Legislature, Accomplishments in Luckenbach, School tax, Railroad (1913), Fredericksburg and Northern.

Range Dates: 1887-1945

Bulk Dates: 1887-1945

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