This account written by Robert L. Hartfield first appeared in A History of Lee County, published in 1974 by the Lee County Historical Survey Committee.



George Santayana has said that if the lessons of history are not learned, we are doomed to repeat it. Long before the famed philosopher lived, Holy Scriptures have recorded similar statements with greater concern. (Rom. 15, 4; I Cor. 10, 11) They say when you're lost you walk in circles ­ which direction depends on which leg is shorter. You're confined to those circles unless you have some stable guide­post, like a landmark, star, compass or sense of direction for guidance. We need not live in circles. If we overcome the storybook fascination with antique events and objects we can use history as a mirror to give substance and direction to the fabric and style of our life. If history serves merely as an amusement, then, should the world stand, we will be the amusement of others some-day.



In the 1860's a community surrounding the West Yegua and Bluff Creeks was taking shape. Time has blurred the exact chronology of its birth even as brush has shrunk the exact dimensions of the Long Prairie which enticed the early settlers. They came from Germany via Serbin. Most were of Wendish descent. Many crossed on the "Ben Nevis" and originally settled in Serbin.

An important question is a simple one. Why did they settle for the Long Prairie of the West Yegua, or Bluff Creek, or Moab, as the community of Fedor was called at one time or another? The answer, given in the 70th Anniversary Booklet of the Trinity Lutheran Church of Fedor, is equally simple: grass, water and wood. Grass would feed their livestock. And besides, land that could grow grass could also grow crops. Water is essential for life. In the early days they were dependent on creeks, springs and shallow wells. Wood had many uses. It was used to build the homes and supplied the fuel for cooking and heating. Wood was used to build the barn and fence the field. In those years livestock would run loose and the cultivated areas would be fenced. (A portion of the last split-rail fence in Lee County may be seen in the Fedor community.)

In retrospect, grass, water and wood were very simple needs and wants. However, by no means make the inference that the settlers were ''simple'' people. They were acquainted with war, prejudice and persecution in Europe. They were both a religious and racial minority. They tenaciously clung to language, culture and religion. When the situation became intolerable they had the conviction and honesty to leave. Such honesty and conviction they now applied to their new homeland: America. The Fedor community gave 13 to fight in World War I; 64 in World War II; 20 in the Korean War and seven in the Vietnam War. The numbers reflect their growth pattern because they gave all they had.

Such integrity they possessed that they could bear the shallow prejudice and insecurity of others without bitterness. In the minutes of a Voters Meeting of Trinity Lutheran Church of Fedor during the World War I years we read of a resolve to send a delegation to the Defense Council in Giddings to request permission to continue holding worship services in the German language.

There are relics scattered about hinting of the life style in those early years. Above the bar in the present Fedor store hangs an ox-yoke which served well in that life style. If you slow down when driving across the West Yegua Creek bridge you can still see a supply of water. That ox-yoke laid across the necks of a pair of oxen and hitched to a wagon, or slide, pulled many a water barrel to the homestead for both man and beast.

Up the hill from the creek stands the remains of a log barn. Today it may remind us of a simple home design of yester-year: two rooms separated by a breezeway. These served the need very well. One room was the kitchen-dining area and the other the bedroom. The breezeway made an excellent catch-all spot and lounge area. In the early years many log homes dotted the area. Most have been torn down to make way for new, or remodeled homes. One log home, built by August Falke over 100 years ago, remains inhabited to this day.


The oriental featured native, popularly known by the aliases of redskin, savage, Indian, passed through the lands of the West Yegua. As evidence of their presence is a collection of arrowheads gathered by the Dan Schulze family from the peanut fields after harvest. Mr. Schulze has artfully mounted many of these. Mr. Clarence Becker of Texas City also has a mounted collection. Many others have picked up arrowheads in the Fedor area. These are the only mounted collections I know to be in existence. Ideas on various uses of the arrowheads, on the migration and settlements of these natives together with an ''Indian '' story survive in the community. Two things can be stated with certainty: 1. they left only arrowheads to attest their onetime presence; and 2. they were excluded with the Negro and Mexican when the Republic of Texas granted that which was so abundant: land.


Today it is difficult to imagine that the land-owners were hard to locate 100 years ago. James Hudson was one of the fortunate whom time and chance through the Republic of Texas gifted with a league of land. One-half of his league was located on the Brazos River in Robertson County and the other half on the West Yegua in Milam County.

President Anson Jones signed the grant of the latter one-half league (2, 200 acres) on 27 March 1845. In 1854 all rights and title to the Head Right League of James Hudson was given to William Davis "in consideration of a Deed of Release." On 14 August 1856 William Davis sold the one-half league on the West Yegua to Lewis L. Chiles for $2, 000. I know of no evidence which indicates that any of the above named ever lived on the land of the West Yegua. After all, it was only land. George Boback received title to the one-half league of the James Hudson grant on the West Yegua from Mr. Chiles' widow on 2 December 1869. On 20 December 1869 he sold portions to seven: A . Polnick , Chris Jacob, M. Domann, E. Lehmann, W. Wolf, G. Schroeder and Carl Wagner. At the end of 1872 George Boback sold another portion to August Schneider, donated some to the Trinity Lutheran Church and sold the remainder to Jacob Moerbe. All totaled George Boback realized $3, 730 for his sale of the one-half league which he purchased for $2,100. He received the final payment from Jacob Moerbe in 1883 in Franklin County, Missouri.



