While still on the subject of the Groppe Barn it is appropriate to speak of my uncle, Henry Groppe (nicknamed “Bozo” within our family), and his wife, my Aunt Carol.  Both have been staunch keepers and stewards of the Groppe family legacy through the restoration and preservation of the Groppe Farm and associated memorabilia and the chronicling of early family history and memories.   An official dedication of the historical marker designating the Groppe Barn as a historical site was planned for the fall of 1992, but prior to that a “private” dedication was held at our family reunion in June of 1992.  Again, this document provides insight into the people and principles of an early Texas family  . . . .

GROPPE BARN TEXAS STATE HISTORICAL MARKER DEDICATION

Presented at Family Reunion, June 13, 1992
Henry Groppe

We plan an official marker dedication ceremony sometime later, perhaps this fall, but this private dedication being observed by all of our family is the important one.

The motivation for this whole barn restoration project was provided by Carol as she did for the restoration of the Old Corner building and which she does for so many fine things in our lives together.  She pushes to have thoughts converted into action.  Left to myself, I would probably still be planning it.

The next critical contribution to the project was made by Doyle (son of Mae Groppe Popp and Ben Popp) who introduced me to his good friend Louis Polley who brought to the project the right balance of a keen interest in the structure and its restoration combined with approaches that could be carried out at reasonable cost.

And then most of all, the enthusiasm, talent and dedication Mae and Bennie brought to preparing the Texas Historical Commission state marker application.  We think this is the first time this recognition has been given to a barn restoration project.

Grandpaw Groppe began homesteading here in 1874, one hundred eighteen years ago.  In 1886, one hundred and six years ago, he got Joe Huber, from Tours, to build this barn for him.  He was a bachelor and lived with Grandmaw and Grandpaw while he built the barn.  It has been in continuous use and relatively unchanged all of that time.

I underestimated the almost life of its own the barn would have after it was restored.  I never fail to derive real pleasure and happiness whenever I see it and know that it will be here for our children and our children’s children.  Louis told me that he had done the restoration in such a fashion that only two things need to be done for it to last forever.  One, is to be sure the foundation beams always stay dry and the other is that it should be painted from time to time.  These can easily be done.

It sure is fun to see history being reenacted and the fourth generation trying to figure out how to jump out of the hayloft without breaking a leg, shooting at attacking Indians from behind the bales of hay through the door at the end of the barn and pulling buckets of water out of the well and hearing that unique creaking of the pulley.  Restoring the Old Corner building has provided many of the same kinds of feelings of pleasure and so has getting the recognition by the State Land Commissioner as a farm that has been operated continuously by the same family for one hundred years or more.  Particularly in today’s mobile and rapidly changing world we all appreciate the rarity of being able to enjoy this stability and continuity.

But the most important and enduring tribute we pay today and celebrate is to my mother and father or “maw-maw” and “paw-paw” as Valanne christened them over 50 years ago, and their example of what it really means to be a member of a family.

Maw-Maw’s parents both came to Texas from the Hannover area of Germany through Galveston. She was born in 1895, ninety-seven years ago, grew up on a farm one mile west of here and died 25 years ago at the age of 72.  Paw-Paw was born in 1884, one hundred eight years ago on this very place and lived here a full 86 years until he died in 1970, twenty-two years ago.  His mother and father both came from the Hannover areas, his mother through Galveston and his father through New York.  Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw were married in 1912 when she was 17 and he was 27.

Paw-Paw always enjoyed having the fastest, flashiest buggy team in the area and would apparently cut up whenever he drove at full speed past the one-room school, a mile north of here on his way to West, knowing that she might be watching.  One day he said she was standing with her back to the window competing in a spelling match as he passed and she shyly waved her handkerchief behind her back as he flashed by.  He said he knew at that instant he had won her heart.  They had been married 55 years when she died in 1967.  Both loved this place and neither ever traveled farther than Galveston during all of their lives.

