Carl Hilmar Guenther
was born in March 19, 1826 in Weissenfels on the Saale River in Germany.
He was the first child of eight born to Carl Gottfried and Johanne Rosina
(Koerner) Guenther to migrate to America. He landed in New York in 1848
and traveled down through Wisconsin and along the Mississippi before he
returned to Germany for a few months. He traveled back to America in 1851
landing in New Orleans but moved on to Indianola, Texas. From there he
traveled the 250 miles to San Antonio walking beside a provision wagon.
When he arrived in San Antonio, he heard of the need for a Gristmill and
flour mill in Fredrickberg, so he once again packed up and moved out there.
He built the first mill on Live Oak Creek, nine miles from Fredricksburg. He excavated the millrace with a pick and shovel and designed and made the waterwheel and gears. After a flash flood swept away an incomplete dam, he rebuilt it from the ground up. In 1855, he married Dorthea Wilhelmine Henriette Pape in a Lutheran ceremony in the First Community Church and had 7 children. Carl Guenther was Fredericksburg justice of the Peace in 1856.
In 1859, a drought of two years had depleted the crops, so the Guenthers picked up and moved to San Antonio. On the banks of the San Antonio River Guenther built the first flourmill. In 1898 his mills were incorporated as C. H. Guenther and Son. The name was later changed to Pioneer Flour Mills. Guenther also established a small ice plant called the Southern Ice Company (later Southern-Henke Ice Company). He also helped found San Antonio's German-English School. He was a member of the Beethoven Mannerchor, the Arbeiter Verein, and Casino Club. He died on October 18,1902 in San Antonio and was buried in City Cemetery Number One.
Bibliography:
The Handbook of Texas
Online: Carl Hilmar Guenther