Andreas Melde whose name is recorded in the list of passengers on the Ben Nevis was one of the first and life-long settlers of the Fedor community. He settled on Bluff Creek and gained title to his land under the Homestead Act. Mr. August Polnick, another early settler, farmed on the West Yegua. In 1877 Mr. Polnick began the General Store with a limited inventory. In 1882 he sold his stock of merchandise to Mr. Fedor Soder and moved to Thorndale.

Many others joined Melde and Polnick. They lived, worked and built on the "vacant" land long before they possessed title to it. At first they maintained close ties with the Serbin community, but as their numbers swelled the dependence lessened. However, the loving ties of kinship by faith and blood continue to this day.


At most George Boback spent five years in the Fedor community. He must have been a man of commanding personality and organization. I have met no one in the Fedor community with a second-hand recall of George Boback, nor have I been able to trace his origin. But an outstanding character shines from the pages of abstracts and other records. He gained title to the land for the few settlers on the James Hudson survey. He granted land for the organization of a church and served as one of the first elders. He included the following condition in the deed: “...only those are considered members of the above named church who abide by the doctrine of the Evangelic Lutheran Church as laid down in the Book of Concord ...” This indicates that he was probably familiar with the doctrinal compromises which in part occasioned the exodus of some Lutherans from Germany. He was a widower with two sons. The elder son John was confirmed at Trinity Church on 24 March 1872. His son Henry was four years younger. By the end of 1872 he sold out in the community probably most of his possessions were included. In 1883 he was remarried and lived in Franklin County, Missouri.

Mr. Fedor Soder never lived in the Fedor community. However, the community has been gifted with his name. Mr. Soder was a business man. His first store was in Cat Spring, then he had a store in Serbin and again he moved to Paige. He lived in Paige when he bought the merchandise of Mr. A . Polnick in 1882. Fedor hired Mr. Keuffel to manage the store for him. Mr. Mros also was employed at the Fedor store as clerk. Both were shot and killed by an armed robber in November of 1883. Fedor then sold the store to Mr. M. Domann. In 1886 Mr. Domann sold it to Mr. Chas. Jatzlau who turned it into a successful business serving the community needs. He operated the store until his death in 1919.

Rev. Brohm spent the least amount of time in the Fedor community - at most a few days. He aided in a very important matter. He was an official of The Lutheran Church of Missouri, Ohio and other States. He came from St. Louis, Missouri, to assist the organization of Trinity Lutheran Church on 11 March 1870.



The Trinity Lutheran Church located on the little hill near the junction of the Bluff and West Yegua Creeks is quite prominent on the landscape. It has given not only purpose, but stability. When one speaks of Fedor it is more or less synonymous with the community which worships at Trinity Lutheran Church.

At Trinity Church of Fedor the doctrine of the Book of Concord is zealously guarded. As a result the congregation can hear Pastor Palmer, who served the congregation for its first one and one-half years from Serbin, Pastor John A. Proft, who was their first resident Pastor, Pastor G. Birkmann who served nearly half a century, or their present Pastor without difference. Such permanence comes only from allegiance to a standard. The standard of Trinity Lutheran Church of Fedor to this day is the 16th century Book of Concord.

Tied with purpose and permanence is the sense of belonging. Many of her sons and daughters have travelled far and wide for country and livelihood, yet they maintain a sense of "belonging" in Fedor. Here they have a "place" in this world and a "place” where their remains can be laid to rest. Gravesites are as important as home-sites. In this changing and transient world all people need a sense of place, especially as they grow older. For some that ''place” is Fedor.


If you think the Fedor community is quaint, you may have good reason. The residents of the community today are the bilingual descendants of German-speaking Wendish immigrants who live in a Jewish named community near a Spanish named creek confessing a faith which defies the limits of both time and place.


As individuals and as a community the lessons of history must be applied, or else they are not learned. I suggest a few that need be remembered.

1. If the Trinity Lutheran Church closes, or deserts its purpose, the community is dead. The natives are gone - they were not tied to "place." Spurious settlers, attested only by an abandoned cemetery, scrap and ruin, are gone- they were not tied to purpose. I submit that Fedor, tied to both place and purpose, has better defined community than scholars.

2. Fedor community can survive independent of modern institutions. Families, indeed a community, survived 100 years ago without improved roads, hospitals, piped water, electric lines, telephones, gasoline, radio, T.V., shopping center complexes, higher education and many more modern institutions which we have become dependent upon today.

3. Occupancy does not guarantee continuance. Our land was taken by force. Another people were displaced to make room for us. We need remember that we are strangers and pilgrims on earth. We need take to heart what we sing, "Earth is a desert drear, Heav'n is my Home."