This article by Clara Scarbrough first appeared in The Williamson County Sun, Georgetown, Texas on April 2, 1970.



Two neighboring communities, Theon and New Corn Hill, were being rapidly settled by the 1880s and 1890s, and although the distance between the two is negligible, each developed its own distinct character. Altogether, the two places have been officially known by five different names.

Settlers, mainly farmers, in the country surrounding what would later be called New Corn Hill, arrived from Moravia, Bohemia and Silesia before the turn of the century. In 1889 they founded the Holy Trinity Catholic Church, building a modest church home on a prominent hill. In 1913 they replaced it with an imposing twin steepled structure which is visible from Interstate 35, beckoning to passers-by. Many of them stop for a visit.

Down this hill about a mile to the southwest of the church is a valley community, Theon, established by people of German ancestry near the headwaters of Opossum Creek. Since most of the early buildings of Theon are still standing, it must have looked in 1890 much as it does now - a quiet rural crossroads village.

Theon is a Greek word meaning "to God" and Father Royce Hughes of the Holy Trinity Church logically believes the name may have been suggested by an early priest or minister in the community. Literally, the road from Theon does lead to the Holy Trinity Church, or in another direction to the Lutheran churches of Walburg. Or, figuratively, the name may have been meant in a more general way to honor God and to signify that all roads lead to Him.

Although the farmers from Czechoslovakia found good land, some of the early settlers looked on the area as sheep country. The Mikulencak and Mrazek families came to the Corn Hill ­ Theon community about 1883, finding native grasses growing "waist high to man," according to Mrs. Vera Mikulencak Wentrcek, interviewed in 1963 by Mrs. Henry Labaj of Granger. "In fall and winter (there was) danger of prairie fires…, tall broom weeds would carry fire rapidly. Often we fought in desperation for we had no water except cistern water.''

The family diet consisted for a while of cracked corn, corn meal, coffee made of parched corn, and roasted wheat and barley. Grain was ground at Berry's Creek mill near Georgetown.

"Grandfather Josef Mikulencak had large cisterns dug out of the rocks, one at the barn for the cattle, the other at the kitchen porch." His home had been built of lumber hauled from Bartlett. Mrs. Wentrcek remembered nostalgically the old country (Moravia) and the loneliness of the new land, sometimes laced with suspicion which Anglo settlers felt for "foreigners." She described "the vast stretches of land thickly covered with…brush, mesquite, the ungainly hackberry trees, tall native grasses, tall weeds, flat land, unbroken by hills toward which to lift the eyes and seek sustenance. They burnt the bridges behind them and had little or no choice; some because there wasn't return passage money, others because their pride kept them from running back home. Many vowed they would leave this wild country as quickly as they could work off indentures….

"There were only trails or paths; only to Georgetown and Bartlett were discernable roads…. Once papa walked to Bartlett to purchase groceries….He couldn't make himself understood so the following day he again trekked to Bartlett - and returned home carrying a sack of flour…. Brother Josef plowed the fields with oxen; they responded to him. Papa, however, was unable to do anything with them….Perhaps a carry-over from Europe, marriages were plotted. In Corn Hill a man named Kadlec searched out likely brides and grooms and arranged meeting places at the home of acquaintances." Early family friends included the Blazek, Kubala, Krnavci and Knauth families. The Kubacak, Nemec and Schwertner families were also early arrivals.

This observant lady also remembered that cattle drives often went near their place, led by one or two supply wagons, the cowboys riding at the outer edges of the herd, moving the thundering cattle at a moderate walk.

Sometimes it took two or three days for them to pass. Calves born along the way were given to the nearest settler, and many a modest farm herd was increased in this way. About 1894, Thom Mrazek either bought, or probably built, a gin at Theon, which he ran until 1891.

So Theon, with its Greek name, established by German merchants, patronized by both Czech and German farmers, was enough of a village by September 12, 1890, to be granted a post office with Fritz Krauss as postmaster. On July 5, 1892, it was discontinued mail being handled through Walburg. Then on October 13, 1894, William Leubner (listed on postal records as Fredrick W. Leubner) was appointed postmaster of Leubner, remaining at this post until April 20, 1898. Thus Theon received its second official name: Leubner.

A daughter of William Leubner, Mrs. B. F. Selma Leubner Dodson of McGregor, was 86 years old when W. A. Cassens of Route 2 visited with her last fall. She recalled moving to Theon when she was about eight years old, said that the family also lived in Granger, Taylor and Dallas. Her mother, Mrs. Annie Schultz Leubner, was a sister to Mr. Cassens’ mother, who was Alma. Schultz. Their father, John Schultz, was another Theon pioneer.

The Leubner sisters of Dallas list the family as William and Annie Leubner; William, the eldest son; Selma mentioned above; Karl; Clara (Mrs. N. G. Clark); Ella (Mrs. B. Short), and Henry. Herman and Paulina, brother and sister of the elder Leubner, lived in Granger where Paulina was well known as a milliner. The Leubner home near the store is now owned by William Kalmbach, rented by Mrs. Joe Kubacek. The early store had postal boxes on the porch; inside the store was a bar, but government regulations forbade such an arrangement, so Mr. Leubner built a saloon next door, elegantly furnished and decorated inside. The tavern was later joined to the store where it is used for storage.

