Unidentified Photos

LAVACA COUNTY, TEXAS

19th Century Lavaca County Photographers

Click on the links to see biographical information and portraits of unidentified people taken by these photographers.

Location	Name & Approximate Time in County during 1800s
Hallettsville	H. J. Braunig, 1882-1945 Pius Fey, 1880-1907 Charles P. Luck, 1900	J. B. Reiff, 1866 Will A. Robinson Robert S. Williams, 1870-1872
Moulton	L. K. Dockery, 1867 Nicholas B. Gorsuch, 1866, 1871	Raab Studios (twentieth century)
Shiner	Gustav A. Pannewitz, 1896-1900
Yoakum	James F. Montgomery, 1896-1900
Unspecified community	Henry Bedlmeyer, 1900 A. G. Farrington, 1871-1872 Fitch & Crosby, 1872 Maximilian T. Jesse, 1872 J. M. Layton, 1871, 1876 Earnest Lust, 1875 Joseph Mican, 1900	H. L. Palmer, 1871 Albert Piper, 1875-1876 Louis Rice, 1874 William Shelby, 1876 J. W. Simmons, 1871 B. H. Wilson, 1871

Source
Haynes, David. Catching Shadows. Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1993.

Fey & Braunig, Hallettsville & Cuero

Pius Fey was born in Prussia in 1855 and immigrated in 1870. His photography career apparently began in Cuero (DeWitt County) in the mid-seventies when he bought a camera outfit from Max A. P. Krueger. In 1878 he began working with Henry Jacob Braunig (1861 - 1945), a Meyersville native who had come to Cuero to clerk in a dry goods store.

Fey and Braunig traveled to Lavaca County to photograph its citizens and Braunig finally established a permanent Hallettsville studio for the partnership in 1887 while Fey remained in Cuero. The following year he married Mary A. Lindenberg. They raised a family in Hallettsville and Braunig was active in community affairs. He was one of the founders of the local fire department, serving as its chief for sixteen years, and was elected president of the state wide volunteer firemen's organization in 1915. He also served as president of the Texas Photographers Association.

In their early years a tent served as the photographic studio. Later the studio was located one block east of the square. In 1890 Fey and Braunig bought a lot on Third Street on the south side of the courthouse square. The two-story building completed in 1895 had a unique configuration of large windows and skylights on the upper story to take advantage of natural light. Supposedly, it was the first building west of the Mississippi built specifically for a photography studio and became a model for others. In the stationery and books store they operated downstairs, Braunig sold school text books before the state furnished them. Other shops occupying the first floor at various times have included jewelry stores, beauty shops, and now a florist.

The Fey & Braunig partnership ended in 1907, but Braunig continued alone in Hallettsville up to the time of his death. Until the 1940 flood ruined them, Braunig labeled and kept every photographic plate he had ever made.

Sources
Bujnoch, Dorothy, Anne Rhodes and Doug Kubicek. Hallettsville Past & Present. Hallettsville: Dixie Office Supply, 1997.
Haynes, David. Catching Shadows. Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1993.
Rhodes, Anne and Frank Fishar. Hallettsville and Its Volunteer Fire Department. Schulenburg: Schulenburg Printing and Office Supplies, Inc., 2003.

Hallettsville Photographer Left a Legacy of Memories, Henry Jacob Braunig
article by Murray Montgomery at the TexasEscapes.com website

The Past is Still Visible: the Fey & Braunig Building
article by Brenda Lincke Fisseler

 

Unknown Faye and Braunig photo found in Tyler, Texas by Charles Luckey
The two photos below were contributed by Dolores Sonntag Kinsey. The young woman on the left is likely Annie Dornhoefer, who married C. J. Fernau of Sublime.The others are unknown. Annie was an orphan raised by the Lutheran pastor Roth and his wife.	This couple from Dolores Kinsey are probably friends or relatives of August and Emilie Fernau Miller of Sublime.	The unidentified H. J. Braunig photo below ended up in the Madison County Museum. Please contact Nancy Stevens Page, curator, if you recognize this photo:
The two unidentified photos below were contributed by Rox Ann Johnson. The photos may be friends or relatives of the Heinsohn family.		The photo below is probably a friend or relative of the August Pagel family at Hackberry. Please contact Joyce Stancik, if you recognize this photo. (See another August Pagel family unidentified photo at Schulenburg Unidentified Photos.)
The two Fey & Braunig photos below were contributed by Carla Hillman Ratcliff and are friends or relatives of the Henry Hillman family. The man to the right is identified as Dr. S. W. Treptow, but Carla does not know how he might be connected to her family.		Relations or friends of the Albrecht, Munke, Mueller, Oeding, Klaevemann, or Koenig Families. Contributed by Jon Todd Koenig.

 

Nena Cook contributed the following ten photos, all marked as Fey and Braunig. They are all friends or relatives of the Smothers family. Please e-mail Nena if you can identify any of these photos.
Lorraine Walter contributed the following three photos. The first was marked Fey and Braunig and the last two as H. J. Braunig photos. Please e-mail her if you can identify the people.
These next four rows of unidentified photos by Fey and Braunig were contributed by Charles Sherman. Please let him know if you recognize any of these people.
These next two rows of unidentified photos are probably friends or relatives of the Einkauf or Tesch families. Please contact Sudie Beard if you recognize someone.

The following photos contributed by Penny Odom belonged to Ada Cymantha (Veal) Dew, who married Hugh Saunders Dew, M.D. Other surnames in the family are Worthing, Dowling, Howerton, and Whitehead. The families were all originally from Hallettsville. The first photo was labelled Dr. Pearce. The first photo on the second row was labelled Deavers Albert.

This set of unidentified photos are probably friends or relatives of the Matus or Dolezal families of Shiner. Please contact Regina Matus-Janak.
The collection of unidentified photos below was contributed by Linda Reagan. The photos may be friends or relatives of the Hoffman, Hudgeons, Garner, Page, or Einkauf families. Please contact Linda if you recognize any of these photos. Note that four of the following photos have now been identified by Ruby McConnell as being Mary Wolf Mattick, L. C. Hamilton, Charles T. and Mary Einkauf Brown, and Mathilda Einkauf Pagel!
The eight unidentified Fey & Braunig photos below were contributed by Laura Petter Pilgrim. The photos may be friends or relatives of the Petter, Bacak, Kupcak, Prasifka, Pohl, Brod, or Stang families who lived near the Lavaca-Fayette county line around the Praha, Engle, St. John, and Schulenburg communities. Please contact Laura if you can identifiy any of these photos.

The photos below was contributed by Dorothy Lauery. They may be members of the Evans, Meyers, McKinney, Ford, Rutledge, or Dorman families.

Will A. Robinson, Hallettsville & Edna, Yoakum & La Grange

Nena Cook contributed the first photos, all marked Will A. Robinson. They are all friends or relatives of the Smothers family. Please e-mail Nena if you can identify any of these photos.
The unidentified photo below was contributed by Rox Ann Johnson. The photo may be friends or relatives of the Appelt family. Please Regena if you can identifiy this photo.	Rhoda Schmidt's photo below has now been identified as Richard Albert and Tulah Alice "Tandy" Fenner and children.	The photograph below was contributed by Charles Sherman. Please contact him if you can identify this man.

See More Lavaca County Unidentified Photographs

See Fayette County Unidentified Photographs

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