After they married they built their own house, just south of where the grapevine is now.  They helped care for Grandma and Grandpa Groppe who were living in the original house for which the cedar trees lined the front walk.  That house was torn down in 1929 to provide some of the lumber used in the construction of the 63 year old brick house which we moved into.  All of us were born in Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw’s original house.

The grapevine itself has somewhat romantic origins in that it grew from seeds from grapes Paw-Paw had brought Maw-Maw.  They were sitting on the front porch eating them and one of the seeds grew into this vine.

Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw were obviously meant for each other.  They each had extraordinary inner resources, creativity and sense of purpose. Together they built a life for themselves and their children quite different from that of their parents and all of their brothers and sisters and for that we are all forever indebted.

They had one of the first systems of running water and inside bathrooms in the vicinity, one of the first automobiles, were the first to engage in such diversified farming, livestock raising and dairy operations and gave each of us freedom unheard of among their relatives at the time.

They seemed to possess an almost innate wisdom, the extent of which I’m still learning to appreciate.  Their values and practice of sound family principles were outstanding models which we all still try to duplicate.  Some of these I only fully understood many years later, and some relatively recently.

Some of their practices which stand out so clearly in my memory are:

1.  Appreciating and accepting that each human being is unique and to be so treated and respected.  How many times they explained this to each of us.

2.  Practicing absolute fairness and equity in their dealings with each of us as children.  They would go to extraordinary lengths to be sure that whatever had been done for one of us was also done for the others.  There were times when I was almost perplexed by this dedication, only many years later and particularly in dealing with our own children did I come to realize what an important principle this is.

3.  Providing great freedom and responsibility and understanding the relationship between the two.  We got our driver’s licenses at age 12 and were added to the list of authorized signatures for the only bank account the family had at about that age.  But we also had absolutely unavoidable responsibilities.  We began milking on our sixth birthday and from then on never missed a milking until we left home unless we were sick.  We could go as far as we could get as long as we could return by the next milking.

4.  Letting us learn by doing and allowing us to make our own mistakes with complete patience and provision of space and materials for us to try to do or build anything we were interested in.  Whenever we had a wreck, or tore something up the primary concern was, “Are you all right?”  “Was anybody hurt?”  Beyond this there was always the assurance that everything else could and would be repaired with no reproaches.  This probably contributed to the development of the unstoppable “Groppe” determination in pursuing a project, a real trial to our spouses.

5.  They practiced an incredible degree of unconditional love for each of us and the continual emphasis that our family was and would always be an absolute sanctuary to which we could return no matter what had happened with no questions asked - a feeling that was always with you no matter where you went in the world.

6.  This is a hard one, on which I am still working: an amazing practice of never giving one shred of advice from the day we left home unless requested.  That was an absolute rule they practiced of which I wasn’t fully aware until many, many years later when I began wrestling with my own shortcomings in this area.

7.  This is an important one which is an extension of the other principles and that is the often stated and always practiced principle that they would love completely whomever we loved.  They would always point out that there was no way for them to know someone else even remotely as well as we did, but they had complete respect for and confidence in us and the fact that we loved someone was all they needed to fully embrace them with their unconditional love.

And finally . .

8.  And perhaps one of the most important of all, always expressing and practicing the principle that within our family if anybody had anything, everybody had something.  They wisely pointed out that none of us ever knows what the future holds.  There will be times when we will be riding high and other times when we are down and out.  That we would all always share whatever we had with whoever in the family needed it.  That, too, is a great security to carry around with you wherever you go in the world.  They extended this fully to anyone else around them in need.  We were accustomed to them taking someone in and nursing them back to health when there was no other ready place for them to go.

All of this instills in each of us as our primary lifelong ambition, the goal of being the best possible family member we can ever be to our spouses, our children, and all the other members of our extended family.  And that is what this family reunion weekend is all about – celebrating and enjoying this commitment to each other.

Historical marker with barn's original foundation footings

Grape arbor that began from a single seed

The Groppe children all had milking duties starting at age 6