Paul Miersch of Theon Community writes about those early days:

"The Leubners moved their store from near Walburg, Texas, to Theon sometime in the late 1800s, the exact stands date unknown. The Leubners sold their store to the Kalmbach family in 1900 and the Wm. Kalmbachs are still the owners. The Leubner family moved to Dallas and the children are still living there now.

"The gin at Theon was bought by my father, Ernst Miersch, from a Mr. Thom Mrazek in January 1891. Our family consisted of Ernst Miersch, John Miersch and his wife Marie, and father's sister, Maria Miersch and myself (Paul). We moved here from near La Grange in November 1891.

"At one time there was a Post Office in our home, later transferred to the Leubner Store. The mail was brought here by a Mr. Allan, who lived in Corn Hill, twice a week. He came from Corn Hill to Theon, went to Walburg, Georgetown and back. The Post Office was changed in early 1906 to Route 1, Corn Hill, and later to Jarrell when the Bartlett Western Railroad was built from Bartlett through Jarrell to Florence. This changed our mail service altogether and at present our mail still comes from Jarrell.

"My father started operating the gin in the fall of 1891- two stands on a single box press. The cotton was brought to the gin by the farmers and weighed on a platform wagon scale. Then the cotton was unloaded on the gin upper floor, carried from there in a wire basket to the gin stands and fed into the stands by hand. The cotton seed fell on the floor and was scooped from the stand down under the gin floor to be stored for seed or used for other purposes, such as cow feed or to fertilize the land. Seed had very little value. Later, ranchers began to feed more and more seed to their cattle; of course, this brought the price up some and more demand for it.

"The Georgetown Oil Mill began buying seed and wagons came out to the gin from the Mill, hauled seed to the Mill at $3 per ton for hauling. I remember a few names of the haulers, Jeff Logan, Bentley, and Jeff Hunt.

"After the cotton was fed into each stand by hand, the ginned lint fell behind each stand on the floor. It was gathered by hand into a basket, carried to the press box, and emptied into the box until it was full. Then this cotton was pushed up into the upper part of the box by a steam engine. The upper box contained several catches which were operated by a small lever switch. When the operator tripped the lever, it released a plunger which moved to the bottom of the press box, which was filled again. This was repeated four times for each bale of cotton. Each time the plunger was run up and the press box opened, bale ties were inserted and tied together. When released, the bagging was tucked under the ties, and the bale was ready to go to the buyers. Some work compared to the present day method. The cost to process a bale was around 100 pounds of seed cotton.

"My father, Ernst Miersch, had a corn mill connected with his gin. He ground corn for meal and hops and bread. This was done every second Saturday afternoon for one-fifth part of the corn as toll.

"Father Ernst Miersch sold the Theon Gin in 1906 to E. E. Jungmichel of Walburg, and bought a farm about three miles west of Theon where he lived a number of years. He moved to Walburg and died there August 9, 1942." Emil E. Jungmichel sold the gin to Joe Sladecek's mother; a few years later, about 1918-1919, Alphonse Kott and his brother purchased it.

The present owners of the Theon General Store, Mr. and Mrs. William Kalmbach and their daughter Mrs. Ruby Atwood, say that it was first located near the Katy railroad at Naizerville, was moved from there to the community of Walburg, and finally to Theon. The store front, with high, flat, notched extension, is typical of the late 1800s.

In 1900, William Kalmbach's father, August Kalmbach, purchased the store from William Leubner. Postal Records list a new postal office at Behrnville (another new name for Theon!) on March 9, 1901, with Gottlieb Kalmbach as postmaster. Washington had insisted that a different name be chosen for the office because of some previous difficulty, and since H. T. Behrens was a prominent pioneer in the area, the post office took his name. That office was closed and transferred to Corn Hill on April 31, 1906.

Mr. Kalmbach says that a beef club was organized in Theon about 1892, supplying meat from the club building in the heart of the village for nearly everyone in the area until shortly after World War II. By then home freezers were available and the need for a club no longer existed. A small lodge building was erected some years after the turn of the century, which was active for a few years.

Mrs. L. A. Williams of Austin, formerly Miss Marinda Gillmore, came to Theon in 1891 as a very small girl. In 1896, she attended school there, recalls names of some of the students; including John, Emil, Mary, Betty, Rheinhold and Herman Schwertner, (Adolph Schwertner's children); Ella, Frieda, Nora and Walter Schwertner, (William Schwertner's children); Gus and Louie Schwertner, sons of Gus Schwertner.

"The Schwertner children made up a large part of our enrollment," she chuckles. In addition, there were Christine, Alfred and another Yeager child; the Tschoerner children, John and Annie Tomancek ; Mary Knavek, Forrest Treadwell, Lizzie and Emma Kourt, many children of the Knight family, Freda Preslar, and Jim and Dan Gillmore, brothers of Marinda. Early teachers were Richard Critz, Jeff Harrison and Conrad Foster.


