Ol'Shavano Chapter NSDAR

Welcome to the Ol' Shavano Chapter NSDAR.

Chapter History

Founding regent, Lucille Stewart Krisch (*see bio below), is said to have selected the name Ol' Shavano for our chapter because the location where she did much of her research was in her home located near Ol' Shavano.  She did not choose to name it for her Revolutionary ancestor, as was often the custom of the Organizing Regent. Mrs. Krisch passed along many anecdotes pertaining to the Shavano community as a regular contributor to "Twigs and Trees," a genealogy column in the San Antonio Light.

For a number of years after the chapter's founding on November 14, 1958, the ladies of Ol' Shavano Chapter NSDAR held open houses for their meetings throughout the Shavano community of San Antonio, Texas.  The "old Moos house," restored by Mr. and Mrs. J. Lawton Stone, was often used as a meeting site in 1965 near the site of the Shavano stagecoach stop.  That same year, the chapter placed historical markers near the settlement's water hole, post office, first community, early trails, and the restored Moos home.  Two years later the Stanley Blanchard home at 8910 Callaghan was used for our meetings which was also where stages came along and "watered the horses at the waterhole in front of the house." This was probably the first watering stop north of San Antonio some ten miles to the south. 

Excerpts from "Twigs and Trees," 9 Apr 1967, San Antonio Light, page 12-E; 1974 History of TSDAR; 2010-2011 Ol' Shavano Chapter NSDAR yearbook.

El Camino Real trail

German-born John and Rosina Moos built their 1850 house near Leon Creek along the Camino Real a las Missiones de Arriba, the road to the upper missions, which led to Boerne and Fredericksburg and beyond to San Angelo and El Paso. About eighteen miles northwest of downtown San Antonio, the Moos property was a relay station for an overnight stop and change of horses along a stage line and mail service route. At the time of his death in 1880, Moos had 100 horses in his possession for the relay stop. The stage line was active until 1886. The two-story stone Moos home was spacious and well appointed for a stop over. Greek Revival influences are evident in the symmetrical facade, central door with sidelights and transom, full-height and full-width porch, and cedar lintels above each window decorated with a stone flat-arch with keystone.

Photo from Historic Texas 19th Century Vernacular Farm and Ranch Complexes, courtesy of the Office of Historic Preservation and the San Antonio Conservation Society.

Excerpt from Texas Historical Commission, Bexar County, Historic Farms and Ranches MPS.pdf, https://tinyurl.com/yyc9w7f9

 

*Lucille Stewart Krisch
1906 – 1984
Ol’ Shavano Chapter NSDAR Organizing  Regent

A historian and genealogist, Lucille Krisch created and wrote Twigs and Trees, a weekly genealogical column in the former San Antonio Light newspaper from 1954 to 1975.

Living in San Antonio all her life, she was a member of the Bexar County and Texas Historical commissions, and a long-time member of the San Antonio Conservation Society.

Lucille as well as visiting genealogists presented lectures and conducted seminars and classes in her genealogical library in her home.

The Twigs and Trees Genealogical Library has been donated to the San Antonio Genealogical and Historical Society and to the John Fox, Jr. Library in Paris, Kentucky, which is the Kentucky DAR state library.

Lucille Krisch conducted historic bus tours from San Antonio to such places as Goliad, Salado, Fredericksburg, and Round Top. She also:

Lucille Krisch was a natural researcher, and that ability was cultivated during the 1930s when she worked as a medical statistician for a public health organization. Much of her focus was on cancer. As she interviewed families and assembled their personal medical records, her interest in the lineage of families grew. She began to wonder if this disease and possibly others were hereditary.  

After she married Rudy C. Krisch, Jr., also of San Antonio, and had two children, Rudy III and Nora, she still found time to pursue her dreams. Tracing her own ancestors led her back to research and genealogy.

She was accepted for membership into DAR May 16, 1952, and became a member of the Alamo Chapter.

She would tell her classes: “Genealogy is a detailed account of our nation’s history. Your genealogy is you, your identity.  You will recognize yourself in some of those old pioneers you will research. Genealogy is a purely spiritual hobby.”

“And I promise, if you research your family genealogy and are serious about it, you will never be lonely again. You simply will not have time.”

 

Biography and photo provided by Nora Schire, daughter of Lucille Krisch.