When the Holy Trinity Catholic Church was founded in 1889, a small building for worship was erected east of the present church. The site of that church (in the present cemetery) is marked by a life sized figure of Christ on the cross. The early building was replaced in 1913 by the present handsome structure.

A Registry of Baptisms of Holy Trinity Church dates back to 1897 and indicates many of the early settlers in that area. Among parents whose children were baptized in 1897 and 1898 were John and Marie (Chovanec) Janosec, Bartholomew and Agnes Zurovec, Joseph and Maria (Veceia) Valenta, John and Amalia (Havelka) Pavlasek, Francisco and Francisca Kolar, Anton and Anna Krajce Hajek, Joseph and Eva (Krajca) Schlesinger, John and Magdalena (Pavlasek) Janosec, Martin and Frances (Blasek) Vrabel; Francisco and Marie (Pavlasek) Skrhak, Martin and Anne (Divin) Kopecky, Adolph and Maria (Krnavek) Schwertner, Joseph and Anna (Krnavek) Palousek, Joseph and Barbara S. Knapek, Paul and Johanna (Klepac) Skurka, Ygnasio and Barbara (Klepac) Kubacak, John and Marie (Dndek) Marac, Josef and Frances (Jasek) Schwertner, Albert and Marie Zrubek, Edward and Antonia Schwertner, and Jan and Sicha Kurecka.

These early records were signed by Rev. Frank Gabriel Sebik. This church also for many years operated a parochial school which closed in 1968. The school buildings remain on the church grounds along with the cemetery and the parish home. South of the church, Moravia Hall provides a place for social activities including weddings, dances, reunions and meetings.
New Corn Hill was a comparative late-comer to the area. When a railroad was constructed from Bartlett to Florence in 1910, creating a new town (Jarrell) and uprooting an old one (Corn Hill), this activity seemed also to lead to the establishment of several businesses on the same high hill with Holy Trinity Church.

Since "old" Corn Hill was rapidly disappearing, this newly-chosen site for a business community was christened New Corn Bill. A grocery store, a blacksmith shop, a saloon and a recreation hall were among the buildings. The recreation hall replaced a platform about a mile north of present Moravian Hall. The platform, used for recreation and for meetings, was replaced by what was known as the Farmers' Inn. When the present Moravian Hall was built in 1938, the old Inn was torn down. John Danek of Jarrell remembers the businesses in New Corn Hill but says that they were active for only a few years.

And so New Corn Hill has faded from the picture much as did Old Corn Hill a few years earlier. Holy Trinity Church remains at its post but prefers to be called by its original name.



This article by Leslie Mcdonald, Telegram Staff Writer, first appeared in the Temple Daily Telegram, Temple, Texas on Sunday, December 15, 1974.



THEON - Faces in Theon are more weather beaten than most. Folks are older in Theon, they've been there a long time.

Buildings there have had close to a century of wear. The wind has rounded off the rough edges and ground in memories.

Theon can be described in small numbers. Nine people live there, most old enough to remember all of its history. There are seven buildings that wall the place in on both sides of Theon Road. It is 35 miles south of Temple.

William Kalmbach owns most of what there is to Theon, a grocery-dry goods store, a cafe he rents out, an abandoned one room barber shop and the "Theon Beef Club Bldg. Built In 1891 Discnt. 1942."

The beef club used to slaughter 1,500 pounds of beef every Friday.

People in Theon don't eat too much beef anymore. Kalmbach's grocery doesn't sell it, the cafe specialties are soup and lima beans and bacon.

Charlie Kubacek, a lifetime resident of the area, with 25 years in Theon, eats mostly sauerkraut and turnips.

The pets eat as well as the people. Kubacek's cats and dogs eat turnips, while Kalmbach's cat eats ham and sausage he sells in the store.

The first post office in Theon was in Kalmbach's store. Long unused, it occupies one dark end of the grocery counter. Each wooden cubbyhole overflows with papers, receipt and unclaimed letters collected over the years.

Two mules and horses pulled the mail wagon down Theon Road past a half dozen buildings with wooden faces. The rural route carries mail now, but the wooden buildings stand. Theon Road winds up New Corn Hill to the church.

The only stone building in Theon, the Holy Trinity Catholic Church stands at the top of New Corn Hill. It can be seen on IH 35 eight miles away.

The church was built in 1913 from bricks and lumber hauled by wagon from Bartlett. Kubacek, who was ten when Holy Trinity was built, said construction took over a year.

In one of the spires is a clock. At the right time of day the silver numerals glisten in the sun, and it no longer matters that the clock doesn't tell the time.

When the distance from Dallas to Houston is covered by urban sprawl, a place the size of Theon won't make much difference, but the man who owns just about all of it said he won't tear it down, because "People like to look at old things."

People better stop by Theon, sit in Mom's Place and talk to William Kalmbach, before it is gone.